Henry Co. Mexican restaurant fails health inspection with 63

HENRY COUNTY, Ga — A Henry County restaurant owner said the date of the restaurant's last health inspection played a part in its low score.

El Agave Mexican restaurant failed a health inspection this month. The restaurant’s score was a 63 out of 100.

Violations included employees using bare hands to prepare ready-to-eat food items, potentially hazardous foods not meeting temperature requirements, employees thawing raw meats at room temperature and the current permit not being posted.

Channel 2’s Carol Sbarge reported from El Agave to find out what workers were doing to fix the problems. By phone, the owner said the inspection happened after a day in which they served several hundred more customers than usual.

The owner said the day they got their inspection was the day after their busiest day of the year, Cinco de Mayo.

He said the air conditioning broke the day the inspector came and that it caused the food temperature violation in the kitchen.

Sbarge asked the owner what he’s doing to fix the problems and he said he got the air conditioner fixed and is addressing all the violations. He said he expects to be reinspected this week and hopes to get the score back to its previous number, 94.

“I don’t think I would want to eat there with a 63 score. I’d be kind of hesitant about it,” said Gwinnett County resident Terry Settles.

Settles said he always checks a restaurant’s current score.

WSBTV