After six consecutive failed inspections, Las Cazuelitas de Tucson has managed to earn the Pima County Health Department's approval.
"We're good to go," restaurant owner Abelardo Frisby said. "We just want the public to get a good idea that this wasn't a hazardous issue. People weren't getting sick."
The department placed the Mexican restaurant, at 1365 W. Grant Road, on an intervention program that placed it in danger of having its license revoked.
Las Cazuelitas received a provisional license after being written up for four critical violations during an Aug. 5 inspection. It failed follow-up inspections Aug. 16 and 26, as well as Sept. 6, 16 and 27. The restaurant passed muster on Oct. 7.
Las Cazuelitas joined midtown Chinese restaurant Gee's Garden as the only Pima County restaurants believed to have been placed on intervention programs since the Arizona Food Code was revised in 2002. The interventions are the final step before the county closes a restaurant down.
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"The restaurant will be inspected more frequently until we are sure they will stay in compliance," said Jeff Terrell, Pima County Consumer Health and Food Safety program manager, via email.
Frisby said the failed inspections hurt business by creating an unfair perception that the restaurant was unsafe.
The reason the restaurant kept failing was because of a plumbing problem involving the dish machine and sanitizer sink, which drained into the grease trap. Frisby completed a $16,000 renovation that now makes the plumbing comply with the Arizona Food Code.
Frisby said the original plumbing was installed in 1978 under previous ownership, and that a grandfather clause allowed it to remain in place until the recent run of inspections.
He said the reason the repair took so long to complete was that it took weeks to get approved for the loan, jump through city permit hoops and complete construction.
Other previous health-code violations included dirty dishes placed with clean ones, foods stored at too-high temperatures in refrigerators and an employee not washing his hands after handling eggs.
Frisby said his staff has corrected those issues and underwent training through the county to get up to date on food-handling procedures.
"It's important for the public to know this is not something we take lightly," Frisby said. "We've been in business for 11 years and aren't going to get sloppy."
Contact reporter Phil Villarreal at pvillarreal@azstarnet.com or 573-4130.