KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — The restaurant with the nearly-failing score is in Knoxville. Nearly a dozen violations were found during the inspection.
The grade is a 73 at Tonita’s Sazon, it’s on Ray Mears Blvd, in an office park called the Courts. A grade below 70 is considered a failure.
Tonita’s Sazon, 8044 Ray Mears Blvd, Knoxville — Grade: 73, Follow-up Grade: 94
The inspector writes kitchen workers did not wash their hands in between tasks. According health rules, they’re supposed to. Perhaps they couldn’t wash their hand because the single-hand sink in the kitchen was blocked by a cutting board.
When the inspector checked several containers of food in the refrigerator, there were no dates on them indicating when the food was first prepared. Date marks are required to prevent potentially spoiled food from being served.
There’s more. Dishes were being washed and rinsed in the same sink, but dishes are supposed to be washed in one sink and rinsed in another one. The inspector also noted no sanitizer was being used, but it is required, so dishes are properly washed cleaned and sanitized.
An electric griddle was found stored on the floor underneath the bottom shelf of the prep table.
Finally, the inspector writes employees did not demonstrate any knowledge of food service regulations. He left a copy of the rules behind.
The inspector has returned to Tonita’s Sazon for a re-inspection. All of the original critical violations were corrected. The new grade is a 94.
Top scores of the week
- The Sub Shack, 13100 Kingston Pk, Knoxville — 100
- Panda Express, 1536 Parkway, Sevierville — 100
- Marco’s Pizza, 4313 Winkler Ave, Morristown — 100
- Jet’s Pizza, 1983 W. Morris Blvd, Morristown — 99
- Krystal, 2041 Parkway, Pigeon Forge — 99
- Mcdonald’s, 550 Highway 92, Dandridge — 99
- Arby’s, 822 Cosby Hwy, Newport — 99
- Bullseye Pizza, 10225 Chapman Hwy, Seymour — 99
