Chamango Mexican Snacks

Restaurants have been owning up to their mistakes lately in our dirty dining reports, and this week is no exception. Tonight, 13 Chief Investigator Darcy Spears talks to one owner who says his downgrade was due to a perfect storm of circ The culture that we have right here is to do everything the right way, the first time, But on October 22nd, Hugo Flores' go-to guy couldn't come to work. The fill-in froze in the face of the health district. I don't know if he got nervous, I don't know if he knew what happened to him. And a fridge suddenly failed after working just fine the day before. Those circ Just a few more and they would have closed you down, so that must have been kind of scary for Yes, absolutely, absolutely. So that's why we're taking action on, Flores has had staff meetings, implemented new procedures, and required extra equipment checks to make sure everything is working properly every day. I'm not going to play victim and say, yeah, it's not our fault. It's our fault. The malfunctioning refrigerator accounted for many of Chamango's demerits because it meant lots of food was at unsafe temperatures. Items that had to be relocated or thrown out included a large container of corn, milk, sour cream, eggs, whipping cream and crepe mix. Inspectors also wrote up a repeat violation for spoiled food. What about the moldy strawberries? They said that's a repeat violation for having moldy food in the fridge. So that's another thing that we're implementing right now. The strawberries, if we buy them yesterday, we don't know how long they've been at the store. So we have to come in and check every day. So that's one thing that it was our mistake. Flores says strawberries are one of their best sellers, so they're constantly in the inventory. But obviously we're messed on checking each and every package to make sure that they're all in good conditions. Inspectors found other food items not protected from contamination, Customer ice was improperly stored in a bucket with no drainage. There was a rusty screw inside the ice machine, and hot water at the three-compartment sink was intentionally turned off due to a water leak. Also, dirty items stored as clean had old food on them, including pans, a vegetable chopper, can opener, blender lid and crepe spatula. Again, unfortunately, that very morning I had someone that really never opens. But so that was unfortunate, but it was course corrected on the spot. Chamongo is still digging out of a financial hole with the health district. Inspectors discovered this and the other Chamongo locations have not paid health permit fees, late fees or failed inspection fees. They've set up a payment plan to get back on track. What's it been It's very challenging. It's very, very challenging. They've had to reduce hours, costs and staff as they fight to stay alive. However, we're very, very positive. The things are going to turn around and we're going to be, we've got to make it. We've got one imminent health hazard closure. Area 51 food truck was shut down October 23rd for insufficient water. Inspectors also found ready to eat rice at an unsafe temperature and no sanitizer set up during active food prep. Area 51's food truck was reinspected and reopened with a zero demerit aid grade on October 29th. The owner did not respond to our request for comment. Hugo Flores of Chamongo Mexican Snacks is hoping to get his aid grade back this week. Darcy Spears, 13 Investigates.