County finds violations at 14 eateries during 1st inspections

The Allegheny County COVID19 Field Response Team found 14 restaurants with at least one personal coronavirus safety violation during its first round of inspections Thursday.

The 10-person team, created this week, visited 69 restaurants, many of which were identified by customer complaints, with a checklist of safety precautions: tables spaced for social distancing, indoor occupancy at 25% or less, staff and customers wearing masks, no bar seating or smoking, dine-in service capped at 11 p.m., and signs reminding customers to wear a mask.

Restaurants were scored as “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory” on the checklist. The restaurants that did not score entirely satisfactory will be referred to the Allegheny County Health Department’s Food Safety Program for a follow-up inspection by a health inspector, according to a news release from the county.

Only two restaurants — a Subway location in Aspinwall, and Terrene in Station Square — had

more than one violation, according to the team’s reports.

Subway was cited for employees not wearing masks properly and for no signs posted requiring customers to wear masks. Terrene was also cited for having no signs posted requiring customers to wear masks and for having tables too close together, though the report states the restaurant is open for takeout only.

“We are all takeout here, we had tables in our dining room, but we told them we were takeout only, so the lady marked us for that,” said Chuck, an employee at Terrene who only gave his first name.

“We had the signs missing on the door telling customers they had to wear a mask,” he said. To address the problem, the restaurant made signs to put up.

According to a news release, the field team is to provide restaurant management with “materials and resources they need to operate safely,” but Chuck said the field team did not provide additional materials.

A Subway in West Mifflin was also marked for not displaying a sign for customers to wear a mask. An employee there reported that the county field team did provide a sign for them to correct the violation.

The rest of the violations are as follows:

• Big Dogs, Cheswick: No occupancy signs posted.

• Taco Bell, Duquesne: Staff not wearing masks properly.

• Elizabeth Express Kitchen Car, Elizabeth: No sign posted for customers to wear masks.

• McDonald’s, North Versailles: Staff not wearing masks properly.

• Pizza Milano, Robinson: Staff either not wearing masks or not wearing masks properly.

• Starbucks, Robinson: Staff not wearing masks properly. An employee there reported that all staff on duty were wearing masks correctly Friday.

• Sushi Bomb, Robinson: Occupancy. Field team counted 50 to 60 customers, not counting staff, inside.

• Fudge Farm, South Side: Tables not 6 feet apart. The tables are bolted to the floor, the report states, and the restaurant was takeout only.

• Popeye’s, South Side: Occupancy. Report states the line for takeout was too close to the building.

• Qdoba, South Side: Staff member not wearing mask properly. Employee told the field team he had a medical issue and could not wear a mask, the report states.

• Asian House, West Mifflin: Multiple staff not wearing masks.

The inspection reports can be viewed at https:// eapps.alleghenycounty.us/ cFips/cDashBoard.aspx.