The food safety manager at El Mirador Ranchero in Canton picked the wrong time for a visit home to Mexico.

It left the restaurant at 370 Marietta Street without anyone in charge to communicate food service health practices during a routine inspection.

“The person left in charge can cook but did not observe any organized procedures for taking care of food that was being prepared,” said the Cherokee County health inspector, who was informed of the previous manager’s departure.

There was a general lack of knowledge in the restaurant’s operation, and no one washed their hands while working in the kitchen, according to the inspection report.

The restaurant was given a failing score of 65/U.

During the inspection, the person in charge switched back and forth from preparing food to washing dishes without washing hands. Also, the manager used bare hands to touch prepared food, and only put on gloves when customers came in.

The staff showed no understanding of controlling food temperatures, the inspector said.

Some potentially hazardous cold items were discarded because the temperatures were above 41 degrees. A milk drink that contained raw eggs was at 61 degrees, and some raw beef was at 59 degrees. Some chili and cooked tomatoes weren’t hot enough to prevent bacteria.

In other violations, dirty dishes and utensils were stored with clean ones. The microwave was dirty. Some food wasn’t covered to prevent contamination.

El Mirador Ranchero will be re-inspected, and its previous scores were 82/B and 80/B. Restaurant management could not be reached for comment.

Here are other recent inspection scores from area restaurants.

Cherokee County

• Bedoe’s Bar & Grille, 6115 Hickory Flat Highway, Canton. 93/A
• Canton House, 134 Riverstone Parkway, Canton. 85/B
• Corner Café, 11474 Cumming Highway, Canton. 96/A
• J. Miller’s, 150 Towne Lake Parkway, Woodstock. 96/A
• Union Hill Grill, 5060 Sugar Pike Road, Canton. 86/B

Cobb County

• Low Country Barbecue, 2000 S. Pioneer Drive, Smyrna. 93/A
• Mexico Lindo, 848 Veterans Memorial Highway, Mableton. 93/A
• Motherland Kitchen, 2359 Windy Hill Road, 96/A
• Provino’s, 440 Barrett Parkway, Kennesaw. 100/A
• Ralph’s Tavern, 4290 Bells Ferry Road, Kennesaw. 90/A

DeKalb County

• Baraka Shawarma, 4188 E. Ponce de Leon Ave., Clarkston. 91/A
• Café Sababa, 4639 N. Shallowford Road, Dunwoody. 97/A
• Little Cuba, 3350 Chamblee Tucker Road, Chamblee. 85/B
• Outback Steakhouse, 2145 Lavista Road, Atlanta. 79/C
• Susan’s Café, 2965 Flowers Road, Chamblee. 84/B

Fulton County

• Big Easy Grille, 1193 Collier Road, Atlanta. 81/B
• Café Q, 10475 Medlock Bridge Road, Johns Creek. 96/A
• Hard Rock Café, 215 Peachtree St., Atlanta. 87/B
• Ranchero Mexican, 5021 Old National Highway, Atlanta. 75/C
• The Roswell Tap, 1090 Alpharetta St., Roswell. 96/A

Gwinnett County

• Cheeky Taqueria, 1039 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Suwanee. 96/A
• God Mama’s Kitchen, 6045 Norcross Tucker Road, Norcross. 93/A
• Little Azio, 3975 Holcomb Bridge Road, Norcross. 95/A
• Ruby Tuesday, 4121 Highway 78, Loganville. 96/A
• Steak ‘n Shake, 1610 Scenic Highway, Snellville. 100/A

– by Laura Berrios for the Food & More blog

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