The Cheddar’s restaurant at 620 University Center Blvd. Charlotte, NC scored a terrible 86.50 B during a November 5, 2020 health and safety sanitation inspection. That same Cheddar’s restaurant scored a 71.5 in 2018 during a food safety inspection. In fact the Cheddar’s location was almost shut down because of the 2018 score.
Per the November 5th score, food employees were seen not washing their hands between breading raw meat and going to prep ready to eat foods. An employee was even handling their personal cell phone and then returning to food prep without washing their hands.
Employees were seen putting their gloved hands on their clothing and masks, handling soiled and clean dishes, and using gloves to do different tasks and continuing food prep without changing gloves or washing hands. The inspector had to repeatedly correct and instruct the specific Cheddar employees to wash their hands and change their gloves.
The trash can was blocking access to the hand sink near the frying station. A Cheddar employee’s phone charger was seen dangling into clean plates.
There were unwashed tomatoes stored over ribs in the walk in cooler. Also in the walk in cooler was a container of pickles stored uncovered.
During the inspection there were plates, bowls, trays, and utensils throughout the facility stored as clean with food debris on them; the items had to be moved to the dish machine to be washed, rinsed, and sanitized.
The final cook temperature of raw chicken was at an unsafe temperature of 151F. Also the ribs were hot holding on the grill top at a below average temperature of 109F.
Cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and pasta in the prep top cooler were all being held at unsafe temperatures above 41F. A Cheddar’s food employee was seen without a hair restraint.
Sweeping was needed in the walk in freezer, as the floor was dirty. The prep table shelves were dirty and in need of cleaning. There were employee drinks stored on prep surfaces throughout the Cheddar’s restaurant.
