Restaurant Inspections: Three Places with No Violations

Alexandria Health Department officials inspected numerous restaurants in West End Alexandria in recent weeks. We all want to know how our favorite restaurants stack up on cleanliness and sanitation.

"Ideally, an operation would have no critical violations, or none which are not corrected immediately and not repeated. In our experience, it is unrealistic to expect that a complex, full-service food operation can routinely avoid any violations," according to Virginia Department of Health's website.

The site continues: "Keep in mind that any inspection report is a 'snapshot' of the day and time of the inspection. On any given day, a restaurant could have fewer or more violations than noted in the report. An inspection conducted on any given day may not be representative of the overall, long term cleanliness of an establishment."

Full reports can be accessed on the health department's website.

These are the most recent inspection reports available from the health department. Click on the restaurant name (or "see the full report") for more information on each. 

Embassy Suites Hotel (Caprese, A Mediterrean Grill), 1900 Diagonal Road, June 12

1 priority item, 1 priority foundation item; 1 corrected during inspection. See the full report here.

Espresso Cafe, 1101 King St., June 12

3 priority items, 2 priority foundation items; 4 corrected during inspection. See the full report here.

Southside 815, 815 S. Washington St., June 12

1 priority item, 1 priority foundation item; 1 corrected during inspection. See the full report here.

Cameron Run Deli, 3601 Eisenhower Ave., June 11

2 core items. See the full report here.

Galae Thai, 215 Swamp Fox Rd., June 11

No violations found during the inspection.

Gourmet Center & Deli (Carry Out), 817 King St., June 11

No violations found during the inspection.

The Grille, 116 S. Alfred St., June 11

1 priority item, 1 priority foundation item; 1 corrected during inspection. See the full report here.

Ruby Tuesday #4480, 210 Swamp Fox Rd., June 11

No violations found during the inspection.

Subway #49618, 320 King St., June 11

2 core items, 3 priority foundation items; all corrected during inspection. See the full report here.

Taverna Cretekou, 818 King St., June 11

8 core items, 3 priority items, 1 priority foundation item; 3 corrected during inspection. See the full report here.

Sangjun Thai Restaurant, 300 King St., June 10

5 core items, 2 priority items; 6 corrected during inspection. See the full report here.

Starbucks, 2040 Jamieson Ave., June 10

1 priority foundation item. See the full report here.

There are three main types of violations, according to the health department:

·       A core item "usually relates to general sanitation, operational controls, sanitation standard operating procedures (SSOPs), facilities or structures, equipment design, or general maintenance."

·       A priority item is "a provision in this Code whose application contributes directly to the elimination, prevention or reduction to an acceptable level, hazards associated with foodborne illness or injury and there is no other provision that more directly controls the hazard," and "includes items with a quantifiable measure to show control of hazards such as cooking, reheating, cooling, handwashing."

·       A priority foundation item "includes an item that requires the purposeful incorporation of specific actions, equipment or procedures by industry management to attain control of risk factors that contribute to foodborne illness or injury such as personnel training, infrastructure or necessary equipment, HACCP plans, documentation or record keeping, and labeling."