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Behind the Kitchen Door: Quartet of restaurants see high scores tumble during recent health inspections

Bugs, improper food handling top list of demerits leading to low scores

SAN ANTONIO – Four San Antonio restaurants with recent histories of high scores saw their September health inspection scores take a nosedive.

KSAT Investigates reporter Tim Gerber pulled the reports to find out what happened behind their kitchen doors.

Wing Daddy’s Sauce House

Wing Daddy’s Sauce House, located in the 10000 block of Potranco, earned a 78 on its September inspection.

The score was quite a drop from previous inspections, including a 98 in March of this year and a 96 one year ago.

This time, the restaurant had deductions for a walk-in cooler that wasn’t working. Employees were told to stop using it until it was fixed.

Clean plates had sauce residue, the ice machine had a black residue inside, and there was debris on the veggie peeler.

There were several roaches and flies in the business that likely got in through a gap in the back door that has since been repaired.

Gerber stopped by this week to see if they’d made more corrections, but the manager was unavailable to talk.

A re-inspection was ordered.

Pho 4U

Pho 4U, also located in the 10000 block of Potranco, earned an 80, an improvement from the 75 it had the last time it was featured on BKD in 2022.

The business had made improvements since then, getting high scores on three previous inspections including a perfect score, a 97, and 98.

This time, it had demerits for storing shrimp on the floor without any covering where employees were walking.

The ice chute was heavily soiled.

A worker was touching food with bare hands.

Candies and teas were found stored next to air fresheners and toilet cleaner.

A re-inspection was requested.

Himalayan Kitchen

Himalayan Kitchen, located in the 5500 block of West Loop 1604, earned an 80. It had a perfect score of 100 on its last inspection.

This time, there were gnats in the business and on the lid of a bulk food container.

The hand sinks didn’t have soap, and one was blocked.

T-shirt bags were used to store prepared foods.

The business was told to stop using unapproved pest control chemicals.

Taqueria Estrella Jalisco

Taqueria Estrella Jalisco, located in the 8800 block of SW Loop 410, also earned an 80.

During the inspection, shelled eggs were temped at 95 degrees. Employees were told to keep them refrigerated.

Employees were using gloves but not washing hands between tasks. Another worker was seen touching food with bare hands.

The inspector left a long list of items to be corrected by the next inspection.

Score Guide

100-90 = A (Very Good to Acceptable)

89-80 = B (Acceptable to Marginal)

79 or lower = C (Marginal to Poor)

*Metro Health indicates that scores of 69 or lower are failing scores


Other scores from this week of inspections (9/3-9/9)

Love’s Travel Stop, 100

11361 S IH 35

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Queso Pan Y Vino, 100

727 S Alamo St

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Tech Port Center and Arena, 100

3331 Gen. Hudnell Dr

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Olive Garden Italian Restaurant, 100

3147 SE Military Dr

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Tarka Indian Kitchen, 100

427 N FM 1604 W

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Jack in the Box, 99

10683 Huebner Rd

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Boudro’s Restaurant, 98

421 E Commerce St

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Korean Restaurant, 97

2458 Harry Wurzbach

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Kin Thai Sushi, 96

22211 IH 10 W

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The Original Mexican Restaurant, 95

415 E Commerce St

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Twin Peaks, 94

103 SW Loop 410

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Retox Bar, 93

1031 Patricia Drive Suite #105

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Wow Chicken & Cupbop, 92

4403 Rittiman Rd

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Mash’d, 91

17623 La Cantera Pkwy

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Taco Cabana, 90

11722 IH 35 N


Want to know who has good scores and who doesn’t? KSAT 12 has a new tool for that.

Just click this link, and it will take you to a new mapping tool we have showing the recent scores for San Antonio food businesses.

The reports go back six months and are frequently updated.

You can catch Tim’s BKD reports Thursdays on the Nightbeat.

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Watch other Behind the Kitchen Door stories here

Behind the Kitchen Door image. (KSAT)

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