Fargo’s Pizza in El Paso County, Colorado, was temporarily closed by El Paso County Public Health after a routine health inspection found multiple critical food safety violations. The inspection, conducted on July 20, cited employees failing to wash their hands, plumbing problems that left sinks unusable, and a lack of certified food safety management.

Violations and Corrective Actions

Inspectors also documented sanitation and maintenance concerns, including dirty equipment and surfaces, handwashing sinks with no water pressure or clogged drains, missing floor tiles, and holes in walls and ceilings. The restaurant’s General Manager, Al Martinez, acknowledged the violations and stated that the hand-washing sink was the core issue that led to the shutdown. Martinez explained that there was not an operational hand-washing sink in the kitchen when he arrived in 2021, and the need for a second one had not been previously identified until this inspection.

Martinez said his team worked quickly to resolve the issue, and the restaurant was closed for around 26 hours before a reinspection allowed it to reopen. Martinez invited community members to visit the restaurant for a direct explanation of what occurred, stating, ‘This is nothing to run from. We can show you what…went on and if you want to do that, it’s a public’s choice.’

Original reporting: KRDO (Colorado Springs metro) — read the source article.