Grays Harbor County restaurant health inspections
Published 1:30 am Monday, April 6, 2026
There are two types of violations recorded on the inspection report:
Red critical violations are food handling practices that, when not done properly, are most likely to lead to foodborne illnesses. These food handling practices include:
Controlling temperatures, such as cooking meats to the proper temperature to kill foodborne disease germs, keeping food hot enough until it is served, and keeping food cold enough
Blue violations are primarily maintenance and sanitation issues that are not likely to be the cause of a foodborne illness.
If the establishment scores at least 35 but not more than 74 red points, a reinspection will occur within 30 days. During the reinspection, the inspector will confirm that all red point violations have been corrected.
If the establishment scores at least 75 red points or an imminent health hazard is observed, a closure will be posted. To reopen, the owner/operator must schedule an inspection and the inspector will confirm that all red point violations have been corrected and/or that the imminent health hazard has been corrected.
Inspections conducted from March 19 to March 31
Lincoln Elementary
700 Wood St., Hoquiam
March 19 – Food Inspection Type – Routine
Red – 0
Blue – 0
Observations and corrective actions
Hand sink near the bathroom has low water flow. Low flow negatively impacts handwashing. Adequate flow is needed to facilitate proper handwashing. Please address this issue. Staff recently placed a work order. It is possible that the water will need to be shut off to fix the issue. As such, spring break will be the best option not to disrupt kitchen operations. Contact me as soon as the repairs are complete. Inadequate handwashing facilities will result in red points.
Water pooling on the floor near the walk-in freezer. It appears the freezer door is freezing up and water is leaking around the gasket. The wall has some visible water damage and noticeable odor. Staff will place a work order for equipment repair. Equipment must be maintained in good repair. Repairs shall be made within 30 days.
Ocosta Jr/Senior High
2580 Montesano St., South Westport
March 24 – Food Inspection Type – Routine
Red – 0
Blue – 0
Observations and corrective actions
Be sure to cool in 2-inch layers and uncovered. Pasta salad made this morning is still around 60 degrees F. Timeline had the noodles cooled (cold water rinse and placed in walk-in prior to salad assembly) to 70 degrees within 2 hours. To ensure it cools to 41-degrees within 6 total hours, Immediately transfer to shallow pans and leave uncovered until the internal temperature is 41 degrees. Check with a thermometer. If not cooled to 41 degrees by 2 p.m., then discard. Cool noodles a day in advance of salad assembly to facilitate proper cooling. Next time red point.
Food delivery occurring prior to and at the time of inspection possibly contributed to temperature variations.
Freezer door does not shut all the way. Repairs are water pooling on the floor of the walk-in cooler;water is leaking around the gasket. The freezer door is freezing up and staff have to chisel away the ice build up. Staff will place a work order for equipment repair. Equipment must be maintained in good repair. Repairs shall be made within 30 days.
Steam table turned on prior to use. Good job.
C&T Food Mart
406 W Pioneer Ave., Montesano
March 25 – Food Inspection Type – Routine
Red – 50
Blue – 0
Observations and corrective actions
1: does not have control of red high risk factors.
Person in charge must be knowledgeable about foodborne disease prevention, requirements to control food safety risks at the food establishment, and your approved plan of operation.
2: Paper towels not provided at the handwashing sink near the kitchen.
Paper towels must always be stocked at handwashing sinks. Person in charge stocked hand washing sink with paper towels.
3: General Tso chicken and orange chicken were observed at 118 degrees, teriyaki chicken was 104 degrees, and chicken skewers were between 118 and 121 degrees in the hot case.
Hot held food must be maintained at 135 degrees or above. Corrected by discarding. Person in charge stated that after chicken is removed from the fryer they add sauce (kept in the refrigerator) to the chicken, then put the chicken into the oven to reheat. Adding cold sauce could explain why the temperatures were low. Discussed using a microwave to preheat sauce or adding a small steam table to keep sauce hot throughout the day. I will follow up to discuss this further. Be sure to take temperatures after each step (removing from fryer, removing from oven, hot case).
4: Significant changes to the establishment were made without approval. The hand sink is no longer easily accessible to the kitchen area. Two hand sinks were shown on the floor plan submitted with your application but only one is installed. Changes to the equipment schedule also appear to have been made. When you submitted your application it was stated that no changes to the establishment were going to be made.
Plans must be submitted for review before construction, conversion, or remodeling of the physical facility, or when significant changes to the menu or food process takes place. You must submit updated plans to our office within 7 days. I will send a follow up email.
Our office will create a compliance plan for the following:
• Install an easily accessible hand sink for the kitchen. The remodel appears to have made it so the hand sink is outside of the footprint of the kitchen.
