On April 23, 2021 the Lempira Restaurant scored an 86.50 B score during a food health inspection. The restaurant is located at 4439 Central Ave. Charlotte, NC.
There was no oversight by the person in charge of the employees using proper methods to cool potentially hazardous foods and routine monitoring of food temperatures. There were several buckets of chicken sauce, tomato sauce, salsa, and bus tubs of cabbage cold holding at unsafe temperatures above 41F, the food was discarded on site.
Single use/single service utensils were stored on the floor in the dry storage room.
There was blocked access to the hand wash sink due to the chip and salsa station being in the way. Dirty metal containers and knives were stored as clean, the inspector had them rewashed. Also the dish machine was not working during the inspection, and the employees were forced to hand wash dishes in a 3 compartment sink.
During the inspection, spoiled beef was stored in the cooler drawer and had to be thrown away.
The inspector observed chorizo and onions hot holding below 135F. Those foods must be heated above 135F per state law.
Several bus tubs of cut cabbage were cold holding above 41F and had to be discarded. An Lempira Restaurant employee was seen placing incorrect date marks on chicken wings, chicken tacos, and cheese during the inspection. The date marks were for 4/21/21 and 4/22/21, but the actual inspection was on April 23, 2021.
The person in charge admitted that the 2nd shift employees are new and don’t know/understand proper food cooling methods. The person in charge also stated that Lempira employees want to leave as soon as they can at the end of their shift and don’t properly monitor the foods when cooling.
The inspector saw several Lempira employee cell phones charging in the food prep area.
