Look Before You Eat

Does L.A. County health inspector Elaine Demos eat in restaurants? Not as much as she once did. Some of her favorites are Jerry’s Deli, Papadakis Taverna, Remi, Angeli Mare and Island’s--all places with good lighting. She says she likes to be able to see her surroundings. Here are some of the things that she looks for.

* Smudged glasses. Lipstick on cups. Encrusted food on plates. If you see any of these things, it is probable that the dishwasher is not working properly.

* Grease. If there are greasy rub marks around holes or cracks in walls, there are probably rats. Rats have oily hair, which allows them to slide through these holes. And they leave droppings. Mouse droppings resemble a black grain of rice, rat droppings are much bigger.

* Employee smoking. “A no-no,” Demos says. “You do not want to get involved in anyone’s saliva. You are touching your mouth when you smoke, and you can pick up staph infections. It’s the equivalent of spitting in the food. If you see the cook in the back smoking and not wearing a hat, you’ve got to get out of there.”

* Hair restraints. Are the chefs behind the line wearing their hats? Because hair is made of protein, it can harbor bacteria. “Besides,” Demos says, “you don’t know what goop people put on their hair.” All food handlers, even the dishwashers, must wear a hair net or a hat.

* Cockroaches. “People think the reason we don’t want to see cockroaches is because they are a nuisance,” Demos says. “ Ants are a nuisance. Cockroaches carry disease. If I saw a roach running across the counter, I’d leave.” She says that for every cockroach you see during the daytime, you should assume there are at least 23 more nearby.

* Restrooms. Look at the restroom. If it is filthy, chances are the kitchen will be worse.

* The back door. Is it open? Are they hosing debris out of the back door? “People have called us,” Demos says, “to report a restaurant that is dumping its grease in the parking lot. First of all, the stench is bad enough. But grease attracts flies, and flies carry disease. Storm drains are not to be used to dump grease.” (Restaurants are supposed to keep their grease in covered barrels; then a grease company comes to take the stuff away.)

* Trash area. Is the trash area stinky? Trash strewn all over? Are the covers on the dumpsters down? Those flies again.

* Hot dog carts. If you are eating off a hot dog cart, says Demos, look for its current health permit, which should be posted. If someone is selling tamales out of a cardboard box, she says, they don’t have a permit, and she wouldn’t eat the food.