Safest places to eat in Sacramento County? These restaurants had clean bills of health in February

Costco, Chevron and other local food-serving facilities had zero violations during Sacramento County restaurant inspections in February, county records show.

That’s good news for folks looking for safe places to eat.

The county performs about 14,000 inspections annually, with 97% of establishments passing, spokesman Ken Casparis previously told The Sacramento Bee.

A yellow placard signals two or more major violations, according to the Sacramento County Food Inspection Guide. These are typically corrected or mitigated during the inspection.

A red placard signals “imminent danger to public health and safety” and suspends the health permit until violations are corrected. This could include, but is not limited to, major vermin contamination.

In contrast, a green placard indicates that a restaurant passed the inspection.

That means the facilities did not violate any California Retail Food Code regulations.

A total of 31 restaurants, stores and other facilities in Sacramento County had perfect inspections during the month of February.

Here are the local businesses that received green placards by staying spic and span:

Which Sacramento County restaurants had ‘no violations’?

According to the Sacramento County Environmental Management Department, the following facilities had “no violations observed” during routine inspections by county inspectors in February:

Sacramento

• Burlington Coat Factory, 1596 Ethan Way in Sacramento

• DD’s Discounts, 4424 Florin Road, Suite A, in Sacramento

• Jack in the Box, 2560 West El Camino Ave. in Sacramento

• John Reith Elementary School, 8401 Valley Lark Drive in Sacramento

• Punjab Bazar Cash and Carry, 5764 Antelope Road, Suite B2, in Sacramento

• Rio Tierra Junior High School, 3201 Northstead Drive in Sacramento

• Rosa Parks Middle School, 2250 68th Ave. in Sacramento

• Starbucks, 3539 Bradshaw Road in Sacramento

• Success Academy, 2221 Matson Drive in Sacramento

• Susan B. Anthony School, 7864 Detroit Blvd. in Sacramento

• Target, 5001 Madison Ave. in Sacramento

• Tea 18 Natomas, 3880 Truxel Road, Suite 700, in Sacramento

• Yume Gelato, 5921 Folsom Blvd. in Sacramento

Carmichael

• FoodMaxx, 4708 Manzanita Ave. in Carmichael

Elk Grove

• AM/PM, 9590 Harbour Point Drive in Elk Grove

• Chevron, 9615 West Taron Drive in Elk Grove

• Marion Mix Elementary School, 4730 Laguna Park Drive in Elk Grove

• McDonald’s, 10051 Bruceville Road in Elk Grove

Fair Oaks

• Kwik Serv, 5365 Dewey Drive in Fair Oaks
• Rim’s Deli, 5241 Hazel Ave. in Fair Oaks

Folsom

• BevMo, 2595 Iron Point Road in Folsom

• Chevron, 1890 Prairie City Road in Folsom

• Costco, 1800 Cavitt Drive in Folsom

• Eurest at Intel FM5 and FM7, 1900 Prairie City Road in Folsom

• Lowe’s, 800 East Bidwell St. in Folsom

• Jo-Ann Fabric, 1010 East Bidwell St. in Folsom

• Subway, 195 Blue Ravine Road, Suite 300, in Folsom
• Wing Stop, 1115 East Bidwell St., Suite 124, in Folsom
• Zest, 1008 Riley Street Suite 2 in Folsom

Gold River

• Howard’s Donuts, 2340 Sunrise Blvd., Suite 22, in Gold River

North Highlands

• Allison School, 4329 Don Julio Blvd. in North Highlands

Which restaurants have best food safety records?

Each year, the county Environmental Management Department honors local food-serving facilities that have multiple years of stellar inspections.

The Award Of Excellence in Food Safety is given to facilities that have no more than three minor violations over the three most recent routine inspections, which are performed once per year.

The exact number of violations allowed for meeting the award criteria varies based on the type of food facility.

School food facilities, for example, cannot have more than one violation over a three-year period, and bars that don’t prepare their own food can’t have more than two violations in the same time frame.

The most recent award recipients met the award criteria during every routine inspection between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2024.

Of the restaurants that received food safety awards from Sacramento County in 2024, 12 had clean inspections in February:

• BevMo in Folsom
• Rim’s Deli in Fair Oaks
• Tea 18 Natomas in Sacramento

• Eurest at Intel FM5 and FM7 in Folsom

• Yume Gelato in Sacramento

• Susan B. Anthony School in Sacramento

• FoodMaxx in Carmichael

• Howard’s Donuts in Gold River

• McDonald’s in Elk Grove

• Zest in Folsom

• Costco in Folsom

• Chevron in Folsom

Mike Janwar, co-owner of Yume Gelato ice cream shop in Sacramento, told The Bee that earning the food safety award makes him and his staff feel like their “efforts are being appreciated.”

Janwar said keeping his facility clean “takes considerable efforts” from the entire Yume Gelato team.

“I do try to keep the shop as clean as possible because that’s where I work and spend the most of my time in,” Janwar wrote via email. “Working in a clean and organized environment makes me happy and hopefully that translates to the gelato that we make and serve.”

If an inspection needs clarification, business owners can email The Sacramento Bee at servicejournalists@sacbee.com. The Bee publishes weekly and monthly.

Camila Pedrosa

The Sacramento Bee

Camila Pedrosa is the California Diversions Reporter at The Sacramento Bee. She previously worked on The Bee’s service journalism team and was a summer reporting intern for The Bee in 2024. She graduated from Arizona State University with a master’s degree in mass communication.