A family-run Chinese restaurant in Alpharetta had only a few health code violations during a recent routine inspection, but it was enough to lower their perfect score to a failing one.

Lee Garden, 11770 Haynes Bridge Road, was given a 65 because the certified food safety manager couldn’t answer basic food safety questions, there was no employee health policy and no soap or paper towels at the hand washing sink.

These code violations carry stiffer penalties because they’re considered essential in preventing food borne illnesses, according to the report.

For Lee Garden, the main issues involved a walk-in cooler that needed reorganizing and appliances and other equipment that needed cleaning.

Points were taken off because raw animal food was not properly separated from ready-to-eat food.

“We didn’t know that eggs weren’t supposed to be that close to the cooked food,” said David Lee, the owner’s son.

“We also had some minor cleaning issues,” he added.

The microwave and toaster oven had heavy food build-up, and food debris was found on the inside of the coolers and along the cold food holding line.

Buckets of sanitizing solution, used for cleaning food contact surfaces, had not been prepared at the time of the Sept. 14 inspection.

Lee said the restaurant is expecting a follow-up inspection this week. Its previous scores were 100/A and 79/C.

Here are other recent inspection scores from area restaurants.

Clayton County

• Ameribistor, 6459 Highway 42, Rex. 93/A
• American Grill & Wings, 4652 Jonesboro Road, Forest Park. 93/A
• Hikari, 6335 Highway 85, Riverdale. 82/B
• The Chicken House, 1131 Forest Parkway, Forest Park. 83/B
• Zaxby’s, 7541 Highway 85, Riverdale. 90/A

Cobb County

• China Wok, 2555 Delk Road, Marietta. 96/A
• DaVinci’s Pizzeria, 1810 Spring Road, Smyrna. 93/A
• El Pollo Dorado, 715 Sandtown Road, Marietta. 91/A
• Houlihan’s, 1401 Johnson Ferry Road, Marietta. 95/A
• Lalo’s Mexican Restaurant, 3999 Austell Road, Austell. 95/A

DeKalb County

• Avondale Pizza Café, 2823 E. College Ave., Decatur. 74/C
• Bahel, 3125 Briarcliff Road, Atlanta. 91/A
• Lalibela Café, 3096 N. Decatur Road, Scottdale. 89/B
• Universal Joint, 906 Oakview Road, Decatur. 83/B
• Zuma, 2899 N. Druid Hills Road, Atlanta. 87/B

Fulton County

• Café Efendi, 488 N. Main St., Alpharetta. 70/C
• Haveli, 225 Spring St., Atlanta. 100/A
• Manderin House, 6263 Roswell Road, Atlanta. 93/A
• New Saigon Vietnamese Bistro, 10820 Abbotts Bridge Road, Johns Creek. 92/A
• The Highland Bakery, 655 Highland Ave., Atlanta. 86/B

Gwinnett County

• Frontera Mex-Mex Grill , 6555 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth. 78/C
• Grouchy’s, 5275 Peachtree Parkway, Norcross. 69/U
• Mah Jong Restaurant, 1905 Scenic Highway, Snellville. 91/A
• Moe’s Southwest Grill, 6600 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth. 94/A
• Twisted Tavern, 4450 Nelson Brogdon Blvd., Sugar Hill. 82/B

– by Laura Berrios for the Food & More blog

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