Dream Wingz – Tiny Town scores 80 on health inspection; repeat violation notice

A state inspector conducted a routine health inspection Wednesday afternoon at Dream Wingz on Cainlo Drive in Clarksville. Upon arrival, the kitchen sink was not stocked with paper towels, and the automated three-compartment sick had no sanitizer. Temperature-controlled items in the reach-in cooler read 45 degrees, slightly over the acceptable level. They also found raw fish thawing in room-temperature 71-degree water when it should have temped at 41 degrees. PVC cement was stored above sauces and salts, while degreaser was stored on top of breading. The restaurant was issued a second-notice letter for having raw eggs stored directly over other food, an infraction they were also cited for in August.

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APSU Campus Cafeteria scores 77 on state health inspection

The Campus Cafeteria inside the Student Center at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville scored a 77 on its test Wednesday, as a state health inspector conducted a routine inspection. Overall, there was not any proper handwashing; employees were touching themselves, handling cleaning bottles, and more without any hand washing. Everyone present had to stop and wash their hands during the inspection. Food was stored improperly in the cooler and freezer, putting items at risk for contamination from raw food items. A total of fifty pounds of food was embargoed – both from the cold food line, where it was held at over fifty degrees, and from a tub of alfredo sauce that was cooked the day prior and was just sitting unused on a prep table at nearly sixty degrees. More food was embargoed after it was found sitting on the omelette prep station at fifty-six degrees, too warm for standards. The inspector noted this was the third consecutive inspection where items were not held at proper temperatures, and has scheduled a priority follow-up on all critical violations.

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Tennessee Valley Brewing Company joins growing list of shuttered downtown businesses

The Tennessee Valley Brewing Company, which currently occupies the space at 125 Franklin Street, has announced it will be permanently closing its doors on October 14. The downtown Clarksville building they currently lease has hosted a series of failed businesses in a short few years. Prior to TVBC taking over the space in April 2023, Mickey’s Downtown closed shortly after health inspectors found cockroaches crawling on kitchen walls & in coolers in November 2022. Before that, failed businessman Dar Place operated Kimo’s Hawaiian Grill. Just before Kimo’s, the building hosted Roux – a restaurant that was closed after the owner was indicted on child pornography charges.

The owners posted the announcement on Facebook Sunday afternoon, explaining their move to downtown was supposed to bring in more customers — and that never came to fruition. The business, which is just over six years old, will serve its last beer on October 14. Many downtown businesses have closed recently, including Tarboosh and 105 Social – both of which sought the college-aged crowd. Many locals have cited parking as the primary reason they no longer frequent downtown businesses – a problem that is only expected to get worse with the arena now open, without any additional parking currently available.

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Harbor Cafe scores 75 on health inspection; 70 lbs of food embargoed

An inspector with the Tennessee Department of Health conducted a routine inspection Friday at Harbor Cafe on Loews Drive. Fifty pounds of prime rib was embargoed due to being cooked 17 hours prior and temping at 46 degrees. Noodles and ground beef were cooked the day prior but had no date markings. Inside the cooler, a pan of uncooked raw chicken was sitting inside an uncovered container of cooked chicken. Wet and soiled wiping cloths were lying on food prep tables throughout. Multiple other violations were noted, including a heavy buildup of grease in the hood over the fry station and sludge in the ice machine. Harbor Cafe received a 75 on the inspection.

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Strawberry Alley Ale Works dishes still not washed correctly, per Dept of Health

An Inspector with the Tennessee Department of Health visited Strawberry Alley Ale Works Friday and issued a critical violation for improper dishwashing — the third such violation within a year and the fourth in their history.

Despite multiple tests, the dishwashing machine would only heat to between 148 and 156 degrees using a plate thermometer run through several times. A technician was called yet again, and the restaurant was instructed to use a three-compartment sink to hand wash the dishes until the unit could be serviced. Management claimed the machine’s temperature is checked twice a day, so they did not understand how it was not working now; however, they were unable to provide any log of temperature checks.

In March 2023, during an inspection, an employee simply raised a utensil to clean it, using no soap or sanitizer prior to using it for food preparation. An October inspection also revealed the same temperature issue as the most recent inspection — a problem that also was revealed in a 2021 inspection.

Overall, the restaurant scored an 88 on the current inspection, with that being the only critical violation. Other violations included cheese sauce at an improper temperature, milk and half-and-half too warm at over 50 degrees, and other temperature issues in the prep cooler, along with a slimy black residue built up inside the ice machine.

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Exit 4 Wingstop dirty & moldy, per scathing health department inspection

An inspector with the health department conducted a routine inspection of Wingstop on Needmore Road Thursday, filing a scathing report about the cleanliness of the restaurant, with 16 violations. Earning a score of 83, the inspector found two hand washing sinks with issues, three pounds of wings that had to be embargoed due to being out of temperature, mold building inside the ice machine, sauces not covered, old food debris covering kitchen equipment in “substantial buildup and also covering the inside of coolers.” The report continued that the walls and floors were dirty with debris, and the condenser in the walk-in freezer was leaking and dripping on food products.

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The Mailroom scores 83; permit revocation warning letter from health department

A state health inspector visited The Mailroom in downtown Clarksville Thursday for a routine inspection. The inspector requested the restaurant to be issued a permit revocation warning letter due to repeat priority violations, specifically for proper food-holding temperatures. On today’s visit, prepped turkey was temping too warm; two pounds were embargoed. During the last routine inspection, mashed potatoes, raw steak, and melon were all out of temperature, with 12 pounds of food embargoed. Other violations today included proper hand washing and a dish machine that was not reaching the proper 160 F temperature. A follow-up inspection will happen within 10 days.

