Two restaurants received violations in early October from the DeKalb County Health Department.

Both Shelley’s, 901 H Lucinda Ave., and Rice Kitchen, 850 Pappas Drive, were given violation notices for factors that could lead to food-bourne illness, according to a retail food sanitary inspection report.

Shelley’s

Shelley’s routine inspection was unannounced.

On Oct. 4, Shelley’s permit was in danger of being revoked when the health department discovered the restaurant had been open without a worker certified in food sanitation.

All restaurants are required to have a person on duty with a food sanitation certificate during operation, according to Christel Springmire, a licensed environmental health practitioner for DeKalb County.

Beth Cottrell, a manager at Shelley’s, said their certified food sanitation worker had to run errands and was at Wal-Mart and the bank during the inspection.

“It just happened to be bad timing of the inspection,” Cottrell said. “Someone was on shift.”

Workers with food sanitation certificates are required to have completed courses on the subject.

The restaurant was also cited for not having the dishes properly cleaned and sanitized. However, according to Cottrell, the sanitizing water was in the sink but the dishes were on the counter next to the sink.

Other violations included a broken faucet handle on the kitchen handwash sink with no cold water available on that sink and barehand contact.

Since May 2005, Shelley’s documented no hand-wash training. The inspector stated in the report, “This violation has persisted far too long.”

Cottrell said that the hand-washing training is just an annual report that they had yet to file.

According to Cottrell, these violations were minor.

“It’s pretty normal just to have little violations,” said Cottrell.

When Shelley’s received their announced follow-up inspection on Oct. 9, all violations were corrected.

“We’re looking to become more strict to make sure if there’s errands that it’s not the [the certified food sanitation worker] that goes,” said Cottrell. “We’re trying to get more employees and train them on basic ground rules.”

Rice Kitchen

According to another retail food sanitary inspection report for Rice Kitchen on Oct. 10, the inspector saw a cockroach. There were also numerous raw wood surfaces that needed to be painted and sealed.

Part of the floor was dirty and had mold. Plywood beneath the cash register and wall tiles also appeared molded and cleaning equipment was not properly stored.

The inspector for Rice Kitchen stated on the report that general cleaning and organization was needed.

Rice Kitchen has been closed since the inspection conducted on Oct. 10 and will not open until the violations are corrected.

Because of the closing, Rice Kitchen could not be reached for comment.