Customers enjoying an “all-you-can-eat” Mexican buffet at a Loganville restaurant were not too happy when a health inspector had all the food thrown away.

Monterrey Mexican Restaurant, 910 Athens Highway, had no sneeze guard to protect buffet items from contamination.

The restaurant was given a failing score of 61/U on the routine inspection, and told to shut down the self-service buffet until a sneeze guard is installed.

Instead, the restaurant will discontinue the Sunday “all-you-can-eat” special, a manager said.

Monterrey’s buffet was set up on several tables that were pushed together. Chafing dishes were put out for hot foods, and containers of cold foods were placed on beds of ice. Since the food wasn’t protected from germs, it was tossed out and the buffet dismantled.

That action didn’t go unnoticed by the lunch crowd on that Sunday afternoon, and some complained about the inconvenience. Monterrey had been previously instructed to provide adequate shielding for the food, the inspector said.

In other violations, several refrigerated foods were past their expiration dates. Tamales, salsas and cheese dip were all discarded.

Other food was thrown away because it was not kept at the proper temperatures. Taquitos and chicken soup were not at 135 degrees or higher. Cheese dips and rice puddings on the food bar had not been cooled properly to prevent bacteria.

The restaurant will have another inspection. Its previous scores were 84/B and 82/B.

Here are other recent inspection scores from area restaurants.

Cobb County

• Deep South BBQ, 1679 Joyner Ave., Marietta. 90/A
• Jade Palace, 2647 Cobb Parkway, Atlanta. 100/A
• Laseter’s Tavern at Vinings, 4355 Cobb Parkway, Atlanta. 81/B
• Le Café Crepe, 90 Marietta Station Walk, Marietta. 99/A
• Los Reyes Mexican Restaurant, 777 Townpark Lane, Kennesaw. 91/A

DeKalb County

• China King, 4144 Redan Road, Stone Mountain. 85/B
• Chris Pizza, 2911 N. Druid Hills Road, Atlanta. 91/A
• Mobeta Wings, 2759 E. College Ave., Decatur. 97/A
• Waikikie Hawaiian BBQ, 2160 Briarcliff Road, Atlanta. 94/A
• Zyka, 1677 Scott Blvd., Decatur. 90/A

Fulton County

• D&D Barbecue, 1975 Sylvan Road, Atlanta. 99/A
• P’Cheen, 701 Highland Ave., Atlanta. 96/A
• Romano’s Macaroni Grill, 5045 Windward Parkway, Alpharetta. 99/A
• Rosa Mexicano, 245 18th St., Atlanta. 92/A
• Xian China Bistro, 5316 Windward Parkway, Alpharetta. 100/A

Gwinnett County

• Cinco Mexican Cantina, 1500 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Suwanee. 92/A
• Extreme Teriyaki Grill Express, 3455 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Duluth. 90/A
• Luciano’s Ristorante Italiano, 6555 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth. 90/A
• Pho Dai Loi 3, 1500 Pleasant Hill Road, Duluth. 96/A
• Shogun Japanese Steakhouse, 2300 Pleasant Hill Road, Duluth. 94/A

Paulding County

• Atami Steak & Sushi, 2538 Cedarcrest Road, Acworth. 80/B
• BB’s Sports Bar, 4813 Ridge Road, Douglasville. 99/A
• Briar Patch, 3807 Atlanta Highway, Hiram. 97/A
• La Cocina, 457 Nathan Dean Blvd., Dallas. 99/A
• O’Charley’s, 4790 Jimmy Lee Smith Parkway, Hiram. 99/A

– by Laura Berrios for the Food & More blog

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