By Brittany Vinson

Staff Writer

Marcus Robertson and Loan Nguyen met nearly 18 years ago. The couple married, had three children, and eventually went on to open a restaurant, Café China & Pho, in Carrollton.

Since it opened in June, the restaurant has received two back-to-back food safety scores of 100. However, in the months that have followed, these scores have fallen. They scored a 94 on July 24, and on Nov. 17 their score fell again to a 92, according to the City of Carrollton website.

The decrease in Café China & Pho’s score is not a cause for alarm, however, as a score of 92 is classified as “Good,” according to the Farmers Branch Department of Environmental Health’s grading criteria. Some of the factors that can contribute to a lower score can include improperly labeled perishable food and storing food items less than six inches from the ground.

The Subway at Brookhaven may not always be the first choice for all students, staff and faculty but Julisia Jackson, a student, said it is convenient. “It’s just a quick bite to eat while I’m on campus,” she said.

The campus Subway received a food safety score of 90, or “Good,” after an inspection Aug. 20, according to the City of Farmers Branch website.

Plenty of options are available to Brookhaveans looking for something other than Subway.

One such option is Bread Zeppelin in Carrollton, which scored an 85 when last inspected Oct. 26, a “Satisfactory” score according to the Carrollton Department of Environmental Health. The restaurant’s infractions included incorrect food temperatures and dirty floors.

But not all lunch options near campus have such positive food safety scores, such as Hibashi in Farmers Branch, which scored a 73 or “Poor” on Oct. 27, according to the Farmers Branch Department of Environmental Health. Hibashi was cited for an improperly cooled sushi station, where raw fish was 18-24 degrees warmer than the required 41 F, as well as “gelatinous debris” at the bottom of a soda holster, among other violations.

The two McDonald’s located near campus (one on Valley View Lane and the other on Midway Road) both had “Satisfactory” scores, according to the Farmers Branch Department of Environmental Health.

The Valley View Lane location, last inspected Sept. 10, received a food safety score of 88. Its prior inspection on June 2, resulted in a score of 80. The McDonald’s on Midway Road, last inspected Sept. 3, received a score of 87, the same score they received during their prior two inspections June 1 and Jan. 23.

Kirsten Jones, a student, said she has visited the McDonald’s on Valley View Lane. “I am honestly not surprised by the score because sometimes when I go in, it is not always clean,” she said.  Most of the time she will go through the drive-thru, but after learning the scores and some of the reasoning behind them, she said it makes her question eating there again.

According to the City of Farmers Branch website, flies were a noted issue in the kitchen as well as water on the floor, which can create slip hazards.

For more information regarding food safety and food inspection scores, readers can visit the City of Carrollton website at cityofcarrollton.com and the City of Farmers Branch website at farmersbranch.info.