2008.09.22
Restaurant inspections: Check the city market building track record for yourself
The Roanoke City Market Building and its 10 restaurants are about an 8-minute walk from my office. I eat there twice a week at least. I’ve never looked at the Virgina Department of Health’s inspection reports for those restaurants, even though I have link to the search in the DataSphere.
I guess I preferred my ignorance of how clean the building is.
But over the weekend the building was shut down because of a rodent problem found by health inspectors. Details are thin at this point on exactly what inspectors found. Actual rodents? Droppings? What kind of rodent? And where?! One shudders at the possbilities.
Now, curious, I’ve been looking at past inspection reports online, and thought it worthwhile to remind you, gentle reader, that you can do the same on the VDH website. There’s a search box on the left side. I searched on the word “market” to get a list that included all of the restaurants in the market building. You can click down to details of the violations cited in each inspection. Some are as recent as last month. Others go back to December.
Rather than summarize the results for 10 different vendors, I’ll let you see what’s there for yourself. You’ll find violations for pretty much all of them at some point.
Some of the violations will be called “critical.” But I encourage you to read what the actual violations are, and to check out their definitions. You hear the word “critical,” and you think of Band Aids in sandwiches and roaches in salads. But more often those critical violations have to do with proper storage of food with regard to temperature, or things like food workers drinking from soda cups with no lids in the food preparation area.
To be sure, there are disgusting things documented among the critical violations, but not every critical violation is something so horrifying as to make you nauseous.
That said, you might also consider not only quality, but quantity. What if a restaurant has not a couple of critical violations, but, say, ten? (And, in fact, one restaurant — Zorba’s, where the Jamaica Joe’s special is one of my favorites — did have 10 during an August inspection.)
And then there’s rodents. Yeah, I think that meets my definition of critical.
None of this covers the latest inspection which prompted the building’s closure. Again, what was found — and where?
In the urge to assess blame, those things matter.
With ten vendors in one space, can you single out those at fault, or are they all partly responsible? And don’t forget the building’s owner and management — the city of Roanoke. What is the the city’s responsibility in all of this? Can the city totally shift blame to the tenants, when the building is under its oversight? Or vice versa?
Before deciding that, let’s see what this latest report says. Keep watching roanoke.com for that.
Matt, this has always been a favorite site of mine. I admit that I visit it more for humor factor than to check up on the next restaurant I’m eating at. It is a bit confusing at first, mainly due to the issue of “critical” findings as you discussed. And you are correct, the meat is not in the findings of a particular visit, but more on the repeat findings over several visits.
It’s interesting to note that a place can have repeat critical violations time and time again. Now in all fairness, this industry likely has a lot of turnover and new employees are likely to make the same mistakes of previous. However, some of the findings are so “common sense”, it’s a bit disheartening to learn that the workers apparently couldn’t care less about the health of their customers.
For instance, I would think a finding on “storing uncooked meat above ready-to-eat foods” is pretty common sense. But let’s let that one slide. More critical are findings such as unlabeled bottles of cleanser in food preparation areas, or re-using containers for foods other than what they originally held, etc.
I can safely agree with you that “rodents” or “roaches” would be in the critical column.
Comment by Ed S. — September 22, 2008 @ 12:10 pm
Gee, I posted all 10 latest reports at 10 am.
No rodents reported, just some flies and such in Tavern. But, and this is from several horses mouths on this one, who forgot to pay the tab when the inspection came through?
And why do most supermarkets not get fully inspected?
Only the Sushi Dept at the Fresh Market has an inspection listed. Take a look at the Krogers in the area, none of them seem to have full inspections.
Some of them only have records going back a few months, like the one at Valley View.
Personally, as much as I am looking at the City (as landlord), I am looking at the Health Dept. as well.
But how long before they tell the vendors their leases are null, no license – no lease? I bet it’s in there…
RF
Comment by Roanoke.Found — September 22, 2008 @ 5:28 pm
I work in the market building and can shed a little light on the situation. I would like to note that classification “rodents” can mean a lot of things. We could have a squirrel infestation. Ok so its not squirrels, but its also not the dreaded “r” word. There have been signs of mice in the building. Keep in mind that the construction at Billy’s Ritz and the cooler weather are partly to blame for any critters seeking refuge in the building. The Market Building is very old and full of holes, making it easy for mice to get in. I’m not saying that the owners/employees are without blame, but we are working hard to fix the problems that have been found. I hope that you and others will not let this scare you away from the building permanently. We will be voluntarily undergoing more vigorous and frequent health inspections once the building reopens so you can see for yourself the fruits of our labors.
Comment by Megan — September 22, 2008 @ 8:09 pm
Thank you for telling people how to read the health department’s reports. I can advise you that the market building’s food is not contaminated and unsafe. The unfortunate situation is that the media has grabbed hold on the latest news and without the city’s confirmation, has created their own version of what’s wrong.
Without getting too political, the “rodent” problem (which are mice) has been blown out of proportion. The exterminator said that the problem is comparable to other restaurants and to date, only seven dead mice have been found. The city has taken advantage of the situation for their own benefit without any consideration to the lost wages of the vendors or their employees.
The market building’s future is in desperate need of help and support from the public. There will be a meeting Thurs. Sept. 25, at 6:30 pm, at the Planetarium at Center in the Square. Please come and support the vendors that have provided a uniqueness to the downtown area.
