Catfish & Co. fails food inspection (+INSPECTIONS)

Recent cold weather didn’t just bring ice and snow; it also brought some rodents inside a 24-hour Odessa diner — according to the restaurant.

Two mice were found on the glue board in the dining room behind a booth at Catfish & Co., 2338 E. 8th St., and that was one of the reasons the restaurant failed their Jan. 11 inspection by the Ector County Health Department.

“That freeze recently caused some issues,” Catfish & Co. manager Megan Sanchez said.

The mice were brought to the Health Department’s attention after a complaint at 3 p.m. Jan. 6, according to the supplemental report.

See recent food inspection reports

The inspection also found other violations such as out-of-date bread, cross contamination of raw meat, poor labeling of food products and food not kept hot or cold enough, according to the report.

Pans in the storage area, the soda nozzles, the floor in the waiting area and the light vent hood also needed to be cleaned, according to the report.

Those violations led to the docking of 34 points off of the diner’s score, which begins at 100.

“We take all this very seriously,” Bob Barr, food service training officer with the county, said.

Although the score ended up less than 70, the restaurant was not closed because the majority of the corrections were dealt with on-site, Barr said.

The restaurant hired an exterminator and all issues have been dealt with, Sanchez said.

“Everything’s in complete compliance,” Sanchez said.

This failed report was incidental since the restaurant has a past record of good scores, Sanchez said.

On their last two inspections the restaurant scored 90 and 87, according to Health Department records.

@OAhealth