Excessive mold, expired food, and flies lead to shutdown of downtown bar and grill
Bart Bedsole
LOW SCORES
It takes a lot of violations for a restaurant to be shut down, but that was the case recently for The Block Bar and Grill on Tejon Street in downtown Colorado Springs.
The violations found on May 9 include:
No handwashing sink on the cook line or anywhere near the cook line
The mechanical dish machine was broken, so there was “no method to properly wash, rinse, and sanitize dishes”
The inspector also found excessive mold on almost all surfaces in the walk-in cooler
Several items in the cooler were older than 7 days, including birria and green chile that were made more than 2 weeks earlier
There were multiple flies going in and out of the kitchen due to the back door being wide open.
Following the inspection, a sign on the door said it was “closed for maintenance”.
When the doors reopened, KRDO13 went to The Block to ask about the violations.
The bartender said the owner was out at the time and didn’t respond to a request for comment.
It was re-inspected on May 23, and passed with five violations noted.
Mamitas at Powers and South Carefree wasn’t shut down, but it did tie a Restaurant Roundup record with 18 violations, and it has now failed 3 inspections in the last year.
On May 12, the inspector found:
There was no certified food protection manager on duty
An employee was eating lunch on a prep table in the kitchen
Multiple containers of salsas, green chili, beans, and rice made at least a day earlier were not dated
The back door was left open several times during the inspection, and there was also a gap at the bottom of the door, potentially allowing insects or rodents inside
The owner declined to speak to KRDO13 directly, but through a hostess said that high turnover makes it hard to keep the entire kitchen staff fully trained on all aspects of the health code.
***UPDATE 5/28/25*** – Mamitas also failed its re-inspection on May 28 with 13 violations.
Just up the road, L&L Hawaiian BBQ at Powers and Barnes failed its inspection with 10 violations noted.
10 is an improvement over the 14 violations found back in September of 2024.
Among the problems discovered last week:
An employee didn’t wear gloves when grabbing bread from a bag; another employee was seen repeatedly wiping gloved hands on their apron
The inspector found grime and slime in the chute of the ice machine
Dishes were stacked up while still wet, instead of being completely dry
The owner did not respond to a request for comment.
L&L Hawaiian has yet to be reinspected.
HIGH SCORES
There were quite a few high scores last week, including perfect scores at the Skirted Heifer at Powers and Dublin, as well as the new Rocks 24 Pizzeria on Fountain Blvd.
Earning an almost perfect score were the Schnitzel Fritz at Main Street and Bradley in Security-Widefield, the Fruteria Y Taqueria Guatemalteca just north of Peterson Road and Hwy 24, and the Bunzy’s and Booze on Boulder near the Olympic Training Center.
Yes, there is plenty of booze inside, but it’s the other half of the restaurant’s name that grabs the most attention.
A “bunzy” is sort of like a roll, and sort of like a hot sandwich.
“So we saute and grill everything, put it into homemade dough, and then we bake it,” says owner Nicole Martinez.
Martinez now holds the trademark on the name of it.
“You can make a bunzy, but you just can’t call it a bunzy,” she explained while smiling.
While Martinez is plenty proud of her bunzies, stone-baked pizzas, cookies, and more, she’s just as proud to be part of a community of small businesses.
“I think they (the public) think it’s easy. It’s not,” she explained, “You know, you’re here every day, you’re making everything homemade, and that’s tough to do. Not a lot of people do that anymore. A lot of stuff is out of cans. Everything is homemade here.”
Nicole doesn’t just promote other local or regional businesses. She directly supports them, too.
Hawkins Commercial Appliance Service maintains her kitchen equipment.
J1uan, 2, 3 provides deep cleaning for her exhaust hood.
Spew Graphics provides all the embroidery for her hats, shirts, aprons, and other merchandise.
Even the artwork on the walls and furniture was created by local artists Rocky Rodriguez, Erin Gallespie, and Erin Margaret Hill, who created a rat pack-inspired mural in the dining room.
“A lot of small businesses have gone out of business, so I would tell people that if you care about your small business, go to them, don’t go to chains,” she says.
Look for the KRDO13 top score awards at your favorite restaurant to know the kitchen is clean.
Click here for the full list of recent inspections in El Paso County.