The Dona Maria restaurant on Margaret St in Riverside has been shut down by the Health Dept. Anyone know what happened? In their last health inspection (11/21/07) they had no violations.
ROFLMAO! This place has had so many violations it's not even funny. A friend of mine, and business owner in 5-Points, always refused to eat there with my husband and I whenever we went because he knew of the violations. I subscribe to the philosophy that if I didn't see it and it didn't make me ill, then no harm, no foul. From what he told me though, that place was FILFTHY! I really think you should check your sources again on that last inspection. There are very few places in Jacksonville that have had zero violations. There's usually at least one and that's for a clean, upstanding restaurant.
I viewed the restaurant report online. Previous reports had as many as 15 violations with about half critical - the last one said none. Hence my question. I didn't ask for your ridicule. All I want to know if anyoen had any info as I was curious.
Quote from: exnewsman on February 06, 2008, 02:30:35 PM
I viewed the restaurant report online. Previous reports had as many as 15 violations with about half critical - the last one said none. Hence my question. I didn't ask for your ridicule. All I want to know if anyoen had any info as I was curious.
Dude, calm down. I wasn't "ridiculing" you, I was just saying it would be kind of odd for them to have so many violations and almost be shut down so many times, and then have something that comes up with zero violations when not much changed. Don't you think?
I'd be curious to see what the report looks like for their other location at the Landing.
I think their food is nasty and I hate how they serve their beers in those thick mugs. Pint glasses are for beer drinking. In addition! They do not have margarita salt, they just shake frigging table salt onto the rims. And they are supposed to be a mexican restaurant. I have never understood why anyone would eat there. I know mexican food is a very personal choice but for ME, La Nopalera is the only decent one I've found so far. My requirements are fresh chips, yummy queso, and proper margarita salt. Dona Maria's has none of that. Also their salsa has too much cilantro. And by the way, I can only imagine how many violations La Nopalera has, but I don't care, because they have never made me sick.
I ate there because of the location. I also found it to be one of the few places to eat outside in Jax. But after eating twice I couldn't bring myself to go back. The food was terrible and the service even worse!
Anyone ever seen "Kitchen Nightmares?" Somebody should sign them up for the show!
Crass comment alert....
There is this one waitress that works there with a really nice ass. No violations there. ;D
QuoteMy requirements are fresh chips, yummy queso, and proper margarita salt.
Well, then I guess you really don't know Mexican food at all, lol. True mexican is dirty and cheap. If you've ever been there, you'll see dead chickens hanging out alongside the road with flies whizzing around them. Some woman who had been crouched on her knees, rolling corn meal in her hands and patting it on a rock on the ground, gets up, grabs the chicken, plucks its feathers, cuts it up and throws it onto what looks like (and probably is) an old front end car grill from a 1970's Chevy, sitting overtop a flame. After it's 'cooked', she throws the chicken (keep in mind her hands haven't touched a drop of water or soap through this entire process), into the corn tortilla she was working so hard to make, and hands it to you as you give her money, which she puts into the pocket of her skirt before grabbing another hunk of corn meal.
My point to that whole story is that when that is the environment that you grow up in and then you move to a country that has health standards, it's difficult to make the transition. They make the food the only way they know how with what they have and nothing more...just like in good ole meh-hee-co.
I thought it funny that Dona Maria's did not suffer from a lack of business at all...despite their health issues. My theory is it's because some of us have come to realize that roach droppings and rat feces in our 'ground beef' enchiladas is all part of the authentic mexican experience, lol. Yum.
Quote from: Coolyfett on February 06, 2008, 10:08:27 PM
Crass comment alert....
There is this one waitress that works there with a really nice ass. No violations there. ;D
I do believe I know the one to whom you are referring ;D
You are exactly right, except that I do "know" authentic Mexican food, I just have never liked it. I'm from Texas and I've always preferred Tex Mex over authentic Mexican food. I have been taken to "real" Mexican restaurants and I'm all, where's my queso? Where's my margarita? I am a heathen but it's a personal preference.
However I stand by my postition that those tiny, thick-rimmed beer mugs are against the law.
