Taqueria Real - Novato

Go here if you want a case study for your servsafe exam. I've been in business for over 20 years. My girlfriend got sick with the runs and cramps and doesn't know why. She eats here occasionally at noon and brought me there to check it. I ordered a bean and rice burrito with red sauce and mild salsa, just keep it. I rose to the slightly chaotic, lunch rushed salsa bar and noticed that all salsas were either very hot or super hot, a larger portion had much too many Serrano paprika. When I asked for something milder, the waitress showed on a thin tomato something with jalapeno slices in it! Don't! I then made eye contact with the cook who saw how I asked for options and asked about something Pica de gallo, it was rushed to me. My friend says she never eats salsa because it's too hot, I agree. It is much hotter than San Joses on Fourth in San Rafael because they use more Serrano that corresponds to more Scovilles. Then I asked the waitress if they made salsa so hot because they don't want people to eat a lot of it. She smiled, shook her head up and down and said, "Yes." When I got my burrito, the red sauce on top was hot tomato soup, 100%, tomato soup! No spices, nada. My rice wasn't even seasoned, only white rice, nada. Where did the mild salsa come for my Burrito if he had no one? Later I watched the owner or manager, she would not say wipe a stack of wet bowls for salsa and chips with a blue cloth and this is a violation of the health code. The shells are to be ventilated dry and not stacked wet, especially wood bowls even more because of their porosity and their ability to store the cause of a food-related disease. I observed that she put the towel on the countertop and then wipe the wet, stacked trays several times. You may cross everything with the blue cloth. I watched the waitress wipe several tables with another anger, without disinfecting the table tops, and then she put this dirty anger back on the same counter where the bowls were wiped before, another clear violation of the health code. All towels, if not in use, should not be on the counter. And they should use a chemical sanitizer to clean every table top. The corners of the floors show dirt build-up without coving. When I approached the manager, I asked her if she had a servsafe certification and she said yes, but could not produce her card. When I asked her about the Salsa problem, she said that they didn't understand me when I asked clearly and they clearly answered my question "No". At least the cook understood me. When I pointed out the violations she didn't say, a word or even repentance, I told her that my girlfriend had been sick lately. She said nothing. Then I told her about the waiter's confession about the hot salsa and she immediately asked who it was. Please think before you dare. Buyer Careful.