2013 Health Inspections Give New Hyde Park Restaurants Good Grades

The State Health Department reported inspections of some 30 food service establishments in the New Hyde Park area in 2013 and found the vast majority to be largely in compliance with state codes.

There were a total of 8 restaurant inspections in the Village of New Hyde Park in 2013 according to the report, with 13 in the North New Hyde Park area. A total of 9 inspections took place in Garden City Park.

That's the results of a Patch review of state documents of those inspections.

For example, establishments as diverse as Spanky's, had one non-critical violation in 2013. Port Café in Garden City Park, had six non-critical violations, according to the report.

Only Wong's Garden on Jericho Turnpike in New Hyde Park had more than "one critical violation," according the report which cited it for having "canned foods found in poor conditions (leakers, severe dents, rusty, swollen cans)" and "Toxic chemicals are improperly labeled, stored or used so that contamination of food can occur."

However, Carolyn McCummings, a spokesperson for the Nassau County Department of Health, which conducts the inspections,
McCummings said that the violation for "toxic chemicals" is such a wide range and could have occurred for something as simple as vitamins being left out on a counter, to a chemical cleaner.. The critical violations are more serious.

In the case of Mama Theresa's Pizza in Garden City Park, which was inspected in June 2013, the state said it had received a critical violation of having "Cooked or prepared foods are subject to cross-contamination from raw foods." Gigi's Pizza on Hillside Avenue also received the same violation in August.

The routine violations were noted in a wide range of local establishments. For example, many of these were evidence of food not being protected during storage, display and service. That's the equivalent of not tightly wrapping leftovers in your household refrigerator.

The various county health departments make these inspections routinely and follows up with restaurants that have critical violations. The reports then go to the state.

The report stated that, in follow up visits, all of the violations had been corrected, including those cited as critical.

You can access the entire list, and past reports, here.