Comment by Stevie — September 22, 2008 @ 10:00 pm
Well, who among us — at least those of us who live in older homes — hasn’t had mice once in a while? No question, in an older building in downtown where lots of food is stored, you’re bound to see some mice once in a while. That said, it means something that the health department took it seriously enough to temporarily shutter 10 successful businesses in a very high profile location.
I look forward to the place reopening with confidence, because, honestly, I love eating there.
As far as the press blowing it out of proportion, let me take a sec to defend my professional brethren.
People, this is news.
A publicly owned and managed building that is the centerpiece of the City Market area, probably the most visible and popular place in our city — the hub of our tourism industry — was shut down because of rodents. This is a place that is home to 10 successful restaurants frequented by thousands and thousands. And let’s not overlook the context. These are businesses often put-upon by recent debate over the future of the market building. These business owners feel threatened wonder what will become of their livelihoods. Now, these same businesses are shut down for a temporary but undefined period of time, and in very public fashion. Depending how long this shut down lasts and whether any compensation comes through for them in the meanwhile, some may not survive. That, again, is news.
And finally, let me offer a little reality check on how the information was disseminated here. Stevie, you mention the city’s confirmation. What the city was willing to confirm initially was, at the very least, grossly incomplete information. Fall cleaning? And this in the face of confirmation by a different government agency that there was a rodent problem. I’ve been in this business for a long time, and its a truism that if you want to take a controversial event and make an even bigger deal out of it, start out denying it. Start out with euphemisms. Start out looking like you’ve got something to hide. Once the facts come out, it will inevitably seem like a much bigger deal than it would have if you’d just said, “Yes, we have a problem. It’s unfortunate, but we’re dealing with it by doing these exact things.” And then named those things.
So, to sum up, a building owned by the taxpayers and managed by the city government, home to 10 popular restaurants in the center of our most popular and heavily trafficked tourist destination, is suddenly closed because of a rodent problem, and the city manager herself makes a statement that omits that central fact.
And the press blew that out of proportion?
Comment by Matt Chittum — September 23, 2008 @ 11:03 am
I agree with you Matt. I and many others that I’ve talked to felt that it would have been better to be up front about everything from the beginning, but were told to “keep quiet” about the mouse issue. Considering all the recent contraversy and the amount of people involved I knew it wouldn’t be long before the truth came out.
As to the mice issue, I don’t think many of the owners were aware that the problem had gotten so bad. The only evidence of mice I’ve personally seen is some nibbled on buns (that were thrown away and new ones are now stored in a different location). When the health department came through some months ago and handed out materials on pest control I was not given the impression that it was due to a “rodent problem”. I honestly thought it was more to do with flys (coming in through the broken windows upstairs) and some owners use of chemical pesticides (not anywhere near the food by the way). I can only really speak for the booth where I work, but we try our best to keep things clean and neat. We are using the time we’re shut down to make things even easier to keep that way.
Sorry if Stevie and I seem to get a bit defensive, but this is our livelihood and we’re all a little stressed and worried at the moment.
Comment by Megan — September 23, 2008 @ 11:52 am
I live and work downtown and eat in the market bldg frequently. I will be back with no reservations, when they open again.
Comment by Debbie — September 23, 2008 @ 5:00 pm
I will be back. It will probably be the cleanest now, but I also suspect it was never any different than any other
restaurant as it is tough to keep these things from happening when food is around.
Comment by Mike — September 23, 2008 @ 6:28 pm
I have worked in the market building on and off for 10 years and I will tell you this. When I first started there the market building manager had her office in the market building she came around every day at close for an inspection. The tenants hardly ever see the current manager, not half as much as they see the current health inspector, which is at least once a week. The other eateries downtown only see their health inspectors twice a year. If you ask me the real rats are in city hall.
As far as the media circus goes, here is an idea for a story. Lets talk about the huge art museum that we won’t be able to sustain. We are already pumping tax payer money into one museum and a civic center, how broke is Roanoke trying to get?
Comment by Brian — September 25, 2008 @ 8:41 am
Brian,
Thankfully, the art museum is not a city project… at least, it isn’t going to be owned, operated or maintained by the city. The investements came from the private sector and any city money that has gone into it was simply another investment. I haven’t done an exceptional amount of research on it, but I would assume a portion of the yearly funding will come from either Federal or State programs supporting the arts and whatever special status a museum is granted.
Arguably, those involved have some high expectations for the museum and may be disappointed after the initial ‘honey moon’ phase after opening fades.
I apologize, as this is completely off-topic, but I just wanted to point that out. A lot of people (myself, included, until recently) believe the museum is going to fall under city management/ownership.
Comment by Matt — September 25, 2008 @ 10:23 am
Brian and Matt, did a little fact-checking for you. A search of our archive shows that the city’s commitment to the Taubman Museum of Art is $3.7 million. The county also, I believe, is committed to $200,000 per year for 10 years for the museum.
Related to that, Center in the Square requested $4 million from the city toward the $27 million price tag of its upcoming renovation.
Comment by Matt Chittum — September 25, 2008 @ 11:14 am
Thanks for the info guys. I would just like to state I don’t want the art museum to fail, I don’t want anything to fail. I want to live in a successful and vibrant city that has a lot to offer it’s community and tourists. It just seems that we haven’t had a good track record lately.
Wait! I just had a brainstorm! How about we try not hiring people from other cities to run our city! Maybe we should try hiring people who care about Roanoke and not their pay checks!I just solved half of our problems! I am a freaking genius, maybe I should get a big fat pay check!
Comment by Brian — September 26, 2008 @ 9:21 am