Data supplied by the New York State Department of Health shows that eight local restaurants were cited with five or more critical violations so far this year.

Health inspectors from the state regularly visit local restaurants looking for health code violations. The goal is to protect diners from food-borne illness. The results of these visits are publicly posted on the Department of Health's website so consumers can stay informed about the cleanliness of their local restaurants.

Critical violations are those that can cause immediate harm to consumers like under-cooked food and improper storage of ingredients. Other violations like inadequate hand washing facilities or dirty conditions are noted as non-critical violations.

We've listed the restaurants that have received five or more critical violations during their most recent inspection in 2017. In some cases the restaurants were given the opportunity to correct the violations by inspectors and have done so.

Here are the restaurants in Dutchess, Orange and Ulster counties that have received the most critical violations so far this year.

Irish Eyes Pub on Route 9W in New Windsor
The restaurant received 10 critical violations and four noncritical violations on March 13. Critical violations included potentially hazardous foods not kept to proper temperature and a lack of properly designed and maintained refrigeration equipment. Other violations for food storage and preparation procedures and construction of food prep areas were also given out. The report says that nine out of the 10 critical violations were corrected.

Bright Star Diner on Route 32 in Central Valley
During an inspection on February 14 inspectors found eight critical violations including bare hand contact with food, areas of the restaurant contaminated by sewage or drippage from waste lines, foods not stored under refrigeration, lack of proper refrigeration equipment and storage of toxic chemicals that could possibly contaminate food. Other violations included dirty cloths, unclean surfaces and food storage areas that were unsanitary. One of the critical violations was not corrected, according to the report.

Cup and Saucer Diner on Boniface Drive in Pine Bush
There were eight critical violations found on March 10 including no thermometers used to evaluate food temperatures, lack of refrigeration, improper food temperatures, restaurant areas contaminated by sewage and potential for toxic chemicals to contaminate food. Two out of the eight violations were not corrected according to the report. There were also seven non-critical violations found during the inspection.

Itzmi Japanese Restaurant on Route 300 in Newburgh
Seven critical violations that were reportedly corrected include potential cross-contamination of raw foods, employees not washing their hands, bare hand contact with food and hazardous foods not kept at proper temperature. There were an additional 11 non-critical violations found. During the inspection on February 17 all critical items were corrected according to inspectors.

Other restaurants receiving five critical violations during their last inspection were:

Preet Gourmet Pizza and Deli in New Windsor
Five critical violations and three non-critical violations.

Eastern Chinese Restaurant in Middletown
Five critical violations and three non-critical violations

Newburgh Family Buffet in Newburgh
Five critical violations and 12 non-critical violations

Daxxon Chinese Restaurant in Walden
Five critical violations and three non-critical violations

Here is a list of the restaurants in each county that received the most critical violations in 2017:

Dutchess
Village Pizza III in Redhook (3), Emiliano's Pizza in Poughkeepsie (3) and Izumi Sushi in Wappingers Falls (3).

Orange
Irish Eyes Pub in New Windosr (10), Bright Star Diner in Central Valley (8) and Cup and Saucer Diner in Pine Bush (8).

Ulster
Only John A. Coleman Catholic High School received more than one critical violation. Inspectors found two violations, both of which were reportedly corrected.

You can check the results of your favorite restaurant's last inspection on the Department of Health's website by clicking here.

 
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