Fort Collins Italian Food Spot Fails Inspection For Dumb Reason

Rules are rules, I suppose. But one local Fort Collins, longtime Italian restaurant fixture has failed to earn a passing grade from the Larimer County Department of Health upon a routine inspection — in fact — the ONLY retail food place not to earn a passing grade so far this month.

As a reminder, restaurants in Larimer County are no longer rated or graded with feedback like "excellent," "good" or "fair." As of Jan. 1, 2020, they are simply allowed up to 49 points worth of violations to "pass." 50-109 points earn them another try at a "re-inspection," and anything over 110 earns them an immediate "closure."

Those violations can be for major issues — the kind we don't like to talk or even think about — or really minor, pretty nit-picky reasons. The latter is the case in the most recent "re-inspection required" evaluation from March 5.

Get our free mobile app

Panino's Italian Restaurant at 310 W. Prospect Road in Fort Collins accumulated too many points to earn a passing grade. But their infractions were for things like:

• Not having a written sick policy.
• Employee beverages not being placed in correct locations.
• Dented cans.
• Containers filled over fill lines.
• Other food temps, food storage and cooling procedures.

Again, rules are rules and exist for the protection, health and peace of mind of the customers of eating establishments ... but in this one case, it feels that even though the restaurant didn't earn a passing grade, the actions needed to correct the issues will be minor and they should pass their follow up inspection with flying colors.

You can read their full report on the Larimer County Department of Health portal.

As for the other establishments evaluated so far this month, it's a gold star for all with a passing grade.