By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Del Rio’s Jack in the Box restaurant re-opened about noon Monday after it was closed
through the weekend while staff addressed health and fire code violations, city officials
said.
John Atnipp, the city’s neighborhood services director, spoke to The 830 Times Tuesday
about the closure of the restaurant, located at 100 Braddie Drive on the city’s north side.
Atnipp said, “In our normal duties, we’re required to inspect every food establishment in
the city of Del Rio, twice a year, randomly, at minimum.”
Atnipp said he and four inspectors are responsible for inspecting about 155 food
establishments, including restaurants, schools, day cares, nursing homes and the hospital.
“Jack in the Box came up on February’s list for the inspectors, so it didn’t have anything
to do with us being called out there for bad food or a complaint from a customer. It was a
routine inspection,” Atnipp said.
During the course of the city inspection, “the inspector discovered that their walk-in
freezer was not operating correctly,” Atnipp said.
He noted the food stored in the freezer was below the temperature required and therefore
safe.
Atnipp added, “But without the unit operating properly, it was not going to be able to
hold that temperature, and by health department, by state standards, if it reaches above 45
degrees (Fahrenheit), we’ve got a problem. Then that food must be discarded.”
Atnipp said the inspector discovered the problem with the freezer between 4 and 5 p.m.
on Friday.
“So, I was notified, and I went out there, looked at their inspection, and there were some
other minor violations that needed to be corrected. We noticed that their cooking hood
needed attention, so we notified the fire marshal.
“Once the fire marshal got there, he agreed that there was some work that needed to be
done on their cooking hood and on their fire extinguishers. (The restaurant’s) corporate
office was notified of the issue with the walk-in freezer, and it was jointly agreed-upon
that the business would be closed until the corrective actions could be taken,” Atnipp
said.
He said the inspector placed “temporarily closed” signs on the restaurant’s two entrances
and on the drive-through.
“We told them when they got everything completed, the violations corrected, to call us
and we would come re-inspect and they could open back up,” Atnipp said.
He added that he asked Jack in the Box staff to call him over the weekend if the issues
could be resolved.
“I notified their corporate office also, and gave them my contact information so they
could get ahold of me if it gets done during the weekend, and I’ll come in, and we’ll get
you back up and running,” Atnipp said.
Atnipp said he received a call about noon Saturday from an out-of-town company that
was going to come in on Monday morning and deal with the fire code violations.
“In essence, that meant they would be closed through the weekend, even though the issue
with the walk-in freezer was corrected late Friday evening. I couldn’t open them up for
business while those fire violations were still evident,” Atnipp said.
On Monday, the out-of-town company arrived and addressed the fire code issues.
“By 12 o’clock Monday, the business was reopened. Once the fire marshal was satisfied
with the work done, once we were satisfied with the corrective actions that were taken on
the health side, the business was reopened,” Atnipp said.
He stressed the temporary closure “had nothing to do with a problem with their food or a
complaint.”
He added, “Since we couldn’t be sure how high the temperature got in the freezer – we
saw that it was running; we saw that the temperature was fine – but we didn’t know in-
between, so the majority of the food that was in the freezer was discarded.”
“The stuff that wasn’t discarded was sealed and packed in boxes, and it held
temperature,” Atnipp added.
The 830 Times also spoke Tuesday with Jack in the Box manager Liliana Martinez, who
said she wanted to welcome Del Rio residents back to the restaurant.
“We worked closely with the city to resolve all of our issues. The restaurant is open, and
we’d like everyone in Del Rio to come and try our great food. We’re glad to receive you
all back after being closed briefly,” Martinez said.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com .