• Install a self-closing hinge for the restroom door.
•Necessary facility upgrades to meet food code requirements.
Ice machine has visible mold and grime build up. Discard all ice and properly wash, rinse, and sanitize the unit prior to refilling. You must clean and sanitize the ice machine at a frequency to prevent build up. Store the ice scoop in a container that can be washed, rinsed, and sanitized. Bags for ice must be stored in a way to prevent contamination (various items are currently being directly stored on top of them).
Discontinue selling Kahiki bowls as they are not labeled for individual sale. Person in charge stated these are from the previous owner and don’t plan on restocking.
One pair of tongs near the hot case is stored in a container but the other one is sitting on a surface that is not regularly washed, rinsed, and sanitized. Store tongs in food-grade containers and wash, rinse, sanitize tongs every 4 hours or more often as needed.
Raw pork sausage was observed over ready-to-eat salami and raw shell eggs were stored over milk in the open-air refrigerator. Rearrange product so that all raw food is stored below ready-to-eat food.
The name on the outside of the building is still from the previous owner. Person in charge stated they plan to update signage within the next couple months.
Provide chlorine test strips for the bleach solution.
Grays Harbor County policy states that if any food establishment scores at least 35 but not more than 74 red critical points then they will be placed on a re-inspection status. Re-inspection fees apply. Since this is your first reinspection in the calendar year, the reinspection fee is $176. Our office will return to conduct a re-inspection within 30 days. If any previously cited red violations are observed again, a second reinspection will be required with a fee of $269 and a second reinspection will occur within 10 days.
Ocean Palace Restaurant
112 E Wishkah St., Aberdeen
March 25 – Food Inspection Type – Reinspection
Red – 0
Blue – 0
Observations and corrective actions
Person in charge noted they adjusted the water heater after the last inspection.
Dishwasher racks are clean.
Establishment has been deep cleaned.
Knotty Pine Tavern
201 E Dock St., Westport
March 30 – Food Inspection Type – Routine
Red – 0
Blue – 0
Observations and corrective actions
Label the dish soap and the squeeze bottles on the counter. Points will be cited next time if containers are found without labels.
Whipped butter was observed on the counter at room temperature. Whipped butter must be refrigerated. Points will be cited if whipped butter is found at room temperature next time.
A complaint was received about a dog in the establishment and a water bowl was observed on the ground. No pets were currently in the establishment during the inspection. We informed the manager that pets are not allowed in food establishments.
The manager has food protection manager certificate. However, their Washington state food worker card was expired. A Washington state food worker card is required.
Sanitizer concentration was too high in the red buckets. Split sanitizer tablets in half for red buckets.
Great datemarking, temperature logs, and cleanliness.
Dollar General Store
315 S Montesano St., Westport
March 30 – Food Inspection Type – Routine
Red – 0
Blue – 0
Observations and corrective actions
Talked to management about a complaint received of a dog seen in a customer’s shopping cart. Animals are not allowed in food establishments unless it is a service animal.
Conducted a full routine inspection. Establishment was clean and organized.
Walmart
909 E Wishkah St., Aberdeen
March 30 – Food Inspection Type – Routine
Red – 10
Blue – 0
Observations and corrective actions
1: Cottage cheese, sour cream, and ricotta cheese in the dairy display case were being cold held at 47-50 degrees. Display case was overstocked. The temperature display on this unit varied from 39-42 degrees. Monitor unit and service as needed.
Corrective Actions: Cold held food must maintain 41 degrees or less. Person in charge discarded items that were elevated in temperature. Ensure that items are not overstocked in this refrigerator. Check temperatures throughout the day. A work order was placed during the inspection.
Several refrigeration and freezer units were down yesterday due to an electrical surge. Affected food was discarded. We reviewed destruction logs from March 29-30. A dumpster was dropped off yesterday to dispose food.
Temperatures were slightly elevated for the first items in the top row of the hot dog display case. It appears that the elevated temperatures were due to the defrost mode. The defrost mode occurs for 30 minutes every six hours. Check top row of hot dogs after defrost is complete to ensure that the temperature of the hot dogs drops back down to 41 degrees or below.
Cheese fridge connected to the dairy fridge was at 35to 37 degrees. No temperature issues were observed in the cheese section.
The dairy fridge did not go down during the electrical surge yesterday. Temperature issues observed appeared to be separate from the electrical surge problem.
Some food worker cards from 2025 and 2026 were expired. All food worker cards must be up to date for workers who handle food. Remove expired cards.
McDermoth Elementary
409 N K St., Aberdeen
March 31 – Food Inspection Type – Routine
Red – 0
Blue – 0
