September 15, 2008
State Senator Publicly Shames NYC's Dirtiest Restaurants
Yesterday State Senator Jeff Klein, a Democrat from the Bronx, released his third annual "dirty dozen" list of New York City's most unsanitary restaurants, based on inspection scores and citations for pest problems. Unfortunately for celebrity chef Mario Batali, the press conference was held outside his Del Posto Ristorante in the Meatpacking District. The three star restaurant was hit with dozens of violations in June, including a citation for food that was "spoiled, adulterated, contaminated or cross-contaminated."
Klein has been pushing for legislation that would require restaurants to prominently display their health inspection scores for customers. (As it stands now, that information is publicly available on the Health Department's website.) According to Eyewitness 7, in 2000 Klein sponsored a bill modeled after a Los Angeles law requiring restaurants to post letter grades indicating their health code status. Last year the Restaurant Association and the Health Department said such a grading system "could leave customers confused because it's vague and it may not accurately depict the cleanliness of a restaurant over time"; WCBS reports.
But Klein's still committed to the idea, and his yearly report sifts through 20,000 restaurants with the worst inspection reports. The full "Dirty Dozen" list is here; while perusing the filthiest offenders, keep in mind that it only takes 28 points to fail an inspection. (The top five had over one hundred violation points!) And to cleanse the palate, here's the list of the 12 most sanitary.
Photo courtesy Miss Ginsu.
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Is that really a responsible action by Klein? Del Posto is not on the dirty dozen. Releasing the list in front of this establishment implies that it is.
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It is interesting the percentages of clean vs dirty restaurants. It seems there is an abundance of Italian restaurants on the clean list and an abundance of Caribbean/hispanic restaurants on the dirty list. Is this profiling?
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Down in a lot of southern Atlantic states they require restaurants to prominently display their Health Code score. It seems to be on a scale of 100, with bonus points available. Customers can see this when they enter and judge for themselves if they trust the food.
While for a lot of little NYC establishments this might seem strict, I can say that many small mom-and-pop joints I've seen in North Carolina have responded to this pretty well. They see their score as a point of pride, and take special care to keep their establishments spic-and-span. I know a lot of Brooklyn eateries that could use some similar motivation.
In turn, those scores can generate a lot of repeat business and loyal customers. People just like knowing their food is in good hands (no matter how much tough talk you hear about New Yorkers loving their transfats and cigarette burns and whatever else). Especially if you're like my friends and me, who all tend to be fairly OCD.
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Good for you, McDonalds on Liberty Avenue in Queens! (I'm really just stunned to see a fast food place on the "cleanest" list.)
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Seriously, Blimpie's and Micky D's in the top 12 cleanest list?
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Why is Klein upstaging Sen. Tom Duane?
This is Duane's district.
This is rude.
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Actually, Blimpies and McD's aren't so surprising. As someone mentioned on another poast in the past, because they are franchises, they often have to adhere to specific rules of cleanliness according to their contract. Taco Bell rat-fests notwishstanding.