Barbecue joint fails inspection

A popular Cobb County restaurant failed its recent health inspection. The owner of a Kennesaw barbecue joint says he’s fixed some of the issues that caused the restaurant to fail a routine health inspection.

Barbecue Street scored a 67/U after an inspector found issues including lack of hot water and plates that were being cleaned without sanitizer.

The restaurant scored an 85/B on its previous inspection in June 2016 and a 94/A before that in December 2015.

In this week’s inspection, Barbecue Street was cited for having no chlorine in its dishwasher to properly sterilize dishes. Kitchen staff immediately replaced the chlorine and rewashed the two loads of dishes that had been run through the machine while the inspector was there, Don Jensen, owner of the 19-year-old Barbecue Street, said. He said the thermometer on his walk-in cooler was displaying the temperature as being seven degrees warmer than it actually was, and the restaurant was penalized for that.

Jensen said he pitched all the food, replaced the thermometer and installed a back-up thermometer inside the cooler.

The inspector also noted that there was no hot water in the bathrooms for guests and employees because of a broken water heater, which means they couldn’t properly wash their hands.

Jensen said Wednesday afternoon that the water heater has been replaced.

He will have to wait for a follow-up inspection.