Lack of health department permits forced five closures; numerous critical violations that combined to form what inspectors considered an "imminent health hazard" brought four closures; sewage backups forced four closures; lack of refrigeration caused one and lack of water caused another.

Perfect scores

On the other end of the spectrum, 30 establishments were perfect in health inspections in 2003 and 2004 and were cited for no violations of any kind. (See accompanying list.)

"It's not easy to do," said Alicia Leonard, manager of the upscale Boulevard restaurant in Holladay, one of only two still-open, full-service restaurants that made that list.

"There is an emphasis on cleanliness every day, and every week or two we do a deep cleaning. We remove everything, clean behind it and put it back," she said. "It becomes a little tedious, but we do try to make sure the restaurant stays clean and pleasant for our patrons."

Others on the "perfect" list included a Pei Wei Asian Diner at 1028 E. 2100 South; a Figaro's Pizza at 824 W. North Temple; a Domino's Pizza at 7953 S. Airport Road in West Jordan; and the Dragon's Lair Pub, 3040 S. State.

Several school cafeterias had perfect records, including Fox Hill Elementary in Taylorsville; Jordan Valley School in Sandy; and Mountain View Elementary in Salt Lake City.

Ethnic, fast foods

The data collected also allows some comparison between types of ethnic restaurants. (See accompanying chart.)

Vietnamese restaurants, which tend to have large menus, had by far the most critical violations per inspection at 7.5.

Not too far behind were Chinese restaurants, with a median of 5.13.

Most of the rest were bunched closely together: Korean and Japanese (a median of four critical violations per inspection); Brazilian and Thai (tied at 3.67); Greek (3.58); British (3.5); French and Italian (tied at 3.33); Mexican and Mediterranean (tied at 3); and Indian (2.5).

The Morning News also compared median scores for local fast-food chains that had at least six different stores in Salt Lake County.

Starbuck's had the best score, with a median of 0.33 critical violations per site over the two years. Of course, it has much less cooking than many of the other fast-food chains.

Also with good scores were Papa John's Pizza (a median of 0.5 critical violations per inspection per site); Domino's Pizza (1); Wendy's (1.13); Sconecutter and Taco Bell (tied at 1.25); Blimpies (1.29); and 5 Buck Pizza (1.33).

Hogi Yogi had the worst score, a median of 6.75 critical violations per site per inspection.

Others just behind it on the list were Beto's Mexican Food (4.96); Crown Burger (3.88); Godfather's Pizza (3.5); Apollo Burgers (3.46); Arby's and Arctic Circle (tied at 3); and Iceberg Drive Inns (2.9).