Rare closure of Pueblo restaurant due to excessive health violations
Low Scores
With a total of 15 violations, Chong’s Cafe on North Main Street scored worse than any other restaurant since the last Pueblo County edition of Restaurant Roundup in mid-March.
It also marks the first restaurant of 2025 to be shut down by the health department, due to the total number of violations.
The problems found on April 22 include:
- Employees failed to wash their hands or change gloves numerous times.
- Employees handled cooked food with their bare hands
- Rice was stored on the floor instead of above the floor, while broccoli was stored on top of a trash can
- Dead pests were found in the basement, where they should have been removed
KRDO13 visited Chong’s Cafe to ask about the closure and the corrections, but the woman working in the dining room didn’t seem to know anything about it and referred us to the owner.
The owner declined to call back with a response.
Chong's Cafe did pass its re-inspection on May 8.
The Asian Garden on McCulloch in Pueblo West wasn't shut down, but it did fail two inspections in a row, on April 30 and May 15.
Here, the inspector found:
- Several foods were left uncovered, including chicken, egg rolls, broccoli, and sprouts
- The cutting blocks and boards were too worn out from excessive scoring, and could no longer be effectively cleaned and sanitized
- Two sinks were leaking
- There was debris throughout the kitchen, requiring a deep cleaning.
The host at the restaurant acknowledged the recent failures, but referred us to his boss – who didn’t call back with a comment on the violations.
Asian Garden is still awaiting its third inspection.
Not far away, Cat’s Pourhouse on Tiffany Drive in Pueblo West also failed its inspection with nine violations.
The violation on May 8 include:
- The cooler needed to be repaired because the temperature was at 55 degrees instead of 41 degrees or below
- Milk and red chile were older than 24 hours, but didn't have dates to show when they were made or opened
- The ceiling above the food prep area was peeling
Cat's passed its re-inspection on May 23, but no one from the restaurant responded to a request for comment.
High Scores
Here are some of the high scores in Pueblo County over the last few months:
Rita's Mexican Food - 302 N Grand Ave – 2 violations
Buckshot Bar and Grill - 190 W. Palmer Lake Dr. - 1 violation
Solar Roast Coffee - 226 N Main St – 0 violations
Subway – 1722 S Santa Fe – 0 violations
SS Subs - 1037 S Pueblo Blvd – 0 violations
SS Subs on South Pueblo has served up hot and cold sandwiches since the 1970’s.
“Everybody in Pueblo knows it as a stable sub shop,” says owner Michelle Gonzales.
Gonzales and her family bought SS Subs less than two years ago, and says hers is the fourth family to own it since it was opened.
She says when she learned it was for sale, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
“When we heard it was on the market, we didn’t want to see it go away, and so we decided to just jump in full force and take over and put our twist on it,” she explained.
The bread and cookies at SS Subs are from other local bakeries, while the meats and cheeses are sliced by hand daily.
Much of the recipes remained the same, but the new owners have also added a few changes, such as creating an app that has proven very successful for people looking to place an order on the go.
The Italian is the most popular sandwich, according to Gonzales, but the hot pastrami and the meatball subs are also big sellers.
Despite not having a long history in the food industry, the Gonzales family has excelled when it comes to food safety, thanks in part to a positive relationship with their health inspector, rather than a cat-and-mouse type relationship.
“When she’s here and available, I always make sure that we ask her any questions that we have. She’s a human being, she has to do her job, and her job is to protect the public, and I totally respect it,” she says.
Gonzales said she also looked over previous health inspection reports to identify past violations and make sure they aren’t making those same mistakes.
Don't forget to look for the KRDO13 top score awards at your favorite restaurant to know the kitchen is clean.
Click here for a link to all the recent health inspection scores in Pueblo County.
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