Paulding County restaurant hit with tough inspection

For three decades, Captain Eddie’s in Paulding County has attracted families with children by serving up fried catfish and country fare. Now they come because of the big breakfast menu and meat-and-three lunches with fresh vegetables.

But the family-owned restaurant at 3606 Atlanta Highway in Hiram may have become a little too kid-friendly back in the kitchen, according to health inspectors.

During a recent inspection, numerous children’s toys were observed being stored in the kitchen, along with some unused equipment. Both were violations of the health code, and the owners were asked to remove all items.

Manager and owner David Gunter, who operates the restaurant with his parents, said he has always kept toys there for his children to play with when they visit. Sometimes they play in an unused dining room while he helps serve the lunch crowd.

That violation, along with some food storage and hand-washing infractions, lowered the restaurant’s health inspection score to a 55 out of 100. That’s a U, and well below the diner’s previous inspection score of 88, a B.

“It was just carelessness on our part,” Gunter said, who added that he is in the process of retraining his entire staff on current health code rules. “We have older employees who have been with us for a long time and trying to retrain them is a little difficult.”

Among the violations was raw chicken being stored on a shelf above a covered pan of cornbread. The inspector also observed one employee switching from working with raw food to ready-to-eat food without first washing his hands.

“He did change his gloves, but he didn’t wash his hands and that really lowers your score,” Gunter said. “They’re very strict now and any infraction they’ll take full points off.”

Another employee didn’t wash his hands for a full 20 seconds, and at times single-use gloves were not changed as needed, according to the report.

Inspectors will return for a follow-up visit in early December, and Gunter said he “fully expects to make a good score.”

“In 31 years of business we’ve never had a health problem. Our kitchen is extremely clean, and no one has ever gotten sick from our food,” he said.

Here are recent inspection scores of other restaurants in the metro Atlanta area.

Clayton County

Folks/6564 Tara Blvd., Jonesboro/90/A

Johnny’s Pizza/11330 Tara Blvd., Hampton/91/A

Tara Food Court/281 Upper Riverdale Rd., Jonesboro/76/C

Waffle House/669 Hwy. 138, Riverdale/88/B

Wendy’s/7363 Jonesboro Rd., Morrow/100/A

Cobb County

Chick-Fil-A at Woodlawn Square/1201 Johnson Ferry Rd., Marietta/81/B

Crepe Revolution/4600 West Village Place, Suite 3009, Smyrna/71/C

Fuji Hanna & Thai Peppers/2700 Town Center Drive, Suite E, Kennesaw/77/C

Healthy Smoothies/1025 East West Conn., Suite 2, Austell/96/A

Waterstone Grill/4849 N. Main St., Acworth/98/A

DeKalb County

Sage Woodfire Tavern Perimeter/4505 Ashford Dunwoody Rd., Suite 8, Atlanta/85/B

Twisted Taco Perimeter/4505 Ashford Dunwoody Road, Suite 32, Atlanta/91/A

This is it BBQ & Seafood Panola/2853 Panola Rd., Lithonia/100/A

The Havana Grill/3373 Buford Highway, Atlanta/94/A

W.W. The Boss’ Bar B Que/2504 Candler Rd., Decatur/70/C

Gwinnett County

Atlanta Bread Company/3185 Woodward Crossing, Buford/87/B

Joe’s Crab Shack/1590 Pleasant Hill Rd., Duluth/100/A

Mimi’s Café/1880 Mall of Georgia Blvd., Buford/96/A

Rick Tanners/33 Buford Village Way, Suite 317/Buford/81/B

Smoothie King/2507 Highway 78, Snellville/97/A

Henry County

Bass Soul Food/475 Tanger Blvd., Locust Grove/70/C

Captain D’s/350 Tanger Blvd., Locust Grove/56/U

Dragon Garden/877 Hwy. 138 West, Stockbridge/73/C

Itza Taco Bar & Grill/1483 Hwy. 20 West, McDonough/100/A

Papi’s Cuban & Caribbean Grill/1375 Rock Quarry Rd., Stockbridge/98/A

Fulton County

Atlantic Seafood Co./2345 Mansell Rd., Alpharetta/65/U

BJ's Home Cooking, Inc./832 Virginia Ave. Ste. D, Hapeville/60/U

Blazin Jerk Caribbean Restaurant/1083 Euclid Ave., Atlanta/100/A

Michon's/1583 Virginia Ave, College Park/79/C

Sugo Restaurant/625 West Crossville Rd. Ste. 102, Roswell/99/A

Paulding County

Cheeseburger Bobby’s/5077 Jimmy Lee Pkwy., Hiram/99/A

La Cocina Mexican Restaurant/457 Nathan Dean Blvd., Suite 116, Dallas/96/A

Olive Tree Restaurant/37 Betty Street, Hiram/72/C