For the second week in a row, Dirty Dining has a repeat offender.
Contact 13 Chief Investigator Darcy Spears takes us to a place that just keeps getting it wrong when it comes to protecting public health.
PHOTOS: Dirty Dining Feb. 15, 2017
Chinese New Year was a busy time at Pho D'Licious. So busy, they say they just couldn't keep up.
"We try, like, cleaning up, but like, we don't have enough time to do that," said Tyler Trinh.
Pho D'Licious on Spring Mountain Road between Decatur Boulevard and Arville Street was first on Dirty Dining in September with a 39-demerit C grade.
And that's exactly what they've got now.
"Yeah, we are ashamed now. It's embarrassing now," Trinh said.
Health inspectors found a food handler using bare hands to cut green onions. And the onions themselves weren't being washed.
How about the slicer blade which inspectors found caked with food debris?
"Oh yeah, because I told her in the early morning that we cut the meat, but like, he hadn't washed it. We have him wash it like right after we use it, but like, the guy just forgot to, really sorry, yeah," said Trinh.
He's also sorry about food like rice and shrimp sausage were found at unsafe temperatures and had to be thrown out. Also, cut lettuce at room temperature that was kept inside a storage room with the hot water heater.
"I'm really sorry for customers too, like, we try our best, like, keep it clean and healthy for them, but like, we failed this time. I'm sorry you guys," Trinh said.
There were also a lot of chicken heads, which he says they use them to cook broth. One head was even on the ground.
We find some obvious violations, like meat thawing on top of something else and multiple containers of uncovered food.
As we're on our way out, we spot something else -- is it sauce or blood? Trinh is not sure what it is.
Another mess at another restaurant ended in closure for an imminent health hazard.
Applebee's at Charleston and Decatur boulevards had sewage backing up out of floor drains and staff walking through the sewage water. A food handler who tried to mop it up just saturated the kitchen floor with more sewage water.
They were also storing open food on top of a trash can. And dirty utensils were stored as clean.
Applebee's re-opened the same day, but barely got their A back with 10 demerits. That's the maximum allowed for an A grade.
Pho D'Licious still has a C grade.
