Latest reports from the Orange County Health Department show that Panteras, Salsa Rico, Sky Ranch Grill, Jazzman’s Café, and Subversions have no serious food violations and have been highly efficient in providing a safe and sanitary environment.

Bottom line grade: No major violations, and quick fixes on minor violations.

Chapman’s dining manager Rick Nargi says that the key is adhering strictly to the recommended guidelines.

“We have always passed our health inspections. The majority of concerns that are brought to our attention are with faulty equipment,” Nargi said.

That might include refrigerators or the dish washing machine sometimes not working properly.

County health officials inspect Chapman restaurants every three to six months. What they have been pleased to find when they get to the Orange campus is that university’s restaurants have been keeping hourly temperature logs daily. Not every college can say that.

According to resident dining manager Jayme O’ Neil, Chapman restaurants also complete annual audits to monitor food, packaging and labeling, and food distributing.

“We have food safety training once a month and make sure there’s no cross-contamination and that prep areas are clean,” O’ Neil said.
Not that everything is perfect all the time.

According to one restaurant employee, Alex Gonzalez from Salsa Rico, there are technical problems that sometimes occur in the ventilation systems. He also acknowledges that nobody really likes to see these health inspectors show up.

“They tell us what to fix and we fix it. Sometimes we don’t like it when we're getting inspected because they never call and let us know, but it’s important,” Gonzalez said.

While the marks for Chapman are solid, its main restaurants have fallen short of the county’s coveted Award of Excellence certificates. O’Neil says that’s been in part because certain dining places on campus have had old dishwashers that did not sanitize at the right temperature. But they’ve been fixed, he said.

Maybe next semester.