KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Eighteen health violations were recorded during the inspection of a Cocke County restaurant last week.
This week’s low scoring restaurant La Carreta Mexican Restaurant in Newport, which received a grade of 74. That’s a passing score. Any grade below 70 is considered failing.
La Carreta Mexican, West Broadway, Newport — grade: 74; follow-up grade: 84
In the freezer, the inspector writes drippings from condensation seeped onto a box of unwrapped tamales. As a result, ten pounds of tamales were thrown away to prevent potential illness. In the walk-in cooler, two large containers of cooked chicken breast had been left overnight at 50 degrees. 41 and below is the safe cool temperature to kill bacteria, 40 pounds of chicken were discarded. In addition, no thermometer was found in the walk-in cooler. It’s required so management can properly monitor the temperature
Dirty wiping cloths, used to clean customer tables, were found sitting on a table, they should have been kept in a bucket containing sanitizer. Also, unprotected 5-gallon buckets filled with chicken and beef were sitting inside the walk-in cooler, creating a potential contamination issue.
The inspector wrote that the walls, ceiling and the tops and sides of equipment throughout the kitchen at La Carreta were dirty.
The health inspector has returned to La Carreta, the place has been re-inspected, the original critical violations were corrected, the new grade is an 84.
Top scores of the week:
- Wendy on Maynardville Highway in the Halls Community —100
- Waffle House on Strawberry Plains Pike —100
- Love That Bar B-Q on Maryville Pike in Knoxville —100
- 1907 Brewing Company on West Main in Morristown —100
- McDonald’s on West Andrew Johnson Highway in Morristown — 100
- Gondolier in Athens — 99
- Greenbrier Restaurant in Gatlinburg — 99
- The Hard Rock Cafe on the Parkway in Pigeon Forge — 97
