Restaurant inspection: Staff not washing hands as needed,...

The health score at Tomatillos in Atlanta fell because employees working with food were not washing their hands at a frequency to prevent contamination, an inspector said.

In particular, the cook picked up paper from the floor then continued cooking food without washing hands. The cook also returned to the kitchen from another part of the restaurant with a container of detergent, then went right to the grill to handle food without washing.

Another employee touched face, hair and dirty dishes all the while making drinks, serving chips and handling food equipment without hand washing, the Fulton County health inspector said. The inspector also noted other hand-washing violations.

Tomatillos, 1242 Glenwood Ave., Atlanta, scored 60/U on the routine inspection. The restaurant had previous scores of 89/B and 52/U.

In other code violations, food was not protected from contamination in the coolers. Raw beef burgers were on the same shelf with garlic, cooked bacon and cooked chicken in one cooler. Eggs were stored with butter, mayonnaise, cheese, tortillas and salsa in another cooler. And raw beef burgers were stored above pinto beans and pico de gallo in a third cooler.

The inspector also observed flies on the food prep table, and numerous gnats around some onions.

Tomatillos will be re-inspected.

In other news: These recently reviewed restaurants pulled up their health scores during recent follow-up inspections: Deez Hot Spot, 119 Old Griffin Road, McDonough, 89/B; Wok Rock, 3585 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Duluth, 82/B.

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