Premises Information


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Name

CULINARY DROPOUT

Address

1120 S TRYON ST

STE 100

City/State/ZIP

CHARLOTTE

28203

Premise Type

1 - Restaurant

County

Mecklenburg

Inspection Date

2/4/2026

Final Score @ Grade

94.50

General Comments

- Facility has an approved HACCP plan for cook chill/ROP of sauces, gravy, and some TCS foods such as mashed potatoes as of Sept. 2025. Following conversations with the PIC it was discovered that the facility does not currently use the process that was approved in the HACCP plan. PIC stated that they do utilize the sealing machine and do seal the products above into sealed bags but the items are not placed into the bags hot. Process is to cook the items above and allow them to fully cool down in the WIC or blast chiller, not being placed into any bags while hot. Only when fully cooled down are items placed in bags with all items except the BBQ pork being placed into sealed bags on an as needed basis. PIC stated that with fondue for example they will keep the fondue in large insert containers in the WIC and then when they need to refill the containers at the hot holding wells at the cookline they will portion some into a bag, use the sealing machine to seal the bag, and reheat the item in a hot water bath. Cooked BBQ pork is the only item that is stored in a sealed bag but PIC stated that it is not placed into the sealed bags until the day after it is cooked and cooled down. Bags are not true ROP as there is air observed inside the sealed bags. PIC stated that she is aware that other locations do follow the HACCP process they have but this location does not and they do not have the proper cooling bath equipment on site to even do the cook/chill process.

Violations

CDI=Corrected During Inspection

R=Repeat Violation

VR=Verification Required

Violation Item	Demerits	Violation Description	CDI	R	VR	Comments
15	0	Food separated & protected	Yes	No	No	3-302.11 (A)(2) Separate types of raw animal foods from each other such as beef, fish, lamb, pork, and poultry during storage, preparation, holding, and display. -P. - Observed a sheet pan with portioned packages of cooked short rib stored on a spread rack in the WIC directly below sheet pans of raw halibut and raw shrimp. CDI - PIC relocated sheet pan of cooked short rib to top of speed rack, above the raw products. For more information on food storage order please visit: https://health.mecknc.gov/envhealth/food-and-facilities-sanitation
16	1.50	Food-contact surfaces: cleaned & sanitized	No	No	Yes	4-703.11(B) After being cleaned in a mechanical dish machine, equipment food-contact surfaces and utensils shall be sanitized in the dish machine by achieving a utensil surface temperature of 160F as measured by a max/min thermometer.-P. - Observed the large pass through dishwasher to not be reaching the proper sanitizing temperature of 160F, only hitting a max of 150F at the time of the inspection. PIC stated having issues with the machine often and the Ecolab rep is called out multiple times a month. Ecolab contacted at the time of the inspection and to come out today to check on the machine. Under the counter dishwasher observed fully functional. Sanitizing step of the dishwashing process to be conducted in the 3 compartment sink until the repair is made since the wash and rinse processes are functioning in the dishwasher. 3 day VR to observe repair. For more information, please visit: https://health.mecknc.gov/envhealth/food-and-facilities-sanitation or view our training video at the following weblink: Cleaning and Sanitizing Food Contact Surfaces https://youtu.be/av1Rbh-lh08 . 4-602.11 (E )Clean the equipment and utensils used with nonTCS foods as required to avoid contamination. - Observed the ice machine closest to the prep line to have accumulations of grime on the interior surfaces of the ice bin.
20	1.50	Proper cooling time & temperatures	Yes	No	No	3-501.14(A) Quickly cool cooked foods within 2 hours from 135F to 70F; and within a total of 6 hours from 135F to 41F. -P. - Observed 2 containers of parmesan cream (containing dairy) to be at 92-101F in the blast chiller after 2.5 hours of cooling. Log on the outside of the blast chiller states the containers were placed in at 9am at 115F and were still in the cooling process upon EHS arrival. CDI - Voluntarily discarded. For more information please visit: www.mecknc.gov/foodsafety or view our training videos at the following weblinks: What are TCS Foods https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0iLZb7v0UM and Cooling Food Safely https://youtu.be/P6x8b1ZVOxU .
23	1.50	Proper date marking & disposition	Yes	Yes	No	3-501.18 Discard the food requiring date labels once time/temperature window has expired, if it has not been labeled, or if the label is incorrect. -P The PIC should train and assign staff to monitor date marking to prevent the use of food products that are no longer in compliance with 3-501.17 (A), (B), or (C) - Observed 2 insert containers of pickled onions (hot brined), an insert containers of hard boiled eggs, and an insert container of cooked fusilli pasta to all not have date marks on the containers. Pickled onions were from a bulk batch in the WIC (observed properly date marked). Hard boiled eggs and fusilli were prepared the day before as per the PIC and date marks were not placed onto the insert containers. REPEAT. CDI - PIC date marked all items. For more information, please visit: https://health.mecknc.gov/envhealth/food-and-facilities-sanitation or view our training videos at the following weblinks: What are TCS Foods https://youtu.be/bRvqAETDjQU and Date Marking Food Safely https://youtu.be/BOPsSNUajYs .
33	1	Proper cooling methods used; adequate equipment for temperature control	Yes	Yes	No	3-501.15 Quickly cool foods. Use methods such as open/vented shallow pans, large ice baths and active stirring. Cold air must flow around product to remove the heat. -Pf - Observed insert containers of Parmesan cream (containing dairy) to miss the first cooling window in the blast chiller, still evens at temperatures of 92-101F in the middle after 2.5 hours of cooling. Container was observed with a thick layer on top, trapping heat in below and not allowing for the center of the product to properly cool down. PIC must introduce active stirring to the cooling process. CDI - Voluntarily discarded. - Observed a large tray of portioned bags of cooked wings to be cooling and at temperatures of 44-50F in the refrigerated drawers across from the fryers. Filling process was observed taking an extended period of time with the container of cooked wings being out of the WIC and sitting out at the cookline fryer station for more than 15 mins, allowing for the cooked wings to go up in temperature during that time. Portioning process must be done prior to opening and if the wings go up in temperature during portioning they must then be cooled down in the WIC or blast chiller as the refrigerated drawers are not approved nor designed for rapid cooling. REPEAT. CDI - PIC moved container to WIC for rapid cooling where they were observed at 41F 35 mins later. For more information, please visit: https://health.mecknc.gov/envhealth/food-and-facilities-sanitation or view our training videos at the following weblinks: What are TCS Foods https://youtu.be/bRvqAETDjQU and Cooling Food Safely https://youtu.be/P6x8b1ZVOxU .
44	0	Utensils, equipment & linens: properly stored, dried & handled	No	No	No	4-903.11(B)(1) Clean equipment and utensils shall be stored in a self-draining position that allows for air drying. - Observed multiple stacks of cleaned plastic containers to be wet nested on the clean dish storage rack in the dish pit.
45	0	Single-use & single-service articles: properly stored & used	No	No	No	4-903.11(C ) Single Service and Single Use items shall be kept in the original protective package or stored using other means that protect the item until used. - Observed stacks of coffee filters to be stored at the expo line without any protective packaging.
49	0	Non-food contact surfaces clean	No	No	No	4-601.11(C ) Keep non food contact surfaces of equipment clean to avoid build up of dust, food residue or debris.4-602.13 Non food contact surfaces of equipment shall be cleaned frequently to preclude accumulation of soil residues. - Observed the gaskets to the cookline refrigerated drawers to have accumulations of food debris/grime.