2013 Health Inspections Give Mineola Restaurants Good Grades

The State Health Department reported inspections of some 43 food service establishments in the Mineola area in 2013 and found the vast majority to be largely in compliance with state codes.

There were a total of 26 restaurant inspections in the Village of Mineola in 2013 according to the report. A total of 17 inspections took place in Williston Park.

That's the results of a Patch review of state documents of those inspections.

For example, establishments as diverse as Chris's Deli and Jani restaurant, had no violations in 2013. Friendly's, had several non-critical violations, according to the report. 

Only one Mineola area establishment had more than "one critical violation," according the report which said the Williston Park Ihop originally had nine violations and five non-critical violations. The critical violations are more serious.

A call to the Nassau County Department of Health, which conducts the inspections, later revealed the initial information at that location to be incorrect, with spokesperson Carolyn McCummings stating that the complaint was originally based on a patron who had dined at the location, with inspectors visiting the restaurant on August 6, finding only two critical violations: one for incorrect food temperature and the other for having a fly strip in the food prep area,  “which is allowed but it’s not allowed to be in a certain area,” McCummings said, adding that the violations were corrected at the time of inspection.

In the case of Ralph's Italian Ices, also in Williston Park, the state said that the violation was for "Toxic chemicals are improperly labeled, stored or used so that contamination of food can occur." However, McCummings said that the violation for "toxic chemicals" is such a wide range and could have occurred for something as simple as vitamins being left out on a counter, to a chemical cleaner.

Cafe Sport, also on Hillside Avenue in Williston Park, received its critical violation for having "cooked or prepared foods are subject to cross-contamination from raw foods."

The routine violations were noted in a wide range of local establishments. For example, many of these were evidence of food not being protected during storage, display and service. That's the equivalent of not tightly wrapping leftovers in your household refrigerator.

The various county health departments make these inspections routinely and follows up with restaurants that have critical violations. The reports then go to the state.

The report stated that, in follow up visits, all of the violations had been corrected, including those cited as critical.

You can access the entire list, and past reports, here.