By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
INWOOD — Dyckman Street's Mamajuana Cafe and Il Sole restaurants have been called many names — popular, successful, loud, controversial — and according to the Department of Health, it can now add "dirty" to its list.
Recent Health Department inspections have shown that both eateries, as well as others in the neighborhood, would receive a "C" under the city's new restaurant grading system.
A May 11 inspection found a host of violations at Mamajuana that included kitchen staff having "inadequate" personal hygiene, improper use of kitchen utensils and substandard refrigeration of food, among other complaints.
The violations amounted to 50 points putting it well within the "C" range on the grading system. Five other Inwood restaurants have also received poor marks under the new system, which gives any restaurant with more than 28 violation points the equivalent of a barely-passing letter grade.
Mamajuana owner Victor Osorio said the problems at his restaurant have been resolved since its May inspection, something he said he intends to prove at a Department of Health hearing scheduled for August 12.
Il Sole, located three doors to the east of Mamajuana, got 60 points during its inspection for unappetizing problems including evidence of mice, roaches and flying insects.
Il Sole management did not immediately return calls for comment
Elsewhere in Inwood, Restaurante Ecuatoriano Genesis and El Rancho Los Compadres each scored 38 points and the Baker Field food stand at Columbia University’s Baker Athletic Complex came in last with the neighborhood’s lowest ranking at 67 points.
Liffy II, the bar on Broadway and 213th Street that was shut down temporarily last year for serving alcohol to minors, was the only Inwood eating and drinking establishment to receive 0 points, the best score possible from the department.
All restaurants given any grade below an "A" are eligible to request a second inspection to reverse a poor grade and can ultimately request a hearing to dispute allegations listed in an inspection report.
Despite the low marks at his restaurant, Mamajuana owner Osorio said he believes the new ranking system is a good thing for restaurant owners.
"I think it’s great, it will push everyone to do what they have to do," Osorio said, "It’s fair. They don’t ask much, just the things you need to do."
