Jacob’s Pickles, the popular Southern-style restaurant on 84th street and Amsterdam Avenue, was closed temporarily after racking up several health violations this week; an inspector found evidence of rats and flies and found that food was stored at incorrect temperatures, according to the Health Department. In total, the restaurant scored 106 points of violations.
A Jacob’s Pickles rep emailed the following statement: “This was a routine inspection. Jacob’s Pickles has countered the issues and resumed business as usual.”
Our tipster says a note on the door blamed a plumbing problem for the closure. The restaurant had reopened as of Friday night.
The violations cited are listed below:
Sanitary Violations
1) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation.
2) Food not cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 140º F to 70º F or less within 2 hours, and from 70º F to 41º F or less within 4 additional hours.
3) Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan.
4) Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer or thermocouple not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding.
5) Evidence of rats or live rats present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
6) Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.
7) Insufficient or no refrigerated or hot holding equipment to keep potentially hazardous foods at required temperatures.
8) Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
9) Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.
10) Facility not vermin proof. Harborage or conditions conducive to attracting vermin to the premises and/or allowing vermin to exist.
11) Plumbing not properly installed or maintained; anti-siphonage or backflow prevention device not provided where required; equipment or floor not properly drained; sewage disposal system in disrepair or not functioning properly.
1) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation.
2) Food not cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 140º F to 70º F or less within 2 hours, and from 70º F to 41º F or less within 4 additional hours.
3) Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan.
4) Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer or thermocouple not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding.
5) Evidence of rats or live rats present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
6) Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.
7) Insufficient or no refrigerated or hot holding equipment to keep potentially hazardous foods at required temperatures.
8) Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
9) Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.
10) Facility not vermin proof. Harborage or conditions conducive to attracting vermin to the premises and/or allowing vermin to exist.
11) Plumbing not properly installed or maintained; anti-siphonage or backflow prevention device not provided where required; equipment or floor not properly drained; sewage disposal system in disrepair or not functioning properly.
The crotchety people here will pounce on this one!
Nope, just you.
They serve wine on tap. Just go there to drink and skip eating. Cheaper, better for your waistline and…apparently, safer!
Wine ON TAP !!! :-0
Quelles Horreurs !!
Hors les Guillotines !!!
(thank you, Google Translate)
They don’t seem to have had a lot of respect for their customers’ health. I hope they will change radically now.
106 is a truly stunning score. I’m not sure if there’s a maximum, but hitting triple digits is absolutely incredible.
On the bright side, it looks like the reinspection only resulted in 3 points, and Jacob’s Pickles has a pretty good inspection history. But still, wow.
Agreed. Keep in mind that a grade of “A” means the inspector found 13 or fewer points — and look at all the places that manage to get “A”s. It’s not that hard to do.
But a hundred and six? You really need to work hard to be that out of compliance with pretty basic notions of sanitation.
And then to blame that wide range of violations — rats, flies, no thermometer, adulterated food, dirty “food contact surfaces” (usually cutting boards) — on a “plumbing problem”? I think they need a new publicist in addition to a new manager.
This is disappointing and gross.
someone probly lost their job over that score
Not trying to minimize these violations, but most of these problems appear to be hot weather related. My biggest concerns would be #8 and #9. That’s based on pure laziness.
So why should I go back to that foul pit, I hope they fire the person in charge!
Gary
I’m only surprised it took so long. Food is nasty and incredibly unhealthy. I went once to see why it was so popular. I ate a few bites and stopped. And I still got food poisoning. Foul place. Can’t figure out why anyone would eat there.
Worst service (waiter spilled a whole pitcher of ice water on me and never apologized) in addition to the most rancid food I ever ate. Should have been shut down sooner.
ugh. sounds gross! That’s pretty serious if the restaurant had to close.
I’ll never eat there. Thanks for posting.
Obviously, this score is terrible. But I don’t get the hate for the food there. I’ve eaten there at least a dozen times, always loved the food, never got sick, and never really had any issues whatsoever (other than that it’s always packed (b/c the food is good) and the service can be slow. But there really isn’t better food at that price point on the UWS.
Thank goodness there is a rating system. It wasn’t that long ago that they were not rated. Ugh!