There is a new Mexican place on Edgewood that is pretty good. Last time i was there (2 weeks ago) they did not have their liquor license but were working on it. The name of the place slips my mind.
Quote from: creeksidebrewery on February 07, 2008, 10:34:12 AM
There is a new Mexican place on Edgewood that is pretty good. Last time i was there (2 weeks ago) they did not have their liquor license but were working on it. The name of the place slips my mind.
It's probably an El Potro or something like that. Isn't that what all the dives are called around here, lol. I'm with Madalene on preferring the tex-mex. Every once in a while I can go for the goop called queso and the salsa complete with the unknown foam topping, but I much prefer tomatos that look and taste like tomatos and meat that is what it claims to be. It really just depends on where I'm at and how much money I have.
Speaking of tex-mex, does anyone know what happed to Don Pablo's on Southside? I went to a movie the other night and noticed they were completely closed with construction tape around the parking lot.
Quote from: second_pancake on February 07, 2008, 09:23:38 AM
Quote from: Coolyfett on February 06, 2008, 10:08:27 PM
Crass comment alert....
There is this one waitress that works there with a really nice ass. No violations there. ;D
I do believe I know the one to whom you are referring ;D
Wow. Care to send any photos? ;D
Quote from: second_pancake on February 07, 2008, 11:29:57 AM
...Speaking of tex-mex, does anyone know what happed to Don Pablo's on Southside? I went to a movie the other night and noticed they were completely closed with construction tape around the parking lot.
I think Don Pablos went into bankruptcy of some sort. The franchise started closing alot of its restaurants around 2004, and I guess the ones in Florida were doing better for awhile than the ones up here in SC.
Yeah, you're right...the parent company filed. Here's an article I found...
http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2007/12/10/daily26.html?ana=from_rss (http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2007/12/10/daily26.html?ana=from_rss)
I wonder if one of those Baja Sol places is going to come here now. If so, that would really confuse my husband. He's from the Pacific Northwest and keeps calling a restaurant Sierra Grill (a "fresh" mex restaurant), Baja Fresh after the restaurants in Seattle. With the addition of a Baja Sol, I'm pretty sure his mind will explode.
Quote from: exnewsman on February 05, 2008, 04:55:48 PM
The Dona Maria restaurant on Margaret St in Riverside has been shut down by the Health Dept. Anyone know what happened? In their last health inspection (11/21/07) they had no violations.
Now that everything is cleared up at Dona Maria's, I shall in my first post ever on this board endeavor to try to shed some light on restaurant inspections; I have experienced them for almost 10 years myself...
First, let's look at the history here:
02/06/2008 Routine - Food Emergency Order Callback Complied, 0 critical
02/05/2008 Routine - Food Emergency Order Callback Not Complied, 17 critical
"02/04/2008 Routine - Food Emergency order recommended, 18 critical
11/21/2007 Routine - Food Call Back - Complied, 0 critical
09/13/2007 Routine - Food Warning Issued, 8 critical
When you mentioned that the "last" inspection (on 11/21) had 0 criticals, that's true, but that was actually a call back inspection from 9/13. Basically, everything that was wrong on 9/13 was corrected, so, no more criticals.
On 2/4, there were critical violations severe enough (more on this at the end) to warrant closure, so the big red/orange sign goes up on the door and the place is closed to the public.
At this point the inspector goes on a 24 hour rotation where s/he has to go back to the restaurant every day until things are corrected. Apparently s/he went back on the following day, 2/5, and things were still not corrected, only 1 less critical, but on the next day, 2/6, all good, so voila, no critical violations and Dona Maria is back in business.
Now, just a quick closing comment on critical violations: they are WIDE ranging in definition. So, when the T-U or other media outlets do their reports on restaurants, realize that they can range from an inspector finding an extension cord in use to roach/rodent activity.
Of course, only one side of that will get you shut down :)
FPJ
??? Ok, confused... Had lunch today at Larry's Giant Subs in 5 Points and Dona Maria's was open and there were people eating outside and in. Was the closing not permanent? I've been there once, wasn't really taken by it...