Kitchen Cops 07/26/07

New Hanover County health inspectors gave one restaurant a low score and re-graded two others this week, including a place they temporarily shut down last month. This week's lone low performer is New Jade Garden at 3224 N. College Road. The restaurant lost points for raw chicken sitting in a meat prep sink at 75 degrees and two large containers of beef on prep sinks at 50 to 60 degrees. More points off for a large tray of egg rolls on top of a trash can and raw meat on a table with ready-to-eat food. Workers also need to wash hands when changing jobs. A score of 85 for New Jade Garden. Now a couple of re-grades. On July 17, Laterna at 911 S. College Rd. scored an 84. Three days later, the inspector returned. Most of the problems were cleared up, just some cleaning needed, earning Laterna a 99. And finally to Szechuan Buffet in Ogden. The Health Department shut the restaurant down last month after it earned a score of 53.5. It had to meet full standards to get its permit back, which it did. When an inspector returned July 18 she found only a couple of maintenance and equipment problems. With the help of a two-point bonus for workers passing a food safety course Szechuan Buffet nearly doubles its score to 100.5.