Barbara and I ate at Fino’s Italian Restaurant on Friday. The service was really bad. We had three people serving in one way or another that evening so I’m going to give each one a name, which is not theirs really. I named our main server Basil since he was insincere and somewhat pompous. I am going to call the next server who brought water to the table Manuel and finally the lady that took care of charging us Sybil. We arrived at 7:30pm and since we had a table booked we were seated by Basil with our friends right away. We then waited until 8:15 pm before anyone showed up at our table to take an order. We placed our order with Basil, which was a bruschetta as the first course followed by a main course. I ordered the special of the day that was fish cooked with shellfish. We then waited, waited and then waited some more. Some time later the main course was served but no sign of the first course. Basil said that they would serve the first course later. We objected to this and our main course was taken away and about 10 minutes later the bruschetta showed up and 10 to 15 minutes later our main course was served. Unfortunately the main course was barely warm and I know that the correct preparation of seafood containing shellfish in particular requires that it is cooked at a high temperature and then served. I looked up the restaurant on the City of Plano Environmental Health site and found they currently have a B grade for the most recent food hygiene inspection. I then contacted the environmental health inspector and this was his reply. Mr. Elliott, Thanks for your inquiry. The food code requires the fish/shellfish to be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 145*F. After reaching a safe cooking temperature, the fish may then be held at 140*F or above. I’m not sure of the food temperature upon arrival at your table, but it should have been hot. I will visit them and discuss safe holding temperatures of potentially hazardous foods. David Hightower REHS/RS, CP-FS Sr. Environmental Health Specialist This restaurant does not appear to understand the rules for safe cooking temperatures they have been rated Grade C in the recent past for among other things not thawing ground beef correctly. I hope they take note of the environmental health inspector’s advice this time! However, if the poor service and potentially dangerous food was not enough the attitude of the servers was terrible. Basil seemed to think it was a joke; he did not take my complaint seriously and was dismissive about my concerns for the fish and shellfish being served cold. If you click through to the following YouTube link you can see the Basil telling me what went wrong with a smirk all over his face. youtu.be/xd5maxy8U9Y Basil showed a complete disregard for customer care, he seemed to revel in the fact that my main course was not safe to eat and in effect saying my refusal to have my first course before my main was my problem, not his terrible customer service or the blatant disregard for safe handling practices of potentially hazardous foods. During the long wait for our food Manuel showed up to top up our water glasses. The last time he came to the table he asked me if everything was OK. My reply that it was not stopped him in his tracks and he ran off in apparent fear that anyone could possible say no to his enquiry. We finally had Sybil turn up with the bill which had the fish dish I had sent back still on the bill. She seemed oblivious to the events of the evening moving in a world of her own with total disregard for the chaos surrounding her. I would not recommend anyone visiting this restaurant until it has a food safety of Grade A and you can find out the grade by visiting the Plano City web site. While a Grade A will assure me that it is now safer to eat there I still need to come to terms with their awful customer service. So I have decided to put my night at Fino’s down to a Fawlty Towers experience where I got to watch the real time antics of Basil, Sybil & Manuel as they blunder and smirk through one customer insult after another. Plano City Restaurant Grading Results FINOS ITALIAN BISTRO 3501 MIDWAY RD # 148, Plano, TX 75093 972-973-7602 Current Grade B 9/25/2014 Inspection History Date Grade 9/25/2014 B Violation Detail for: 9/25/2014 Severity Violation Comments Non-critical Employees Required Food Handler Cards No proof of food handler cards for workers Non-critical Floor Drains Untrapped floor drain under 3-comp sink Non-critical Opening to the Outside Back door is not self-closing Non-critical Protective Shielding - Protect against Broken Glass Unshielded light at walk in cooler Critical Lavatory Supplies No paper towels at hand sink Critical PHF/ Internal Temp Chicken at 49°F pasta at 49°F Critical Storage of Materials Chemicals stored with clean equipment Non-critical COMMENT Grease trap - 9-11-14- Americas Best 6/23/2014 B Violation Detail for: 6/23/2014 Severity Violation Comments Critical Certified Manager on Duty No certified food manager on duty - OBTAIN WITHIN 30 DAYS Non-critical Employees Required Food Handler Cards No proof of food handler cards for workers Critical Lavatory installation Bucket in front hand sink Ice in back hand sink Non-critical Protective Shielding - Protect against Broken Glass Unshielded light at walk in cooler Critical Lavatory Supplies No soap at front hand sink Critical PHF/ Internal Temp Sausage 44°F at pizza make table Non-critical Clearly posting No Smoking Need no smoking signs at toilet room doors as required by city ordinance Non-critical COMMENT - trap floor drain under 3-compartment sink - place a thermometer in walk in cooler - grease trap service - 6-10-14 - Americas Best 2/3/2014 C Violation Detail for: 2/3/2014 Severity Violation Comments Critical Certified Manager on Duty No certified food manager on duty Non-critical Employees Required Food Handler Cards No proof of food handler cards for workers Critical Lavatory installation Bucket in front hand sink Critical Lavatory Supplies No soap at any hand sink Critical PHF/ Internal Temp Ground beef 49°F - 53°F DISCARD 5 LBS GROUND BEEF Non-critical Thawing Potentially Hazardous Foods Ground beef thawing at room temperature in sink Non-critical Protective Shielding - Protect against Broken Glass Unshielded light at walk in cooler Non-critical Lavatory Maintenance Leaky faucet at back sink Non-critical Test Kit Required Missing test strips. Non-critical Floor Drains Untrapped floor drain under three compartment sink Non-critical Clearly posting No Smoking Need no smoking signs at toilet room doors as required by city ordinance Non-critical COMMENT - Post valid health permit - provide copy of last grease trap receipt - fax 972-941-7142 - provide accurate thermometers in all coolers Source: https://egov.plano.gov/RestaurantScores/#
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 02:18:07 +0000
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