DENVER — Each week, FOX31 and Channel 2 report on recent health inspections for restaurants in the Denver area. This week, we featured one failed location downtown, one failed location in Washington Park and a winner downtown.
The Palm (F)
If you’re looking for Mile High romance, this repeat offender scored 11 critical issues in December and May.
In December, inspectors found:
- Water not hot enough in hand-washing sinks
- Children’s menu offered under-cooked burgers
- Cheese was not held cold enough
- Hollandaise sauce was not held hot enough
The Palm’s public relations team sent the following comment:
“We at the Palm Restaurant Group continue to take Food Safety and Sanitation very seriously. We recently hired the industry-leading food safety and public health company EcoSure to help us protect our guests and promote a culture of food safety nationwide. All violations identified in the 12/20 inspection were immediately corrected, either while the inspector was still on site or shortly thereafter. Menus have been reprinted and contain the proper compliance information.”
The Palm is located at 1672 Lawrence St., Denver
Washington Park Grille (F)
This local favorite and repeat offender on our report card scored eight mistakes during its lasts two regular inspections in December and July.
In December, the violations included:
- Marina sauces were thrown out for not being held hot enough
- Garlic cream and a 5-gallon bucket of sauce were thrown out for not being held cold enough
- Employees had no access to paper towels
The owner said they fixed the refrigeration issue, will focus on food temperatures and sent the following statement:
“Our restaurant has always placed food safety at the top of our priorities. The violations that occurred in our recent inspections were fixed immediately and we are implementing new procedures to ensure that this problem doesn’t happen again. Our entire team is dedicated to food safety and ensuring our customers are healthy. “
Wash Park Grille is located at 1096 S. Gaylord St., Denver
Edge (A)
The Edge at the Four Seasons Hotel Denver scored two perfect inspections in a row, marking its third ‘A’ on report card.
“We take pride in our health inspections. It takes a lot from both front and back of the house to achieve a perfect score. We make sure we cook things to the proper temperature, we rotate our food and receive food properly, so we are not infecting the guests when they come down here,” Chef Stephen Bukoff said.
Bukoff prepared the first course of their special Valentine’s menu: Dungeness crab.
Chocolate fans will love the “Drunken in Love” dish for dessert. It’s a chocolate cake with strawberries, raspberries and raspberry liqueur.
Edge’s four-course meal will be available through the weekend for love birds looking for perfection.
How restaurants appear on our Report Card
Restaurant Report Card features health inspections in the city and county of Denver, Jefferson County, Weld County, Broomfield and restaurants under the jurisdiction of the Tri-County Health Department. The Tri-County Health Department includes Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties.
An inspection is a “snapshot” of what is happening during the day and time of the inspection. On any given day, a restaurant could have more or fewer violations than noted in an inspection. Also, at the time of an inspection, violations are recorded and can be corrected prior to the inspector leaving the restaurant. If violations are not corrected, a follow-up inspection is scheduled.
The criteria FOX31 Denver uses to give a restaurant a failing grade includes the evaluation of two unannounced inspections by county health inspectors. A failing restaurant must have five or four critical violations on their most recent regular inspection and five or four critical violations on the previous regular inspection. The restaurant may also fail for eight or more violations in one inspection. Health inspectors may conduct critical or follow-up inspections, due to the number of critical violations found during a regular inspection. Those inspections may also be considered for our reports. We recognize restaurants with two regular inspections in a row, with no critical violations, by awarding them an A.
