Caitlin Emma Photo
Ugur Citlak at his family’s restaurant.
More Than Pizza on Whalley Avenue learned a lesson about serving more than just pizza after a city inspector showed up.
The Whalley Avenue pizzeria scored 88 out of 100 on its latest health inspection, easily a passing grade. It will probably do better next now that it got advice on how to handle ice cream.
City sanitarians inspect all of New Haven’s restaurants once a year. Restaurants that score less than 80 have about two weeks to make the recommended corrections. The health department can also close a restaurant, regardless of score, if the sanitarians suspect an immediate danger to public health.
Health inspector Roslyn Hamilton-McGraw made one observation at More Than Pizza, which is at 533 Whalley: The kitchen of the restaurant had a sour smell to it.
“I don’t know where it was coming from,” Hamilton-McGraw said. “I told them to go through their walk-in freezers and to clean their grease trap.”
She said More Than Pizza also needed to invest in dipper wells to clean their ice cream scoops. Dipper wells are containers of warm water built into the ice cream serving area to sanitize the scoops. The addition might require More Than Pizza to reconfigure some of the restaurant’s plumbing, she said.
“We learned about the ice cream,” said Ugur Citlak, whose father has owned More Than Pizza for about 15 years. “Overall, we were satisfied with our inspection.”
Other than the ice cream glitch and the smell, the health inspector seemed happy with the rest of the kitchen.
The ice cream freezer at More Than Pizza.
“They liked how organized the refrigerator was,” Citlak reported.
Below is a selection of some of the best, worst and mediocre scores from the latest round of inspections during early and mid-March. Valley Mart at 589 Valley St. scored the highest — a 97 out of 100 — and is all set to open for business. Mezcal on Mechanic Street scored an 84, but it needs a thorough cleaning top to bottom as soon as possible. Miya’s Sushi on Howe Street scored the lowest with a 69 out of 100. Some sanitizing and stations for added washing will bring the score up, according to the health inspector.
March 6, 2012
Mezcal, 14 Mechanic St.
Score: 84/100
Corrections due: ASAP
• Clean inside refrigerators
• Store wiping clothes in sanitizer
• Rust inside drawers
• Store single service articles inverted
• Clean walls, ceilings
• Clean shelves, equipment
• Eliminate wood under microwave
• Repair damaged ceiling
• Paint ceilings, walls if necessary
• Clean table under grill, inside and under fryer
• Thorough cleaning throughout necessary
• Clean floors under/behind equipment
• Properly label food product out of original containers
• Eliminated soiled wood next to dish machine
• Clean shelves under stainless table
• Dishwasher is not operating properly
• Chipping paint on door easing/jambs
• Food product and containers must be stored off floor
• Paint or shellac bare wood surfaces
• Repair damaged walls in basement, finish walls, paint ceilings
• Provide floor/wall juncture
• Rusty wire shelves
• Clean tops of freezer, under fridge
• Eliminate unnecessary articles
• Provide a probe thermometer for testing food temperatures
• Provide thermometer inside all cold holding units
March 8, 2012
Angelo’s Pizza, 163 Foster St.
Score: 76/100
Corrections due: 2 weeks
• Clean overhead light shields
• Provide paper towels at hand sinks
• Repair leaking pipes under hand sink/clean pipes under sinks
• Paint or shellac bare wood surfaces
• Provide a screen for front door or close
• Do not store utensils, knives between tables and walls
• Properly store cleaning equipment/hang mops and brooms
• Provide thermometers inside all cold holding units
• Clean and sanitize table top can opener
• Clean dry good containers
• Eliminate cups as scoops/provide scoops with handles
• Do not store scoops inside food product
• Don’t store medication inside refrigerator with food product
• Store wipe cloths in sanitizer
• Clean refrigerator gaskets, floors under and behind equipment/overhead hood
• Broken tops on lift-up freezers, eliminate soiled duct tape — replace or repair
• Clean ceilings, damaged ceilings in basement
• Provide covered trash can in the bathroom
More Than Pizza, 533 Whalley Ave.
Score: 88/100
Corrections due: ASAP
• Missing fridge thermometer in new reach-in freezer
• Missing paper towels and waste basket at hand sink — paper towels missing throughout
• Missing light in rear prep area
• Missing splash guard by pizza hand sink
• Plastic cover still on new steel reach-in
• Toilet — not clean — public toilet
• Women’s toilet room locked — need lock replacement
• Inside unused oven not clean
• Missing dipper well for hard ice cream dispensing
• Several stained ceiling tiles
• Small reach-in Friday worn out inside — replace inside
Note: Hard ice cream being served — sour smell in kitchen
Dunkin’ Donuts, 323 Whalley Ave.
Score: 96/100
• Rubber gasket on reach-in door by the coolatta in disrepair
• Latte drain not clean
• Hole in wall in rear
• Brooms stored on floor
March 9, 2012
Valley Mart, 589 Valley St.
Score: 97/100
Note: OK to open
• 3‑Bay sinks not clean
• Floor in disrepair
• Remove unnecessary articles from rear kitchen (rusty grille)
March 12, 2012
Olympia Diner, Ella T. Grasso Blvd
Score: 89/100
Corrections due: ASAP
• Cardboard egg trays under partially cooked bacon
• Can opener not clean
• Broom stored on floor throughout (hang up)
• Cardboard lining new refrigerator floor
• Dirty wiping cloths on table tops and counters
• Plastic squirt bottles and shakers missing labels
• Aleve on shelf over reach-in (removed)
March 13, 2012
Miya’s Sushi, 68 Howe St.
Score: 69/100
Corrections due: 2 weeks
• Hand sink must be used for hand washing only
• Provide liquid pump soap and a paper towel holder with paper towels at hand sinks
• Clean and sanitize dry good bins
• Eliminate cups as scoops, provide scoops with handles
• Don’t store scoops inside food product
• Store single serving articles inverted
• Store wiping cloths in sanitizer
• Properly label food product out of original containers
• Repair damaged walls, clean walls
• Provide floor, wall juncture
• Clean floors under and behind equipment
• Provide a 3‑bay sink for proper washing, rinsing and sanitizing
• Provide a hand sink in wait station
• Replace broken refrigerator gaskets
• Provide light shield on overhead bulbs
• Store utensil handles facing same direction
• Broken plastic curtains, heavily soiled
• Clean all shelves inside walk-in
• Paint or shellac bare wood surfaces
• Provide proper lighting in walk-in
• Broken/cracked floor tiles
• Clean mop room/properly store cleaning equipment/hang mops, brooms
• Clean floors in basement/repaint cement floor
• Provide light shields on bulbs in basement
• Repair basement ceiling
• Cleaning and straighten basement — provide complete separation of food and non-food product
• Hot water in bathrooms must not exceed 115 degrees Fahrenheit
• Chipped paint on walls/cracked walls
March 15, 2012
Scarpellino’s, 257 Forbes Ave.
Score: 88/100
Corrections due: ASAP
• Ceiling vent not clean/walk-in fan not clean
• Reusing cardboard on shelves
• Corned ceef was 134 degrees Fahrenheit, cooked cabbage on shelf 110 degrees Fahrenheit
• Eggs in walk-in covered by cardboard
• Containers of food in walk-in on floor
• No sanitizing equipment/no air-drying equipment — towel drying (observed)
• Brooms stored on floor