The News & Observer publishes a weekly roundup of restaurant sanitation scores to keep you up-to-date on the health grades at Triangle dining spots.
Sanitation scores and their corresponding letter grades are used in North Carolina to assess restaurants’ adherence to rules and standards intended to mitigate and prevent the spread of food-borne illnesses.
You’ve likely seen sanitation grade cards at restaurants you’ve visited, and The N&O previously explained what those scores mean and how they’re calculated.
Here are sanitation scores in Triangle counties for the week of March 7-14.
Wake County sanitation scores
The Wake County sanitation grades database shows that at least 100 inspections were completed between March 7-14.
▪ Most restaurants received an A grade, or a score of at least 90%.
▪ Four restaurants received a B grade, or a score of at least 80% but lower than 90%.
Chai’s Asian Bistro (8347 Creedmoor Rd., Raleigh) received a score of 85.5% during an inspection on March 7.
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The restaurant was in violation of 11 standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to four points.
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Violations included employees not washing their hands after touching raw chicken and pork, rust inside the ice machine, gnats in the facility and employees working in the kitchen without hair restraints.
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The restaurant previously scored a 92% in November 2022, and a 96% in January and June 2022.
Lucky Chicken II (1851 N. Harrison Ave., Cary) received a score of 87% during an inspection on March 10.
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The restaurant was in violation of 13 standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to three points.
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Violations included cooked corncobs in the walk-in cooler being “adulted with black and green fuzzy growth,” milk being stored in the walk-in cooler without a date marking and corn and chicken being stored past the allowed seven days after preparation.
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Some violations were corrected during the inspection.
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The restaurant previously scored a 93% in December 2022, a 95% in July 2022 and a 95.5% in March 2022.
Taco Addicts (131 Crossroads Blvd., Cary) received a score of 87.5% during an inspection on March 10.
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The restaurant was in violation of 11 standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to three points.
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Violations included a grill employee not washing their hands after handling raw chicken, an employee handling cooked shrimp with their bare hands and food not being cooled properly.
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The restaurant previously scored a 93.5% in December 2022, a 90% in July 2022 and a 95.5% in May 2022.
Waffle House (3400 Olympia Dr., Raleigh) received a score of 87% during an inspection on March 13.
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The restaurant was in violation of 22 state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to 1.5 points.
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Violations included multiple containers of milk and ham not being date-marked, foods being held at incorrect temperatures, the restaurant not having a functioning food thermometer and bread being stored on the floor.
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Some violations were corrected during the inspection.
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The restaurant previously scored a 92% in October 2022, a 96.5% in February 2022 and a 96% in September 2021.
▪ No restaurants in Wake County received a C grade, or a score of at least 70% but less than 80%.
▪ No restaurants received a failing grade, or a score below 70%.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Wake County at wake-nc.healthinspections.us.
Durham County sanitation scores
The Durham County inspection management system shows that 37 restaurant inspections were completed between March 7-14.
▪ Most restaurants received an A grade.
▪ Two restaurants received a B grade.
Church’s Chicken (942 N. Miami Blvd., Durham) received a score of 83.5% during an inspection on March 7.
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The restaurant was in violation of 14 standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to four points.
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Violations included multiple employees not washing their hands, all cooking equipment being in need of “excess cleaning,” foods not being held at correct temperatures and multiple flies in the kitchen.
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Some violations were corrected during the inspection.
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The restaurant previously scored a 72% and 85% in January, and an 86% in September 2022.
Wang’s Garden (826 Fayetteville St., Durham) received a score of 85.5% during an inspection on March 9.
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The restaurant was in violation of 14 standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to three points.
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Violations included several foods not being date-marked, an employee not wearing a hair restraint while preparing food and a dead cockroach “smushed onto a container stored as clean.”
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Some violations were corrected during the inspection.
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The restaurant previously scored an 81% in October 2022, an 80% in February 2022 and an 81.5% in May 2021.
▪ One restaurant received a C grade.
Top’s China Restaurant (1919 Holloway St., Durham) received a score of 77% during an inspection on March 8.
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The restaurant was in violation of 21 standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to four points.
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Violations included several employees not washing their hands after touching raw food or doing other tasks, several foods being held at incorrect temperatures, tubs of chicken being stored on the floor of the walk-in cooler and no food employees wearing hair restraints.
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Some violations were corrected during the inspection.
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The restaurant previously scored a 90.5% in December 2022, a 93% in September 2022 and a 94.5% in May 2022.
▪ No restaurants received a failing grade.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Durham County at bit.ly/3pVQfpG.
Orange County sanitation scores
The Orange County inspection management system shows that 18 restaurants were inspected between March 7-14.
▪ All restaurants received an A grade.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Orange County at bit.ly/3eQqpxc.
Johnston County sanitation scores
The Johnston County sanitation inspections database shows that 26 restaurants were inspected between March 7-14.
▪ All restaurants received an A grade.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Johnston County at johnston-nc.healthinspections.us.
Chatham County sanitation scores
The Chatham County inspections management system shows that seven restaurants were inspected between March 7-14.
▪ All restaurants received an A grade.
You can search all restaurant inspections in Chatham County at bit.ly/3JfiHwq.