​The Caffe Boa restaurants in Tempe and Ahwatukee have different owners and different menus, but similar health inspection failures.

This sorry coincidence came to our attention in a recent report by the Maricopa County Environmental Services department, which revealed that the popular bistro on Mill Avenue -- owned by Jay and Christine Wisniewski -- received a "no award" rating during an inspection in late May.

Checking the details on the county website, we found numerous unappetizing details, including:

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​Even the CDC probably couldn't identify all the germs at kids' entertainment centers.

But, dammit, we expect places that cater to our children to keep their kitchens clean and their food safe. Not all are doing so, a review of health inspections shows.

Our ire on the matter was provoked yesterday after checking out the weekly inspection report from the Maricopa County Environmental Services department. Amazing Jake's, the huge, indoor amusement joint at Baseline and Gilbert roads in Mesa, received a "no award" designation for its food service in an inspection earlier this month.

Nothing really jumped out as far as the specific violations -- except for the sheer number of them. Not only did Amazing Jake's fail to receive a gold or silver award, but it racked up a whopping 22 violations for the one inspection on March 1. Repeated violations, such as failing to keep perishable items cold enough, has landed Amazing Jake's on probation with the county as it works to fix the problems and train employees.

The bad inspection wouldn't have surprised county inspectors, because Amazing Jake's has no gold awards on record -- just a bunch of silvers dating back three years. As readers of Chow Bella and observers of the county restaurant ratings know, second place is the first loser when it comes to food inspections. If it ain't gold, it's gross.

One disgusting example: Marinara sauce at Amazing Jake's was found by inspectors to be out-dated and not being stored cold enough in three separate inspections dating back to last September, including the most recent inspection this month. 

Amazing lack of training.

Jake's poor record made us wonder about the cleanliness of similar entertainment centers. As usual, we're sorry we asked the question.

 

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​Of the six dirtiest eateries on Maricopa County's latest restaurant-inspection list, three have the word "super" in their names.

 

Call it a not-so-delicious irony.

At the very bottom of the list of 1,086 food joints is the restaurant of La Mexicana Super Carniceria at 5045 West Thomas Road in Phoenix, where an inspection on March 1 revealed serious storage problems: Onions stored on the floor, meat stored in direct contact with cardboard boxes and salsa being stored at a balmy 77 degrees. Of the 612 Valley eateries with a "no award" designation for this week, Super Carniceria received the lowest score.

Only one notch higher on the latest list, meanwhile, was #1 Eastern Super Buffet at 1901 South Signal Butte Road in Mesa, which has been suffering a serious container problem.

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​More than one rotten Applebee's restaurant is spoiling the bunch.

Health inspection reports show that some Applebee's facilities are clean, with well-trained employees. But we're troubled by health inspections reports on many of the chain's Phoenix-area eateries.

Maricopa County restaurant inspection reports show that 10 of 22 Applebee's in the Valley received a "no award" on their most recent inspection.

 

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Google Street View

Mary Rose Wilcox says that El Portal's next health inspection will merit a "gold" rating.

​We cornered Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox after a news conference last month at El Portal, the downtown Phoenix restaurant owned by her and her husband, Earl.

"When are you going to clean this place up?" we asked snottily.

El Portal, located at 117 West Grant Street, may serve tasty Mexican food, but it hasn't passed a health inspection since 2008.

Wilcox, a seasoned politician, wasn't flustered by the question.

"They already have," she shot back, adding that new methods in place at the restaurant have solved the problems. "Forgive us. We're going to do things a lot better and we're going to end up with the gold."

We'll see.

If she's right, the joint would be reversing a longtime trend:

Five of El Portal's last six awards by the county's department of environmental services were "no award."

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​Like your eggs runny? You might not, after reading this post.

Dr. Joli Weiss, foodborne disease epidemiologist for the Arizona Department of Health Services, confirms that some of the 228 million tainted eggs involved in the national recall making news all over the place were, in fact, distributed in Arizona.

(A press release from the FDA on Monday did not mention Arizona, but includes a list of stores possibly affected.)

Weiss says the FDA still doesn't know how many bad eggs made their way to the state; figuring out what went where is "like a spider web," she says, because of all the distributors along the way, though it is possible and she thinks the FDA is working on it.

(Get the recall dates and more after the jump.)

 

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​As soon as we're done dealing with all this pesky SB1070 nonsense, someone should really look into what's going on with the restaurant inspections at Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox's El Portal, a Mexican restaurant just south of downtown Phoenix.

 

Talk about a Gross Out. And possibly an example of gross neglience (or at least yucky negligence) by the county.

We just received a press release informing us that at 12:30 this afternoon, Latino community leaders will gather at El Portal with Wilcox to discuss Judge Susan Bolton's just-announced decision enjoining parts of SB 1070.

Our advice: Go if you must, but don't eat.

(Get the disgusting details after the jump.)

 

 

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The Rainforest Cafe at Arizona Mills Mall failed its most recent county restaurant inspection -- with violiations including one complaint we hadn't seen before:

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Hospital cafeterias are renowned for serving food that's not so tasty, but we thought such a place would at least follow the rules.

And yet the Arizona Heart Hospital near 19th Street and Thomas hasn't passed a county restaurant inspection since February 2007! The cafeteria has received failing marks five times since then.

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Maybe you should call it Red, White & EEEEWWWW.

The Chandler restaurant on Gilbert Road had some issues regarding old meat (and we're not talking about aged in a good way) during its last (failing) county restaurant inspection.

 

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