Two restaurants tied this week -- getting the same number of high demerits for the dirtiest dining. Darcy Spears has a second helping that comes with a twist.
A few stars got knocked off the grill at Five Star Tavern after a recent run-in with health inspectors.
PHOTOS: Dirty Dining April 20, 2017
"It was simple. We made a lot of mistakes," said General Manager Jim Minchey. "At this location we just had a lot of failures that added up to a very bad inspection."
39 demerits and a C grade for the tavern in North Las Vegas on Simmons Street and Centennial Parkway, due in part to food no longer fit to serve.
"It was a two-part problem," Minchey said. "The expired food -- the individual wasn't trained correctly so they were putting incorrect dates on items like flour."
Several food items were held long past their "Use by" dates, including mashed potatoes that were nearly two weeks old.
"So yes, that was absolutely an issue. The employee was counseled on it, re-trained, and we think we're good there."
Raw eggs and raw hamburger were stored above tortilla chips.
There was also no sanitizer set up until the inspector asked them to do it.
As for improper handwashing and issues with food temperatures, Minchey says the chef got nervous when the health inspector showed up.
"It was a rookie mistake for a fairly seasoned cook," Minchey said.
But one violation goes beyond nerves involving a food handler's health card that expired in March 2013 but showed a date of August 2018.
"It was a doctored health card and I would say that we might have fared a little bit better on the grade but once she saw that that card was doctored, she really did a thorough review, as she should," Minchey said.
Far more thorough than the cleaning job employees did on the ice machine.
"Yes, ice machine will absolutely get a slime build-up in it if it is not serviced correctly. If you've ever been out to the Las Vegas wash and the slime that gets on the rocks, it's the exact same process that can build up in the machines," Minchey said.
Minchey showed us that Five Star got back to the A-grade standard they hope to uphold.
