Published: February 10, 2008 03:39 pm            

Dining out? They’re all clean in Cleburne

Several make perfect scores on inspections

Opinions will vary about the food at Cleburne’s places to eat out, but they all passed their health inspections in 2007.

Of the 203 eating establishments — restaurants and other public places that serve prepared food, such as schools and churches — inspected by the Cleburne Environmental Health Department last year, 18 received a perfect score.

Score possibilities range from zero to 100, and none fell below 63 points, which is failing.

“We conduct inspections every week,” said Theresa Richardson, health department director. “Everyone gets inspected at least annually. A lot we visit biannually. We always inspect the schools biannually.”

Restaurants receiving perfect scores were the Starbucks inside the Albertson’s on Katherine P. Raines Boulevard, Burger Bar, Red Chew Chew BBQ & Grill and Mill Street Coffee.

Other establishments with perfect scores were the Anglin Rose Bed and Breakfast, Black Tie Bakery, the Church of the Holy Comforter, Gerard Elementary School, Irving Elementary School, Marti Elementary School, Santa Fe Elementary School, Cleburne ISD Head Start, Healthy Savings Discount, Heritage Trails Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Kiddosaurus Day Care, Twice the Ice, United Presbyterian Church and Wal-Mart.



Better than OK

Although no establishments failed inspection, only passing isn’t good enough, Richardson said.

“We want to get everyone up to code,” Richardson said. “Anyone who scores below 80 gets a follow up visit the next week.”

A business may score below 80 because of major problems or something as easily correctable as having out-of-date products on the shelves, Richardson said.

“Food prep is the most critical component we look at,” Richardson said. “Limiting bare-hand contact, making sure the food temperatures are out of the danger zones and the storage areas are clean [are also important].”

Other factors include the general cleanliness of the premises and employees, she said.

“I didn’t know we scored 100; that’s great,” said Sandy King, owner of the Red Chew Chew BBQ & Grill. “But I think it’s important our customers know we care about how the restaurant looks and that compliance with state and local rules is all just part of our offering the best service we can.”

Mary Callazo, a self-proclaimed frequent customer, said the Red Chew Chew’s score comes as no surprise.

“This is the best place to get a good home-cooked meal, and they make you feel at home,” Callazo said. “I’d say they deserve 101, even.”



No easy task

Burger Bar owner Mike Elmore said his restaurant scored perfectly the last two years and called it a matter of pride.

“It’s like you want to keep your house clean,” Elmore said. “We do everything ourselves here and spend two to three hours cleaning after closing every day to make sure everything is thoroughly cleaned.”

Becca Fogarty and Jennifer Howell, owners of the recently opened Mill Street Coffee, said they are happy with their score.

“We had a lot of help and took a lot of time to get everything together and in place right before opening,” Howell said.

A phone call to Starbucks’ media department was not returned.



Healthy learning

Five Cleburne schools scored 100. The rest of the CISD schools scored in the 90s.

“We’ve always done pretty well in our health inspections,” said Kim Chance, CISD child nutrition director. “But we have implemented several new practices in our department, which I believe are reflected on the scores we received.”

CISD’s 93 nutrition employees serve about 1,500 breakfasts and 4,750 lunches every school day, Chance said.

        

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