Of the 309 food service establishments in Johnson City, ETSU’s eateries and concession stands received some of the highest scores on the latest round of state health inspections.
By law, restaurants must have an unannounced health inspection at least once every six months. Inspectors use a 44-item inspection sheet that covers everything from back of house maintenance to food temperatures.
Chris Arthur, operator of Aramark at ETSU, said, “There is really nothing you can do to prepare. We’ve always had good health scores so it’s never been an issue.”
Out of a possible 100 points, the Atrium received a 92; Java City scored a 98; the Main Meal received an 84; the Treehouse Snack Bar scored a 99 and the ETSU Dome concession booths E-1, E-2, W-1 and W-2 scored 91, 95, 91 and 93, respectively.
“People see that (score of) 84 for Main Meal and automatically think something is wrong,” Arthur said. “We had most of the points taken off for maintenance in the back of the house, like coils in the stock room and gaskets that needed to be replaced.”
Aramark also caters for the ETSU child Study Center, which scored a 95 on its inspections, and ETSU Little Bucs Kitchen, which received a score of 92.
Thirteen of the 100 items on the inspection sheet are considered critical. If found not up to par, these items are marked in violation on the inspection sheet and the food service establishment is given 10 days to fix them.
The Tennessee Department of Health web site says that if an establishment fails to correct critical violations, health inspectors reserve the right to close that establishment until the correct actions are taken.
David Sullivan of the Washington County Health Department, said, “I’d say these scores pretty accurately represent the restaurants.”
For more information or to view complete records of food service establishments in Johnson City, contact the county health department at 975-2200 ddenton@mail.state.tn.us.

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