Z Pizza: The Squeamish Gourmet

 

As you may already know from previous posts, I have developed somewhat of a phobia of restaurants in LA receiving less than an 'A' letter grade from the county health inspectors. I rarely eat at a 'B' restaurant willingly, though I do allow for the occasional exception.

Two weeks ago, my husband and I called ahead to Z Pizza on Larchmont Boulevard, to order lunch that would be ready for us to eat in the restaurant upon our arrival. We have dined at the CPK-ish mini-chain before, and while it's nothing to write home about, it's certainly adequate -- especially when you receive a coupon in the mail for a free 10" pie (as we had that week). Remember, the Dabbler loves free stuff.

We were about half way through our lunch when I looked above the doorway and saw something startling: the branch had received a letter grade of 'C' from the health department! What to do? I had already eaten a significant portion of my food, there was no turning back. We were blind-sided since we ordered our food off-site. Z has received 'A's in the past, and the open kitchen environment has never seemed unclean to me. But you have to be in pretty foul shape to get a 'C'. According to records, the health department website closed the restaurant on July 27th due to a lack of hot water and potable water supply; it re-opened on the 28th. Previous letter grades have all been solidly in the 'A' range, but the LACDoH website only includes inspections through April, so I'm not sure when the place got the 'C' and whether it pre- or post-dated the closure.

I don't think I'll make Z a frequent stop on my dining route, but if they achieve a more respectable status in the future -- and send another coupon to entice me -- I just might make one of my rare exceptions.

Other recent restaurant closures of note:

--Le Pain Quotidien, Beverly Hills, Closed (and re-opened) on June 13th for sewage issues.
--Mastro's Steakhouse, Beverly Hills (one of the most expensive steak joints around), closed July 11th through 13th for vermin infestation (and that's not a reference to all the agents who dine their regularly).
--Many, many, many restaurants with either 'Taco', 'Boba' or 'Mandarin', 'Thai', 'Wei', 'Wee' and other ethnic sounding words in their names.
--Congratulations letters U, X and Y: no restaurants beginning with any of these letters were closed by the health department over the past few months.