Atlanta J.R. Crickets boosts score from 35 to an 84

ATLANTA — A popular southwest Atlanta restaurant got one of the lowest inspection scores Channel 2 Action News has ever seen, a 35 on Oct. 16.

Channel 2's Carol Sbarge talked to the general manager of the J.R. Crickets to see what went wrong and how the restaurant boosted its score to an 84.

The general manager at J.R. Crickets on Cascade Road said the staff members immediately put procedures into place to maintain what they say had been a history of superior scores.

J.R. Crickets Lounge Cascade is a well-known gathering place for people to eat and watch sports on TV.

Some of the violations noted in the 35 scoring included observed buildup of slime in the interior of an ice machine, observed dead insects in the kitchen area, observed food employee touching ready-to-eat food and no soap located at hand washing sink inside kitchen.

Sbarge went to the restaurant, which had two A’s and one B in its previous inspection, to see why it fared so poorly this last time.

The restaurant’s owner said they took the latest score very seriously and immediately addressed problems in the kitchen.

In a statement, the restaurant said: "First off, our inspection score on 10/16/13 is and was unacceptable! We at J.R. Crickets Lounge Cascade understand the gravity of this situation. We want to reassure our customers, community and constituents that we have undertaken efforts to prevent any recurrence."

The general manager wrote that the entire staff has gone through Fulton County-sponsored food service retraining and that significant staff changes have been made, starting with the kitchen manager.

The general manager said the restaurant also assigned new cleaning schedules and duties and all staff must take the safe serve food training course.

Within 10 days of the inspection, the restaurant was retested and scored an 84.

WSBTV