Several popular steakhouses in Colorado Springs fail health inspections
Bart Bedsole
Low scores:
The (unfortunate) star of this week’s Restaurant Roundup is the Cowboy Star, an upscale steakhouse and butcher shop inside the University Village shopping center along North Nevada in Colorado Springs.
The violations found last week include:
An employee cutting steaks handed a menu to a customer, then grabbed the walk-in door handle without first washing their hands
Workers were spotted using their bare hands to measure the temperature of cooked food, peel an orange, and grab pieces of bread for customers
Cooked prawns, similar to shrimp, were found at the wrong temperature
The restaurant was curing meats using a type of salt without the required permit from the health department
There were several leaks in the roof, resulting in water accumulating on the floor of the kitchen
KRDO13 went to Cowboy Star on Monday to ask about the violations.
The manager on duty politely referred KRDO13 to her boss, who responded with an email saying, “We adhere strictly to the guidelines provided by the El Paso County Public Health Department. We are currently addressing all of their concerns and look forward their re-inspection on or after May 15th.”
It turns out, however, that the restaurant didn’t have to wait until May 15.
The inspector returned May 13, and after a thorough walkthrough, gave Cowboy Star a passing grade.
The Texas Roadhouse at Powers and South Carefree also failed its inspection last week.
Among the problems here:
There was no certified food protection manager on duty
Raw ground beef was stored directly over steak in the prep cooler
A visibly unclean cutting board was used for produce
Two of the sinks in the kitchen had significant leaks
A look into the restaurant’s inspection history on the health department’s website reveals the same Texas Roadhouse location failed its inspection in May of 2024 as well.
When approached about the violations on Monday, the owner immediately asked KRDO13 to go outside, then said he would have to speak to the corporate office before making any comment.
A few hours later, KRDO13 received an email from the corporate office saying, “The majority of items recorded were non-critical, corrected on-site or were education base (sic), which we are addressing through training efforts. Our team is actively working on these corrective actions, which will be resolved prior to their follow-up visit.”
Indeed, nearly all violations had been addressed when the inspector returned on May 15. However, one of the sinks was still leaking, resulting in just a single violation listed on the re-inspection report.
The final steakhouse that failed its inspection is Prime25 on South Tejon.
Although the inspector on May 7 found fewer violations than the others above, several of them were notable.
Two handwashing sinks were fully blocked
Chicken was stored over fish in the walk-in cooler, and fish was stored over ready-to-eat oysters in the cooler, posing a risk of cross contamination
Facility was using methods of Reduced Oxygen Packaging for wagyu steak without the required Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan
Facility was not using the proper methods to thaw frozen fish
During its re-inspection on May 14, Prime25 passed with a perfect score.
The King Buffet on North Academy near the Citadel Mall also failed its most recent health inspection.
On May 6, the inspector found:
One of the sinks intended for handwashing was instead filled with utensils, while the other was being used for washing wiping cloths
Multiple raw foods were improperly stored above ready-to-eat foods
Employees were not changing gloves after cracking eggs or handling raw proteins and moving on to other tasks
Cutting boards were not being washed, rinsed, and sanitized after raw foods were prepared
Multiple can openers were found with food deposits
Multiple sweet and sour chicken, pork, and shrimp containers cooked two days earlier were as much as 19 degrees too warm
There were no dates marking on any ready-to-eat foods, including cook chicken, pork, beef, and noodles
There were multiple glue fly traps hanging from the ceiling; the traps are allowed, but they need to be in a place to avoid potentially contaminating food contact surfaces
As of May 15, King Buffet has yet to be reinspected.
High scores:
Several restaurants were almost perfect last week.
Dion’s Pizza – 6385 Source Center Point
Yumz Indian and Pakistani Cuisine – 1817 S Nevada
Uncle Sam’s Pancake House – 341 Manitou Ave
La Taquiza – 5609 N Academy Blvd
There were also two perfect scores last week:
Burger King – 1727 E Platte
Iron Springs Chateau – 444 Ruxton Ave
The Iron Springs Chateau is a classic dinner theater melodrama in Manitou Springs, currently in its 65th year of operation.
“It is basically kind of a Dudley Do-Right, you know, the old time melodrama,” says co-owner Dolores Adams-Miller.
While the kitchen isn’t open every night of the week, it often serves well over a hundred three-course dinners on a busy night.
Just like the singers and musical performers on the theater side of the building, Adams-Miller has her kitchen staff well-tuned for the job, and never overlooks food safety.
“It has to be front of mind, because you want to serve good quality food and you want to serve it safely, so it has to be one of the first things on our mind,” she says.
Don’t forget to look for the KRDO13 Restaurant Roundup awards at your favorite restaurants, to know the kitchen is clean.
Click here to view all the recent inspections from the El Paso County Public Health Department.