Yesterday, we cataloged the health violations of four Georgetown-area food establishments that had been pegged as “high-risk” by the Health and Regulations Licensing Administration within the last year or so—Leo’s, Epicurean & Co., The Tombs, and Bangkok Bistro.

Today, we’re running an accounting of the nine remaining restaurants whose two most recent food establishment inspection reports we acquired through a February Freedom of Information Act request. 

We found that Wisey’s, the Starbucks and the Cosi in the Leavey Center, Booey’s, Tuscany Cafe, the former Philly Pizza, and Midnight Mug were listed on at least one report as “medium-risk” establishments, mostly due to non-critical violations. Only two establishments, Vital Vittles and Hoya Snaxa, were never listed as risky establishments.

In total, they garnered 9 critical and 16 non-critical violations. Again, six critical violations that cannot be corrected on site result in the closure of the restaurant. Owners are usually given five days to rectify critical violations and 45  for non-critical violations or they risk closure.

COSI

An August inspection of the Cosi in the Leavey Center found three critical violations. The establishment was cited for needing to clean food contact surfaces and its “warewashing, sanitizing, frequency methods.”

“Resurface, clean, and sanitize cutting boards” for sandwich preparation areas and other cutting boards, the report said. “Adjust hot water on hand sinks in rear and prep area so [temperatures] reach 110 degrees; repair hot water gauge on dish machine.”

An inspection five days later confirmed that Cosi had corrected all of the violations, and a notice it had been given after the previous report was abated.

TUSCANY CAFE

An August inspection found that Tuscany Cafe had one critical and two non-critical violation. Several food storage units were missing thermometers, many food items were not labeled and dated, and employees were cited for personal cleanliness, although the only written note about employees was that they were seen not wearing either hats or hair restraints when handling food. The establishment was given five and 45 days’ notice to make corrections.

A subsequent inspection 20 days later found no violations and abated the five and 45 days’ notices, but still listed Tuscany as a medium-risk establishment, which is not uncommon for an inspection following up on a notice to correct violations.

The Corp, Wisey’s, and how gross Philly Pizza was, after the jump!

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A Cosi employee was robbed at knifepoint this evening, according to a PSA that was just sent out to the campus community:

At approximately 6:27 p.m. on Sunday, October 18, 2009, an employee of Cosi Restaurant in Leavey Center reported that a colleague had just been robbed at knifepoint by an unknown male.

The suspect inflicted a laceration to the victim’s arm before fleeing the scene through a rear entrance with an undetermined amount of cash. MPD and DPS responded to the scene. The investigation is ongoing.

According to the PSA, the suspect is described as an approximately 6′1″ black man wearing all black clothing, including a black bandana covering his face and “a black hat with the word “Cosi” printed on it.”

The Corp has recently received project approvals to move forward on their newest venture, a café in the Davis Performing Arts Center, according to Corp CEO Ryan Callahan (SFS ‘10). Callahan predicts that the new venue will be open by late October or early November.

The new café will serve full meals and is being worked on in cooperation with the Davis Center in attempt to make the building more of a “cultural hub” on campus (the Davis Center and the Corp are splitting the costs upfront). According to Callahan, the menu for the café is not yet set, but will probably include sandwiches, breakfast foods and possibly Sweetgreen-style frozen yogurt.

The Corp hopes that the new café will have strong cultural programming, with a performance area that could be used for open-mic nights, a cappella groups, or staging promotional scenes for campus productions (if the café takes Uncommon Grounds’ mantle as the “artsy” Corp venue, UG might work on being more oriented towards the new business school, Callahan said).

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Photography by Helen Burton