Inspection scores began showing marked improvement in late July 1999, after inspectors demanded changes and made seven visits that month. The owners remodeled the kitchen, cleaned out the sub-basement and replaced the sewer line, DiCapo said. Last year, they added a deli. In December 1999, Italian Gardens scored a 98. As of Wednesday, it had not been inspected again.
Inspectors say the restaurant made a big turnaround.
In the Savoy's case, an inspection supervisor decided not to close the landmark downtown restaurant for a score of 48 in June 1999. Violations included cockroaches in a storage room, dirty floors, spoiled food, leaky plumbing, sewage on the basement floor and employees wiping their hands on their aprons instead of washing their hands, records show. Some violations were corrected immediately, others within three days. The sewage, isolated in the basement, posed no threat, she said. Don F. Lee, the Savoy's owner and general manager, did not recall details of the failed inspection but said the score was not typical.