Colorado Springs restaurant fails health inspection four times in a row

Low scores

Just two restaurants failed their health inspections last week, but El Paso County records show one of them has now failed four times in a row.

While it may sound like a medieval video game, Dragon King is actually a Chinese restaurant at Powers and Galley. 

Health department records show it failed its health inspection in December, February, March, before failing a fourth time on April 28. 

The latest list of violations includes: 

• An employee touching cooked chicken with their bare hands 
• Noodles and cooked chicken were both sitting in the kitchen at the wrong temperature 
• The methods being used to cool chicken weren't up to code 

Some of those same violations were noted during previous inspections. 

KRDO13 went to the restaurant to ask why the issues hadn't been addressed, but the owner and manager had supposedly left for the day. 

A worker provided a phone number for that person, but no one responded to a request for comment. 

The Dragon King is still awaiting its fifth inspection. 

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The Taco Express on Tutt Boulevard near Stetson Hills also failed last week. 

Among the problems here: 

• At least one staff member didn't wash their hands before putting on gloves 
• A worker was spotted touching a tortilla with their bare hands before giving it to a customer 
• Raw egg residue was found on a cutting board 

According to a staff member, the owner was out of town last week, and a manager had called in sick on the day of the inspection, so things weren’t up to the normal standard at the restaurant. 

When the owner returned, he had a meeting with the staff to discuss and correct the violations, and expects to have no problem passing the re-inspection, which typically comes 7-10 business days after a failure. 

A worker also pointed out that the owner’s other location on Voyager earned a perfect score in a health inspection earlier this year and was even featured in the Restaurant Roundup segment on February 27.

Just three violations were noted during the previous inspections at the Tutt location. 

High scores

Several restaurants had just one violation during their inspections last week: 

Rocky Mountain Beignets - 26 E Kiowa St 

Chicken Salad Chick - 5660 Barnes Rd 

Subway - 2345 E Platte Ave 

Snarf's Sandwiches - 1640 S Nevada Ave 

Two restaurants also earned a perfect score: 

Taco Bell - 1030 Academy Park Loop 

Schlotzsky's - 8310 Razorback Rd 

Created in 1971 in Austin, Texas, Schlotzsky’s is best known for its unique toasted sourdough bread, made fresh daily according to owner Rich Forbush. 

“We actually have three different kinds,” he says, “we have the sourdough, we have the rye, and we also have jalapeno and cheese.” 

“We use nothing but fresh vegetables,” he adds, “The fresh meat, we run it through the oven, which really brings out the flavor in all of the meats, I think that's what really separates us apart from all of the other sandwich shops, is the bread.” 

Even though his two Schlotzsky's on Razorback and at Academy and Maizeland are part of a nationwide chain, Forbush feels it's more like a local business. 

“We do a lot of fundraising, we do special events, we do golf tournaments.  There's a lot of things we do that stays with the Colorado Springs confines. 

The Schlotzsky's on Razorback has always done well on its health inspection, but this is the first perfect score it has earned. 

Forbush says it's great to see all their hard work towards maintaining food safety paying off. 

Don't forget to look for the KRDO13 Restaurant Roundup awards at your favorite restaurant to know the kitchen is clean. 

Click here to see all of the most recent health inspection reports in El Paso County.