RESTAURANT ROUNDUP: Iconic Italian restaurant bounces back after failed inspections
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - This week’s Restaurant Roundup is a tale of two Italian eateries; one of them ending up on the high end of the health inspection scoring spectrum, and the other at the low end.
Paravicini's Italian Bistro
Paravicini's Italian Bistro, a longtime local icon in Old Colorado City, not only failed its health inspection on Feb. 12, but also failed the re-inspection on Feb. 19.
During the Feb. 19 visit, the inspector witnessed a kitchen worker eating and then going back to work without washing their hands. Employees were also seen wiping gloves on their clothing, then immediately returning to food preparation.
Raw meat was stored above ready-to-eat items, and two soups along with alfredo sauce were a few degrees off temperature.
For Franco Pisani, the award-winning owner and executive chef, this was a first.
“You feel like a gut punch at first, but then you realize it's important stuff, you gotta do it,” he explained, “Me and my management team and all my cooks and everything, we're taking this as a learning experience. Is it upsetting? Yeah, we've been here for 20 years, it's the first time we've failed. And to fail twice in a row because of something not quite the right temperature, so we've invested a lot of time and money into education. I've bought probably four new coolers this week, so we're taking it as a learning experience. We're not taking it as anything else, but you know, we gotta do better and we're gonna do better.”
He encouraged anyone with concerns to view the actual inspections to see that there was nothing egregious or alarming about the violations, saying the score doesn’t tell the whole story.
Still, he takes accountability for the failed inspections.
Pisani blamed a combination of equipment issues and new hires for the violations and says, ironically as a result of the failed inspections, the restaurant is now better than ever, and no one should be concerned about eating at his restaurant.
"No, we've been here 20 years, nobody's ever gotten sick, but you know now's the safest time to come because we have the last two weeks just hammering down every little thing. Like I said, you miss by one or two points, it's a fail, but we gotta make sure we're not missing by any points,” Pisani added.
Two days after the interview with KRDO13 Investigates, a health department representative came back for a third inspection and found no violations at all.
Taco Star
The Taco Star on Rangewood also failed its inspection last week, with 8 violations.
Raw chicken was stored above other meat in the cooler. Carnitas, chicken, and chicken fajitas were stored at the wrong temperature, and several foods weren’t marked with dates.
KRDO13 Investigates reached out to Taco Star for comment, but our call was not returned.
Popeyes
The Popeyes at Fountain and Circle also failed.
Here, the chicken breast, drumsticks, tenders, and rice were at the wrong temperature. The person in charge didn't know the correct method to cool down the rice when questioned by the inspector. The steam table and warmer were also unable to heat properly.
The manager on duty at Popeye’s on Tuesday afternoon didn’t have a comment and said she would have one of her superiors reach out to KRDO13 Investigates, but no one ever did.
Perfect scores
Several restaurants received a perfect score on their health inspection last week:
- Noodles and Company – 2455 Montebello Square
- Sonic – 3401 W Colorado Ave
- Taco Express - 11661 Voyager
- Papa's Italian - 13280 Touchstone View
Tom Bruno first opened a Papa's Italian in Florence 9 years ago, but felt his high-flying pies could compete with any pizza in Colorado Springs, so he recently opened the location in the North Gate area, just down the street from Top Golf and other popular attractions.
The items he's most proud of, however, are his meatballs.
“We cook them according to my grandma's recipe. It was Grandma Bruno, and she was from Sicily. She came over during World War 1, and her boat was attacked by Germans with torpedoes, and she still made it over here,” he says, “and we took her recipe, and we cook it all day on that stove, in that sauce. So those things are tender, they’re very tasty, all those flavors absorb, and it’s just a great product.”
Bruno, a graduate of the US Air Force Academy, has clearly learned a thing or two about cleanliness, discipline, and inspections, and that has carried over into his restaurants.
Don't forget to look for the Top Score and Perfect Score awards handed out by KRDO13 at your favorite restaurant to know the kitchen is clean.
Click here to find all the most recent EPCPH inspections.
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