Westwood merchants get graded

Monday, July 6, 1998

Westwood merchants get graded

WESTWOOD: Department of Health’s ratings policies popular with
Village diners

By Pauline Vu

Daily Bruin Contributor

Three months ago, something popped up in the windows of Westwood
restaurants: sanitation grade cards.

It was not the cards, however, that shocked people, but the
grades on them.

"After CBS showed restaurant health violations in Los Angeles
(in November of 1997) the public was appalled," said Mayson Kodama,
manager for environmental health in the Los Angeles Health
Department.

"They demanded the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors do
something," he added.

The board adopted an ordinance which decrees that its
restaurants, including Westwood restaurants, must display their
grades from recent routine inspections.

Starting April 1998, restaurants had to post their grades in
full view of the public.

The grade cards are seen positively in the eyes of the
public.

"If they got a bad grade, it’s obvious the restaurant hasn’t
been taking care of business very well. They might be jeopardizing
the health of their customers," said John Davis, a 4th-year math
student.

Davis said he would stop eating at a restaurant with an
extremely low grade.

Restaurants are docked points for anything from seemingly minor
violations, like broken tiles and employees not wearing hair nets,
to larger violations like food temperature.

The amount of points taken off depends on the significance of
the violation; unworn hair nets might only take off two points,
while food cooked at the wrong temperature might take off five
points, according to Kodama.

A grades are 90-100 points, B grades are 80-89 points, and C
grades are 70-79 points.

If a restaurant scores below 60 points on two consecutive
occasions, they are given a permanent suspension hearing until a
manager in that area is able to review their records.

Other violations, like excessive sewage and vermin, are possible
closure violations.

Restaurants are divided in their views about the grade
cards.

"Those getting A’s are very happy. It’s publicly known now that
they’re cleaner. Those getting B’s and C’s are not too happy
because they’re finally recognized, too," Kodama said.

Jerry’s Famous Deli, for example, is extremely pleased with
their A grade.

According to general manager Sam Abikzer, everything in Jerry’s,
from equipment to food handling, was up to par.

"People are more conscious when they can see the grade cards.
They feel more comfortable knowing they won’t get sick from eating
your food," he said.

Cheri Schekman, co-owner of Schlotsky’s Deli, agreed.

"As a business owner, I’m proud to display my A," she said.

"As a consumer, I look for the rating. It’s fair for consumers
to know. I have no problem with the ratings," Schekman added.

Not all restaurants agree with the intricacies of the
process.

Once every four months restaurants must face a routine
inspection, in which they are graded and receive grade cards.

Grade cards must be displayed until the next routine inspection
four months later, even after they have corrected violations.

Wichi Wenabawatana, the owner of Thai Cuisine, has been affected
negatively by this.

"Our grade was absolutely fair, yes," Wenabawatana admitted to
his restaurant’s C grade, "but we fixed almost everything
already."

Some of the major changes Thai Cuisine made was to switch from a
gas rice-cooker to an electric one and to replace their old
refrigerator.

Now, they can only wait for the inspectors to return and change
the grade.

The low grade has hit Thai Cuisine financially.

"Some of my customers, after they saw the C, told me they
wouldn’t return," Wenabawatana said.

Inspection dates are also unknown. Although restaurants know
they will be inspected once every four months, they cannot guess
exactly what day or even what time of day inspectors will show
up.

Schekman also considered the surprise visits a positive
thing.

"If restaurants know when they’re coming, they have time to get
prepared. If it’s a surprise, though, you’ve got to have your
restaurant ready and clean at all times," Schekman said. "I think
the health inspection grades are very, very fair."

Alex Amiri, general manager of Italian Express, disagreed.

His restaurant, which received a B grade, was also hurt by the
unexpected visit.

"It’s not really fair. We should’ve received an A, but we got a
B for minor details," he said.

One violation Italian Express was hit hard for was when a
delivery order was left outside the freezer during a busy lunch
hour.

The order was about to be placed in the freezer within "the next
few minutes," Amiri stressed. The health inspector just arrived in
time, however, to see the delivery order still outside.

Italian Express was docked points for a violation that rarely
occurs, Amiri said.

"I know of a lot of restaurants which were graded unfairly and
got bad ratings for minimal reasons," he continued.

On the whole, however, he supported displaying the grade cards
because of their ease in allowing the public to understand
restaurant quality.

Kodama agreed that inspections won’t always be fair. "It’s a hit
or miss thing." he said.

"It’s never going to be fair, but restaurants have that
responsibility. Inspections are just a microscopic view of what’s
happening."

The displaying of the grade cards have also introduced an
interesting problem: Kodama said he has received calls from
restaurants with A grades who believe restaurants with lower grades
have stolen their grade cards.

Kodama said there is no basis for these accusations. Should a
restaurant ever take off its own grade card and get caught,
however, it would be a criminal misdemeanor.

Schekman noted that a low rating does not necessarily mean the
food is bad.

"If you have a question for the restaurant, just ask them if you
can see their health report. It might just be a whole bunch of
minor things adding up," she said. "Just because you got a C, it
doesn’t mean you have a filthy restaurant."

As a result of the grade cards, restaurants today are more
careful in the way they operate their restaurants.

"In the past the conditions were always something between the
restaurants and the Health Department," Kodama said.

"Restaurants have always been inspected. But now when their
scores are public, it hits them in the pocketbook and has become a
big concern," he added.

JAMIE SCANLON-JACOBS/Daily Bruin

Health ratings have appeared in the windows of Westwood
restaurants like

Stan’s Donuts.

SOURCE/Department of Health

–>

Westwood Village Restaurant Ratings Acapulco B B.J.’s Pizza
& Grill B Baja Fresh A Baskin Robbins #51 D Burger King A
Capt’go D Cowboy Sushi D Diddy Riese C Don Antonios B Fat Burger C
Gypsy Cafe D Hansen Juice B Headlines C In-N-Out Burger A Italian
Express B Jerry’s Famous Deli A Jose Berstein’s F La Salsa C
Lamonica’s NY Pizza A Madison’s Bar & Grill D Maloney’s C Maui
Beach A Mongol’s Bar-B-Q C Noah’s NY Bagels B Noodle Kitchen D
Noodle Planet F Olive Garden A Roll Inn B Schlotzsky’s Deli A Sepis
F Shakey’s Pizza D Stan’s Donuts C Starbuck’s Coffee B Steve’s
Place B Subway B Thai Cuisine C Thai House D The Coffee Bean A The
Falafel King B Togo’s Eatery A Tommy’s of Westwood C Village Yogurt
A Westwood Brewing F Westwood Thai Cafe D Yum Yum Garden B