Where are all the restaurants going?

If you have been to Staten Island, you know that it’s pretty small and you will most likely notice when your favorite places to dine have been closed.  The most recent closing of a food place occurred a few months ago in New Dorp.  A Pizza Hut had been located in the Hylan Plaza shopping center for years, so it came as a shock to many when all of a sudden it was shut down.  “What happened?  I used to eat there all the time!” inquired many of its former patrons.  A failing score on a food inspection is what happened.

According to the statistics on nyc.gov, the percentage of food service establishments failing initial inspection in the New Dorp Area of Staten Island has increased from 9.7% in 2005 to 16.3% in 2007.  The way the scoring system works is as follows; any food establishment that is inspected is evaluated according how many violations they have.  Each violation has a point value, and basically each food establishment is allowed to have violations that are under the amount of 27 points.  If the violations add up to 28 or more points, then the establishment is required to have a follow-up inspection.  If they have not significantly reduced the amount of violations they had on the initial inspection, then they will be shut down by the NYC Department of Health.  

I work for a restaurant called Chevy’s Fresh Mex, which is also located in the Hylan Plaza shopping center in New Dorp.  Chevy’s was recently inspected on December 3, 2007, and received a total of 20 points worth of violations.  When asked about the results of the inspection that took place two months ago, Supervisor Mike P. (he asked that his last name not be revealed) commented the following; “I think that one of the main reasons we didn’t do so well on our last inspection was because the criteria for the inspections has recently changed and the [Apple Metro] company was not sufficiently informed about these changes.  We got some stupid points off for not labeling the food containers properly.  Honestly, I have probably worked in about ten different restaurants in my life, and I would have to say that Chevy’s is the cleanest overall.”

So if you notice that your favorite restaurant in New Dorp has been shut down, check to see the score on their last inspection.  It makes you question how clean the establishments that you eat in really are.

To check the most recent scores on the inspections of restaurants in the New Dorp area, please visit this website: http://nyc.everyblock.com/restaurant-inspections/locations/neighborhoods/new-dorp-midland-beach/

To learn more about the inspection process, visit: http://167.153.150.32/RI/web/howVPWorks.do