Three Rye Eateries Cited by Health Inspectors

Health inspectors cited three Rye-based food service establishments for “critical violations” during the most recent recorded inspection, according to data supplied by the New York State Department of Health.

The three establishments, and one from Rye Brook, are:

• Aurora Restaurant at 60 Purchase St. in Rye (1 violation)
• Blind Brook Club at Anderson Hill Road in Rye Brook (1 violation)
• The Rye Roadhouse at 12 High St. in Rye (1 violation)
• The Patio Café at 401 Theodore Fremd Ave. in Rye (2 violations)

No Port Chester eateries were cited for "critical violations" by the state. 

Greg DeMarco, for six years an owner at Rye Roadhouse (which has received four star ratings on Yelp and Trip Advisor), told Patch that the critical violation cited in April was for a single cracked egg on a flat of eggs in the restaurant’s walkthrough.

“By the book, that is considered a critical violation and it was an oversight on our part that happened during the normal course of business that morning,” DeMarco said. “We are committed to cleanliness and food safety. It’s a top priority. This hasn’t been an issue for us in the past and we don’t expect it to be an issue going forward.”

It hasn’t been.

Records show that the most recent inspection at Rye Roadhouse, on Dec. 30, yielded zero critical violations.

Collected from the “Health Data NY” section of the New York “Open Data Portal,” the searchable map above includes food service establishments in Putnam, Rockland and Westchester Counties that were cited for “critical violations” during the last recorded inspection by the state health department.

You can zoom in and out of the map and click on an orange bubble for basic information about the food service establishment cited, including its name, date of inspection and specifics of the violation or violations cited.

In New York, the State Department of Health's Bureau of Community Environmental Health and Food Protection “works to protect the public health by assuring that food service establishments are operated in a manner that eliminates hazards through design and management, resulting in a decreased incidence of foodborne illness in our communities,” according to the agency’s website.

Across more than 90,000 food service establishments statewide, the bureau’s “Food Protection Program” guides county and city health officials who permit and inspect food service establishments, the agency says.

The bureau maintains Part 14 of the New York State Sanitary Code, including subpart 14-1 which regulates food service establishments. See this subsection for specifics on inspections.

[Editor's Note: This article was updated with additional information about specific critical violations.]