COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – In this week’s Restaurant Roundup, it’s the battle of the breakfast spots. One popular donut shop was slammed with over a dozen violations, including the presence of live and dead insects.
Meanwhile, a coffee shop in Downtown Colorado Springs is full of dedicated employees who say they wouldn’t stand to work at a place with unsafe food practices.
You can’t glaze over this one: Amy’s Donuts on E. Fountain Boulevard failed its routine health inspection for the second time this year – with 17 violations!
The health inspector reported seeing insects flying around the restaurant, and several dead flies and wasps. The hand-washing sink wasn’t working, and there were cracks in the floor, and the walls were full of food debris.
Our KRDO crews headed to Amy’s to see what’s up.
The manager on duty told us they’ve already fixed a lot of the issues.
“Right now, everything is good,” said Celbi Rodriguez.
“We got busy and we try to take care of things, but things break and stuff happens,” employee Nadia added. “We just did a deep clean for pretty much the whole week.”
Amy’s Donuts passed its re-inspection with six violations. Nadia told us she believes it’s safe to eat their doughnuts.
OTHER FAILING RESTAURANTS
The Taco Star on N. Circle Drive failed with 10 violations, including moldy tomatoes.
When we called, the Taco Star manager declined to comment.
Paravicini’s on W. Colorado Avenue in Old Colorado City failed for the third time this year with nine violations. The inspector noticed flies around the cooked bread and ordered twelve pans of food to be thrown out since they weren’t stored at the proper temperature.
We left a voicemail and a message with a Paravicini’s employee asking for a manager to call back and comment on the violations. We’re still waiting to hear back.
HIGH SCORES
Okay, phew – now it’s time for the good stuff!
Starting with our one perfect score this week: Eim Thai on Garden of the Gods Road.
Other high scores? Red Rock Pizzeria and La Casita, both on S. 8th Street.
Then there’s The Exchange on Tejon Street downtown, where they serve strong coffee and strong opinions on why food safety is so important.
“You don’t want to get somebody sick; you don’t want to kill somebody,” said owner Andy Schlesinger when we stopped by.
Andy suggests you come for the Cuban coffee and stay for the cubano sandwich.
Under Schlesinger’s leadership, The Exchange has grown from a small coffee shop into a full-fledged restaurant with two levels and over 100 seats.
Still, he praises his team for a spotless kitchen.
“They’re very diligent and I’m really proud of them,” Andy told us.
Keep an eye out for the KRDO 13 Restaurant Roundup awards at your favorite restaurant to know the kitchen inside is clean.
Click here for a full list of recent health inspections in El Paso County.