Kitchen Cops: Two local Mexican restaurants get lowest scores from county health inspectors

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A long list of perfect scores, along with scores in the 90's, 80's, 70's and 60's are found in this week's Action Ten Kitchen Cops report.

Mary Cisneros and her Edible Designs on SPID survived the pandemic and has earned a perfect score from county health inspectors. It's actually the sixth time she's earned a 100 going back to 2015.

And after all she's been through over the last year, this one was in her words "over the moon."

"It meant a lot more to me this time around because having a very clean sanitized facility is more important now than ever," she told Action 10 Ten. "And me not letting people come in during this whole time, even assured people that I was being extra cautious about their health and my health as well."

Cisneros went on to tell us she was able to survive the pandemic and stay in business by meeting customer requests on her own. There was never any doubt she would stay in business. This has been her passion for 23 years. Congratulations Mary!

Inspectors found 15 violations inside the Cancun Mexican Restaurant on Yorktown and gave them a score of 78.

Inspectors found 15 violations inside The La Playa Restaurant on SPID and gave them a score of 69.

Among the violations, the restaurant needs a valid health permit, a valid food managers permit, and food handler cards for all employees handling food.

The Kitchen Cops tried four different times to speak with the owner, Mario Martinez, but he never responded to our requests.

And a big shoutout to Pam Massad and her Cookies by Design on Alameda near Airline, for earning a fifth perfect score going back to 2015. Thanks for keeping it clean Pam!

Here's the complete list of tonight's scores:

Perfect Scores
--------------------

• Cookie Bouquet located at 4709 Alameda
• Edible Designs 3D Cakes located at 4535 SPID
• Little Caesars located at 2744 Staples
• Pizza Hut located at 4815 Staples
• Sang’s Imperial Café located at 4650 Corona
• Taco Bell located at 4434 Ayers
• The Food Hop Drive Inn located at 1613 Staples
• West Oso Elementary located at 4526 Cliff Maus
• West Oso High School located at 754 Flato
• Yummy Tummy Cheesecakes located at 4820 Kostoryz

A-List
--------
99
----

• Domino’s Pizza located at 2714 Staples
• JFK Elementary located at 1102 Villarreal
• Wingstop located at 4918 Ayers

98

• A Bar Z Ponderosa located at 4901 Burney
• Taqueria Jalisco #8 located at 5813 Weber
• West Oso Junior High located at 5202 Bear
• Whataburger located at 1121 Waldron

97

• Burger King located at 4629 Staples
• Miller’s Bar-B-Q located at 6601 Weber
• Starbucks located at 4022 Saratoga
• Vick’s Famous Hamburgers located at 4989 Ayers
• Yardarm Restaurant located at 4310 Ocean

96

• Pizza Hut located at 4414 Ayers
• Taqueria Express and Seafood located at 4346 Ayers

95

• House of Rock located at 511 Starr
• Subway located at 10529 SPID

94

• Gyro Express located at 711 Carancahua
• Jamba Juice located at 5425 SPID
• Kanto Filipino BBQ located at 5425 SPID
• Tai Pai Café located at 711 Carancahua
• Wings and More ToGo located at 6022 Sarazen

93

• Subway located at 1202 Chaparral

92

• San Luis on the Go located at 4726 Ayers
• Yoli’s Tacos and Barbacoa located at 4222 Kostoryz

91

• Crawdaddy’s Downtown located at 317 Mesquite
• Wingstop located at 6313 Wooldridge

90

• Janet’s Cakery located at 5880 Everhart
• Taqueria Mexico Lindo located at 6601 Everhart
• The Gumbo Seafood located at 5212 Weber

B-List

89

• Yalee’s Asian Bistro located at 5649 Saratoga.

Violations include:

1. Raw meat stored above vegetables or cooked food
2. Store all food 6 inches from floor
3. Do not store chemicals above watermelon
4. Provide a visible thermometer inside all refrigeration Units
5. Employees must wear effective hair restraints
6. Do not use bowls to dispense food
7. Repair leak in walk-in cooler

88

• Nano’s Taco Run located at 4722 Holly.

