A Mixed Bag This Week in the Derby City
March 16-22 brought us a hefty helping of inspections across Louisville, with 182 establishments getting their food safety checkups. While most places served up solid scores, we had a few spots that needed some extra seasoning in the food safety department. Let's dig into what our health inspectors discovered this week.
LouVUE by the Numbers
This week's inspection breakdown shows our health department stayed busy:
• Regular inspections: 175
• Follow-up inspections: 3
• Survey inspections: 2
• Other inspections: 2
A Quick Refresher on How the Grades Work in the Ville
- Grade A (green): Score 85–100% and no critical violations.
- Grade B (blue): Often the outcome of passing a follow-up after previous issues or a closure. This is a concern and deserves attention because it typically means there were still issues after a follow-up or that two consecutive regular inspections were failed. Patrons should be mindful.
- Grade C (red): Score below 85% or any critical violation. One critical violation automatically earns a C. These are serious and require a follow-up within 7–10 days.
- Critical violations: High risk for foodborne illness. Even one is enough to drop a place to a C.
Second Servings: Follow-Up Success Stories
Great news on the follow-up front! Three establishments that previously struggled have now gotten their acts together:
• Waffle House #1398 bounced back with a perfect 100 score, earning their A grade after addressing previous critical violations
• Gustavo's Mexican Grill also nailed their follow-up with a perfect score and A grade
• Pathivara International Grocery scored 100 on their follow-up as well
It's always satisfying to see places take food safety seriously and correct their issues promptly.
Cautionary Cuisine: When Good Scores Hide Critical Issues
Four establishments earned C grades this week, proving that even decent scores can't mask critical food safety violations:
Fujisan @ Sam's Club #8111 (1401 Alliant Ave)
• Score: 95 • Date: March 19
• Critical violation: Improper cold holding temperatures — food was stored above the safe 41°F threshold, creating prime conditions for bacterial growth that can cause foodborne illness
• LouVUE's Take: A 95 score might look impressive, but when sushi-grade fish isn't kept properly cold, that's a serious roll of the dice with your health.
Kroger L-292 (7509 Terry Rd)
• Score: 96 • Date: March 18
• Critical violations: Not specified in our data
• LouVUE's Take: Even grocery stores with impressive scores can have critical food safety issues lurking in their prepared food sections.
DePaul School (1925 Duker Ave)
• Score: 95 • Date: March 17
• Critical violation: Food-contact surfaces not properly cleaned and sanitized — equipment that touches food wasn't properly cleaned, potentially spreading harmful bacteria to everything it contacts
• LouVUE's Take: When serving our city's students, proper sanitation should be at the head of the class.
Suga Shane's Learning Center (856 S 32nd St)
• Score: 92 • Date: March 16
• Critical violations: Food-contact surfaces not properly cleaned and sanitized, plus improper cold holding temperatures
• LouVUE's Take: A double whammy of critical violations at a learning center — here's hoping they'll learn from these mistakes and protect the little ones better.
The Check, Please: Perfect Scores Worth Celebrating
Before we wrap up, let's give props where props are due. Several spots earned perfect 100 scores this week, including Kammerer Middle School, Temple Pre-School, Williams-Sonoma, Little Hands Academy, and Cinnaholic.
Remember, a C grade means these establishments need follow-up inspections within 7-10 days — it doesn't mean they're unsafe to visit today, but it does mean they had serious issues that required immediate attention. Keep checking LouVUE for updates as these follow-ups roll in!