Fans of ziti pizza, fear not: It may be safe to eat at Pinnacle again.
New equipment and new employees have appeared at the 115th Street restaurant, in an effort to increase cleanliness and lure customers back after being shut down for health violations.
The pizza, sandwich, and bagel shop opened its doors on Jan.14 for the first time since a New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene inspection forced its closure at the end of December.
Points are assigned to every health violation, with zero as a perfect score. Pinnacle scored 94 points on the Dec. 22 inspection, well above the maximum passing score of 27. Inspectors cited dirty wiping cloths, high refrigerator temperatures, and inadequate lighting in the report. Though some of the original details are no longer listed on the Health Department’s website, the first report released in December cited “evidence of, or live mice in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.”
Pinnacle owner Marcos Belasquez said that his restaurant has made changes since the failed inspection and is now meeting Health Department standards.
A re-inspection on Dec. 29 gave Pinnacle a score of 52, still well above the passing maximum. On Jan. 6, a final inspection counted only four violation points, according to the website.
“We got new refrigerators, we installed a new ventilator, and I changed 65 percent of the workers here, including the manager,” Belasquez said.
Workers handling food without hair nets was one of the reasons that Pinnacle had failed the inspection, according to Belasquez.
“We’re also working on changing the menu a little bit, adding more healthy foods like fruits and salads,” he added.
Some Columbia students said that despite the renovations, they plan to stay away from Pinnacle because of the failed health inspection.
“I used to go twice a month before it closed,” Ryan Mandelbaum, CC ’13, said. “It always looked kind of dirty, so I was disappointed but not really surprised that it failed the inspection. I don’t think I will go back now, just because it has already phased out my rotation, and I know other places to get cheap bagels.”
Mercedes Ortiz, BC ’13, agreed, saying, “I had been there a couple of times, but now I don’t think I will go back. Now that it has the stigma of bad health, there is no reason to go to Pinnacle when there are so many other restaurants around.”
Still, some students were not even aware of Pinnacle’s closing.
“That’s gross, but I mean it’s a tradition at 3 a.m. on a weekend—what do you do? You go to Pinnacle.” said Evelyn Morfin, BC ’13, after hearing about the inspection.
Belasquez said that although business was definitely slow immediately after Pinnacle’s re-opening, “it’s picking up little by little.”
“It really killed me at first,” he added, “but things are getting better.”
Customers at Pinnacle had mixed reactions to the closing and re-opening of Pinnacle.
“I know they failed inspection, but sometimes that is for really picky things,” said Juan Alvarez, a Columbia graduate student waiting in line for coffee. “I usually only come here for coffee, and the sandwiches are good, so I don’t think I’ll stop coming here just because of the inspection.”
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