Despite a handful of concerns, Virginia Department of Health inspectors found few health code violations for Martinsville restaurants in December.
December’s inspection list is available online. The previous month’s inspections are usually made available online around the start of each month.
Five full-service restaurants, including El Navegante Seafood and Grill, Jerry’s Pizza, San Jose Mexican Restaurant, Third Bay Cafe and Chatmoss Country Club passed their respective inspections last month. Full-service restaurants are defined as those with more processes in the back of the house.
Unlike North Carolina and other states, which use letter grades as a shorthand for a restaurant’s guideline compliance, Virginia refers patrons to an establishment’s most recent inspection report.
“We do not do ratings in Virginia,” said Darrin Doss of the Virginia Health Department. “Restaurants are required to have the most recent copy of the inspection available for the public. That doesn’t say that it has to be posted anywhere but the person in charge of the facility should have it to where if anyone asks for it they can produce it.”
Doss is the environmental health manager for the West Piedmont Health District. The West Piedmont Health District includes Martinsville, Henry County, Patrick County and Franklin County.
Part of his job is to oversee efforts to ensure that restaurants adhere to the health code via annual inspections. Doss, who has worked for the department for 18 years, currently oversees a staff of four environmental health specialists who conduct the inspections.
In Martinsville, around 61 restaurants are licensed to operate. A restaurant can maintain its permission to operate while having points of concern in a recent inspection.
“The inspection form is going to have what we observed during our inspection” Doss said before later adding that a common inspection report will have a section dedicated to food temperatures followed by details of observed violations.
Mold contamination, hand washing and food temperature are among an exhaustive list of regulations that restaurants must adhere to.
“We’re [inspecting] for typically 45 minutes to an hour and a half is the average,” Doss said.
Not all violations are equal, according to Doss. Some require the closure of a restaurant until the matter is resolved.
“We used to call them critical violations,” Doss said. “They were the ones more likely to produce food-borne illness.”
Examples of this include sewage issues and fires.
Although rare, Doss said it isn’t unheard of for a restaurant to close pending action on a violation. He said in such instances, restaurant owners tend to quickly resolve the issues.
Doss said no two inspections are alike, which is reflected in the reports. Navigating inspection reports is straightforward if you understand the codes and jargon.
Each report begins with a list of “observations” and “corrective actions” restaurants must take.
“These are what we observed during our inspection,” Doss said.
Each report ends with statements of compliance and noncompliance.
“We’ve run into quite a few different things in the years,” Doss said. “There is a big difference between how you handle food at home and how you handle food in public. There are many different things we need to have in place to ensure safety.”