How downtown Columbia bars fare on health code violations
Downtown bars are getting busier now that college students have returned to Columbia and football games have kicked off at Faurot Field.
ABC 17 News Investigates looked at Columbia/Boone County Public Health Department inspection reports for downtown bars from Aug. 1, 2014 to Aug. 1, 2019.
Shiloh Bar and Grill had the most critical violations with 17.
Many downtown bars serve food, which mean they are typically inspected more often than those that don’t, according to the health department.
“If they are preparing food from scratch, they are probably going to get three a year,” Columbia/Boone County Public Health Department Assistant Director Scott Clardy said. “Bars have to abide by the food code just like any restaurant, grocery store, bakery, anything like that.”
Here’s how each downtown bar stacked up:
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Shiloh’s did not want to provide a comment or do an interview regarding the health inspections.
Shiloh’s past inspections included critical violations such as employees touching drink garnishes with their bare hands, mold in an ice machine, dirty soda nozzles and using a hand sink for other purposes than hand washing, to name a few.
All the downtown bars that rely more heavily on food sales had at least nine critical violations in the past five years.
Meanwhile, bars that only serve alcohol, such as My House, Eastside, DogMaster Distillery and On the Rocks, did not have as many violations.
DogMaster Distillery’s founder Van Hawxby said his distillery has not been cited for a critical violation since it opened more than five years ago.
“It is a reflection on us and what we are trying to do here,” Hawxby said. “We’re really proud of ourselves and I’m proud of my staff of what we’re trying to accomplish and what we are doing here.”
However, he said he understands restaurants may have a tougher time with inspections because they are preparing food.
“It just seems a little bit easier for myself than restaurants in the area,” he said.
Clardy said places that serve only alcohol are typically inspected twice per year, unless staffing allows for more, or if inspectors are called to the facility because of a complaint. If a place serves food and drinks, it is typically inspected at least three times per year.
“It’s the same regulatory type requirement, so they would all get two inspections per year at least,” Clardy said. “Those are routine inspections, those are inspections that we would go in and look at their complete compliance with the food code comprehensively.
“Depending on whether or not they serve food and what kind of food they serve, they may get an additional routine inspection.”
In the past five years, Eastside and My House, tied for the most critical violations among establishments that serve primarily alcohol with 15.
However, My House has only been open since 2016.
My House’s owner Dan Rader declined an interview but said in an email, “In my opinion we’ve had relatively few critical violations during each inspection…within the normal range of our direct competitors.”
My House has been handed critical violations for mold in the ice machine area, not having paper towels or soap at a sink, just to name a few.
Owner of Eastside, Sal Nuccio, was shocked to hear that his bar ws tied for the most critical violations.
“They’re putting a label on it like critical, because there’s a piece of fruit in the sink … in a place that doesn’t serve food,” Nuccio said. “How is that a health risk in any way?”
Eastside has had violations for using the hand-washing sink for other purposes beside hand washing, no sanitizing test stripes at the facility, chipped flooring tiles, sanitizer that was too strong and a cluttered hand sink, to name a few.
Meanwhile, two taverns have had zero violations in the past five years.
On the Rocks and DogMaster Distillery have gotten through every inspection with a clean slate.
“We have our checklist and everyone knows what they have to do, they have their expectations before they open up, before they close just to make sure that everything is on point with the ingredients that we are using,” Hawxby said.
Whether a customer views a place as a bar or a restaurant, the health department said it inspects all of them.
“We’re in the business of making sure people have an enjoyable experience wherever they are at,” Clardy said.
