Interquest restaurants earn best and worst health inspection scores
Bart Bedsole
With only 9 violations, it wasn’t a terrible showing, but the Omelets Etc. on Interquest did score lower than any other restaurant last week.
It was also an improvement over the 14 violations found at the restaurant in November of 2024.
Some of the reasons it failed this time include:
A server used a bare hand to add a lemon to a drink
A cook with gloves put raw meat onto the grill, then continued cooking with the same gloves
Instead of washing, rinsing, and sanitizing a cutting board, the restaurant was only using a chlorine sanitizer to clean it
Instead of being kept at a temperature of 41 degrees or less, a few containers of liquid eggs were being kept on the cook line at a temperature of 70-73 degrees
When KRDO13 stopped by the restaurant six days after the inspection, the general manager said he had still not seen a list of the violations found and wasn’t familiar with the specifics.
Ruben Torres added that he was out last week when the inspector stopped by, explaining that it’s a relatively new crew in the kitchen and they are still working on receiving their food safety certifications.
Torres says they try to do their best, and doesn’t feel that customers should feel unsafe eating there.
Omelets Etc. passed its re-inspection on August 6 with just a single violation.
OTHER LOW SCORES
Jersey Mike’s Subs – 1250 Interquest Pkwy
Pho Toi – 6320 S. US Hwy 85 87
Little Caesars – 5859 Constitution Ave
HIGH SCORES
Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers – 1264 Interquest
Papa John’s – 1779 Lake Woodmoor Dr
Arby’s – 1220 Interquest Pkwy
McDonald’s – 4310 Barnes Rd
Trinity Brewing Company – 1466 Garden of the Gods Rd
Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop – 1286 Interquest
Capriotti’s is a chain restaurant, known for its cheesesteak and the “Bobbie” that is essentially Thanksgiving on a bun, but all three locations in town are locally owned, and co-owner Christen Sanders says they treat it like a family-run restaurant.
“My cousin moved out here last year, so he helped me out at the Barnes store. I went to the high school graduation for some of my high school students that work here for me, got invited to some of their parties, so really we care about the employees like they are our own family,” she said.
Sanders says that was her goal from the beginning.
She explained that she and her husband, Ron, always enjoyed visiting a Capriotti’s restaurant when living in Las Vegas because everyone seemed to know each other, so when the opportunity came to open locations in Colorado Springs, they jumped on it.
“The classic cheesesteak here is my favorite cheesesteak, and we just started looking to see if they were expanding into the Springs at all, and it turned out they were.”
The Interquest location opened in January of 2024, and the Sanders put in 80-90 hours a week operating it.
Ron is actually a class of 1985 graduate of the Air Force Academy.
They have sold sandwiches there during football games for the past four years, and plan to continue that in 2025.
The restaurant also recently launched its “Bigger Better” offer, adding 25 percent more meat to most of the sandwiches.
Keep an eye out for the KRDO13 Restaurant Roundup awards at your favorite restaurant to know the kitchen is clean.
Click here for a complete list of high and low scores.