Houston County Restaurant Inspections, NOT ON THE MENU (July 8-12) | WDHN

Joseph Hodges and Michael Rinker

55 minutes ago

HOUSTON CO, Ala. (WDHN) — Let’s eat out, but what about the food? WDHN reports the latest health department inspections for the week of July 8, and one Wiregrass establishment received a rating below the best.

Click here to view WDHN’s previous report on the Department of Health’s findings.

Dakota Coffee Works, located at 2191 East Main Street, received a score of 77. That’s 8 points below the top tier (85-100) and just 7 points from the second lowest tier. The score was based on its July 8, 2024 inspection.

Management said it was criticized for “small issues,” such as an employee drinking a beverage on the job during the inspection, the drive-thru window not closing automatically and a broken lid on the dumpster outside, but five points were taken off because of moldy strawberries and coffee.

One store employee claims they “don’t even sell strawberries” and believes another employee left the expired fruit in their fridge. The cafe will also need to upgrade their hand-washing area and improve flood prevention.

Dakota Coffee stored their vaporizers with cups, which caused the score to drop by another five points, bringing it down significantly to 77 points from their last inspection, which earned them a 97.

Dakota Coffee informs us that they have already made changes to improve their health score and that the moldy strawberries have been discarded. They will now have to do a follow-up inspection in 60 days. WDHN will follow up to communicate the results.

The bakery at the Walmart at 3871 W Main Street earned the only perfect score in Houston County, with a 100. The establishment also earned scores of 98 and 99 for its market, deli and gas station.

WDHN also has the latest inspection reports for 32 other Houston County restaurants, hotels and other establishments that were inspected between July 1 and July 5.

The state gives them a score on a 100-point scale, deducting points for each violation. The overall score determines the reinspection schedule and the use of enforcement measures.

Here are the results of the latest inspections, conducted July 1-5 in Houston County:

The Alabama Department of Public Health environmental staff within the county health departments and the Division of Food, Dairy and Lodging are responsible for inspecting and regulating restaurants and other food service establishments in Alabama. County health departments enforce regulations applicable to restaurants, grocery stores and convenience stores.

Food service establishments must generally be inspected at least three times a year, while convenience stores may only be inspected once a year, depending on the type of food sold.

You can see more food and accommodation inspection reports here.