Cobb barbecue spot fails health check with ‘grime, congealed grease’

An owner said Thursday that the restaurant is ready for re-inspection.

An owner said Thursday that the restaurant is ready for re-inspection.

A barbecue joint in Smyrna has failed its most recent health inspection, according to Cobb County health department records.

Ebony & Ivory, 3210 South Cobb Drive, scored a 56 on Wednesday. Any score below a 70 is considered failing.

An owner said Thursday that the restaurant is ready for re-inspection.

Some of the violations were for meat that was improperly thawing.

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Owner Marcus Phillips told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the inspector came on a busy day when he was short-staffed and he was handling new inventory.

“We were under-staffed severely, but it’s no excuse,” he said.

But at times, he framed the inspector’s report as unfair. “They try to twist your words up and twist their words up.”

The eatery was docked points for a “heavy accumulation of grime, congealed grease, oil, and food debris” on the bottom and sides of multiple kitchen surfaces.

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Several cutting boards were in such “extreme disrepair,” the inspector wrote, that they could’t be properly sanitized.

A pot of greens on the stovetop was also thrown away because it was below half of the required safe temperature.

In addition, there were three expired containers of milk in coolers.

The eatery scored an 81 during an October inspection and a 76 in April 2017.

Follow-up inspections are usually done within 10 days of the original evaluation.

Ebony & Ivory

3210 South Cobb Drive

Smyrna, Ga., 30080

Read the full report here.