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Golden Corral scores 82 on health inspection; raw animal products juice pooled on floor

The Golden Corral restaurant on Wilma Rudolph scored an 82 on a state health inspection Tuesday. According to the report, there was juice from raw animal products pooled on the floor of the walk-in cooler, a below-acceptable level of sanitizer in the dishwashing machine, Chicken held at 107 F, green bean casserole held at 129 F; both should be 165 F. Sauce for Mexican rice was also below temperature. Chicken and sauce were embargoed. A wet table wiping cloth was stored on the food prep area, and raw fish was stored at 45 F.

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Casa D’Italia Ristorante scores 59 on Health Inspection — 15 pounds of food embargoed

Clarksville’s newest Italian restaurant, Casa D’Italia Ristorante, received a devastating score of 59 from the health department in its third week of being open to the public. Hands were not washed, dishes were not sanitized, sausage and ground beef items were cooked 3 hours in advance and sitting out at 76 degrees, meatballs were under temperature, pasta was pre-cooked and held at 48 degrees, and dozens of other violations. Fifteen pounds of food was embargoed from being served.

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Strawberry Alley Ale Works: Issued Permit Revocation Warning Letter & moldy strawberries

After an October 17th routine inspection, the Department of Health is processing permit revocation warning letters for repeated health code violations that remain unresolved after multiple repeat inspections at Strawberry Alley Ale Works in downtown Clarksville, where they received a score of 73. After the warning letters, the restaurant could be ordered to stop operating if the same violation remains unresolved on the next inspection.

Additionally, 100 pounds of food was embargoed during the most recent inspection. Other violations included moldy strawberries, the dish machine wouldn’t get hot enough to properly clean, and eight-day-old guacamole in the prep line cooler.

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Mickey’s Downtown scores 77: cockroaches crawling on kitchen walls & in coolers

A Health Department inspector visited Mickey’s Downtown Friday and noted, among multiple other serious issues, there were cockroaches on the outside and inside of the reach-in cooler and several cockroaches crawling on the kitchen walls. The restaurant was also operating a dish machine without using sanitizer and had no posted permit to operate.

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La Plaza on Riverside scored 74 by Health Dept; long history of low scores on surprise inspections

State Health Inspectors say they walked into La Plaza #3 on Riverside Drive Wednesday to find no soap or hot water at the hand-washing sink, raw food stores above ready-to-eat foods that could be dripped on, a dish-washing machine with zero chlorine, raw shrimp and steak that was too warm had to be embargoed, knives stores behind wall trim, and an abundance of gnats.

In August of 2020, their routine inspection scored a 77 with a follow-up of 93; in March of 2020, the restaurant scored a 55, with a follow-up of 92, and last November they managed to score a 65, with a follow-up of 94 — setting a clear trend that rules are only followed for a short period after being caught breaking them.

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51: Inspectors found more roaches than handsoap at SOHO Chinese Japanese Fusion restaurant in Clarksville

Health Inspectors gave the SOHO Chinese & Japanese Fusion restaurant a 51 during a Thursday morning inspection in North Clarksville. The routine inspection revealed roaches crawling on the walls, floors, and pipes, no handwashing (and no soap at the sink), raw animal products improperly stored (some at improper temperatures and loose in grocery bags), dishes not being washed or sanitized, and the staff wasn’t checking dates or temperatures of food products. The location has a history of low scores, receiving a 58 in March of 2021, and a 66 in July of 2020.

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China King scores 78 on health inspection, some 2nd & 3rd notice items, raw food storage issues

China King on Lowes Drive received a score of 78 on a routine restaurant inspection from the Tennessee Department of Health on March 24th. An inspector found raw shrimp stored on top of cooked potatoes, raw chicken stored over crab salad, raw fish stored over prep sauce, Sushi rice not marked with time expiration, food not being reheated to the proper temperature, including beef pastries, and wet & soiled wiping cloths stored on prep tables/workstations.

This was the 2nd notice for raw food being stored on prepped food and reheating temperatures, and the 3rd notice about the food expiration times and about improper cooler temperatures, with some 15 food items embargoed during this inspection.

A full copy of the inspection is included in the story…

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CLOSED: Miss Ashley’s Tearoom ordered to close by State Department of Health

#BREAKING: A Clarksville restaurant that has been operating illegally in Stacey Steetman’s 10th Ward for nearly a year was closed today by order of the State on Friday afternoon. The restaurant, which was operated by Anissa Finney-Gold under the name “Miss Ashley’s Tearoom” was in a nondescript residential home, in the middle of a neighborhood, with 100% residential zoning on the property. The residential kitchen, which functioned as a commercial kitchen selling to-go orders for pick-up/curbside, DoorDash, GrubHub, and other delivery services had never been inspected by the state, as it’s illegal to have a commercial kitchen in those conditions.

Conditions which some delivery drivers reported as being “filled with pets”, primarily cats. According to state, county, and city records, there was no business or tax license on file, and no tax was being paid to the government, despite it being collected by the business. Multiple agencies have now confirmed open investigations into the operations of the business. #developing

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Clarksville’s Caprigios Pizza fined $10,500 for violating child labor laws

One of Clarksville’s most popular pizza places has been given 15 days to pay a $10,500 fine for violating the state’s child labor laws. Chef Ilona, of Caprigios Pizza, says she takes full responsibility and admits some of her 15 & 16-year-old employees worked past 7 p.m. on school nights and more than the allotted hours per day.

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