Violations include:

1. Dirty ice machine
2. Chemical spray bottles need to be labeled
3. Date all prepared food stored in refrigerator
4. Refrigerator missing thermometer
5. Employee needs a hair restraint when preparing food
6. Do not store ice scoop on top of the ice machine

• Vietnam Restaurant located at 701 Water

Violations include:

1. Uncooked chicken at wrong temperature
2. Store food off the floor
3. Do not store raw meat is not above ready to eat products
4. Label and date all items
5. Store wiping cloths properly
6. Do not store scoops in dry goods
7. Fix leaks in faucets off of grill area
8. Back door needs a sweep installed

87

• Chicken Express located at 3014 Cimarron

Violations include:

1. Dirty soda fountain ice dispenser
2. Store chemicals properly
3. Soap needed at hand washing sink
4. Employees must wear effective hair restraints, visors are not acceptable
5. Store wiping cloths properly
6. Store scoop handles up
7. Women’s restroom needs attention
8. Store new iced tea containers 6 inches from floor

86

• Burger King located at 6610 Saratoga

Violations include:

1. Sanitizer solution too weak
2. Store chemical sprays away from ice machine
3. Men’s urinal not flushing
4. Visible thermometer needed inside all refrigeration units
5. Employees must wear effective hair restraints
6. No jewelry allowed
7. To-go lids need to be stored 6 inches from floor
8. Trash can with lid needed in women’s restroom
9. Men’s restroom needs attention

• Golden Crown Inn located at 2739 Staples

Violations include:

1. Unused chicken needs to be in fridge
2. Smoking over food while cooking
3. Food needs to stored 6” off the ground
4. Employees need to wash hands between tasks
5. Label and date all food
6. No eating in kitchen
7. Store wiping cloths properly
8. Use utensils with handles

83

• Fresco located at 619 Chaparral

Violations include:

1. Topping and condiments need to be kept at the right temperature
2. Ice in the bin had a scoop stored in the ice along with red particles in the ice
3. Labeled and date all items in the cooler
4. All coolers need thermometers
5. Handwashing sinks should only be used for handwashing
6. No jewelry allowed
7. Store wiping cloths properly
8. Clean all equipment prior to storing
9. Label bulk goods
10. Leak in sink needs fixed

80

• Texas Flame Steakhouse located at 4535 SPID

Violations include:

1. Raw meat stored above bread
2. Dirty ice machine
3. Chemical stored next to plates
4. No licensed food manager on duty
5. No thermometer in refrigerator
6. Flies in kitchen
7. Employee drinks stored in refrigerator
8. Employee needs a hair restraint when preparing food
9. Store wiping cloths properly
10. Meat thawing at room temperature
11. Utensil with handle needed to portion food
12. Dirty racks in refrigerator
13. Repair back door

C-List

78

• Cancun Mexican Restaurant located at 6314 Yorktown

Violations include:

1. Eggs at wrong temperature
2. Cooked meat at wrong temperature
3. Dish washing machine not at proper sanitization
4. Dirty microwaves
5. Dirty margarita machine nozzles
6. Dirty ice machine
7. Store chemicals in proper location
8. All leftovers need use by date
9. Employees must use drinking cups with lids
10. No jewelry allowed
11. Store wiping cloths properly
12. Do not thaw out meat in standing water
13. Do not store knives between equipment
14. Do not use bowls or Styrofoam cups to dispense food
15. Dirty food containers

D-List

69

• La Playa Mexican Café located at 7118 SPID

Violations include:

1. Cooling units at wrong temperature
2. Holes in ceiling in food prep area
3. Corroded grill shelves in reach-in coolers need to be replaced
4. Keep toxic items away from single-serve items
5. Provide proper wastewater drainage in dishwashing area
6. No standing water allowed
7. Provide valid food managers permit
8. Provide food handler cards for all food handling employees
9. Repair freezer in walk-in cooler ASAP
10. All food items in walk-in cooler need to be properly dated
11. Provide a working thermometer in each cooling unit
12. Provide valid health permit
13. Dirty walk-in cooler and cooling units
14. Flying gnats behind bar
15. Holes in back door need to be fixed