Fountain restaurant cleans up act with new owner, Colo. Springs taco shop triumphs in tidiness

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - In this week’s Restaurant Roundup, a dozen violations at a local Korean kitchen led to a big change for the restaurant. Meanwhile, a small taco shop is bringing big flavor with a side of refried beans and cleanliness.

The Korean Garden in Fountain had a dozen violations during its routine health inspection earlier this month.

To name a few: an employee left the kitchen, then touched dirty dishes, then prepped food – all with the same gloves on. Some food wasn’t dated, raw chicken was too warm, and pork loin and beef ribs were thawing at room temperature.

But here’s the catch-- when we stopped by and employees got the owner on the phone, we learned there’s a new sheriff in town.

“We just took over the ownership,” he said during a phone call with KRDO’s Julia Donovan.

When the health department went back days later, it appeared the new owner really turned things around.

Korean Garden went from our low score, to what would be considered a Restaurant Roundup high-scoring spot!

Speaking of high scores, we have a few for you this week right here in Colorado Springs:

Rudy's Bar-B-Q on 31st Street, Poor Richard's on Tejon Street, and Maria's Taco Shop on E Pikes Peak Avenue.

“We try to treat everybody like family,” Maria’s Taco Shop Manager, Eric Garcia, explained.

Garcia will take some credit for the hospitality, but he stops there.

“When it comes to food, flavor, cleanliness, and everything like that – it’s them,” Eric admitted.

The ladies out back, he means. Those women mean business.

“They are really particular about what they do,” Eric told us. “If they were not clean, they would not eat here.”

So, what should you try at Maria’s?

“People love the birria tacos,” Eric suggested.

We choose our high and low-scoring restaurants based on results from recent El Paso County Health Department inspections.

Keep an eye out for the KRDO13 Restaurant Roundup award sticker at your favorite restaurant to know the kitchen inside is clean.

Stay up to date with the latest local news, sports, and investigations by downloading the KRDO13 app. Click here to download it from the Apple App Store. Android users can download it from Google Play here.