In its 24 years of existence, Rosa’s Pizza in Maspeth has never gotten an A from the Department of Health. After a year-long battle, the pizzeria won its dispute against the B rating and was granted an A from a judge. Forum Newsgroup photo by Natalia Kozikowska.
After a year-long battle with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOH), Rosa’s Pizza won a court dispute over its B rating.
For 24 years, Rosa’s Pizza, located at 55-26 69 Street, has been serving up what some would say is the best pizza Maspeth has to offer. Voted “Best Pizza in Town” by publica- tions like the Daily News, Rosa’s has acquired some acclaim. Despite being recognized for its (grade-A) pizza and Italian cuisine, the restaurant just could not get rid of the letter B health inspection grade in its window.
Owner of Rosa’s Pizza, Charlie Troia, took the matter to court to dispute the nagging B rating.
According to Troia, the problems started in August 2011. He explained the restaurant was cited for violations that included not keeping food items at required temperatures, not wearing effective hair restraints in areas where food is prepared, a soiled garment with a possible contaminant and not keeping track of when food is prepared and discarded. He said those violations resulted from the fact that the DOH kept putting forth new rules and regulations that the restau- rant could not simply keep up with.
In one particular instance, the owner said that the DOH insisted that he store his chicken rolls in a refrigerator prior to being served to customers. “I understand that there are rules and regulations, but why did they want me to change the way I run my pizzeria? It’s not easy to convert an entire restaurant to oper- ate in a new way…I cannot add any refrigerators — we are not equipped for that.”
His brother, who owns the Rosa’s Pizza on Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village, decided to eliminate chicken rolls off his menu entirely. “For him it was not worth it to keep the chicken rolls,” he said.
For Troia, however, it seemed worth taking the violation points and summons. “We get the summons and we pay,” he said. “It paid to pay the summons at the volume that we serve chicken rolls.”
The pizzeria was also cited for not keeping track of how long a food item sits before it is discarded. He said that this violation came without any warning. Prior to the 2011 inspection, he had not heard of such a rule. “They should give a warning before they give us a violation,” he insisted. Now, the Rosa’s Pizza staff makes sure to mark down the time and at what temperature the food is cooked and the time it is thrown out.
Adjusting to this new rule has not been easy for the restaurant, Troia said. He added that Rosa’s Pizza serves roughly one thousand customers a day and sometimes it is hard to keep track of things.
Despite some negative encounters with the DOH, the restaurant owner understands that the health inspec- tors are simply doing their job, but he still feels some parts of the inspec- tions are unfair to business owners.
One of those moments was during another inspection a few years ago. He said he was cited for a beverage in the cooking vicinity. He claimed that one of his cooks kept a bottle of water by his station and took a sip while a health inspector was present. “We got points off for that,” he said. “I just don’t understand why we got points off because the bottle had a cap. I understand if it was a cup of water or something, but this was a closed water bottle.”
Although Rosa’s was issued an A in December, the A-rating display did not come in the mail for six months. “I never waited this long to get a B,” he complained. “Why am I waiting six months for my A?”
According to Troia, all these incidents with the DOH had left him in despair. “It got to the point where I didn’t care anymore,” he said. “I was used to the abuse. I was used to the B.” He said that when a health inspector would visit he would get nervous. “Your heart beats fast and you can’t help but feel like you’ve done something wrong. It makes me feel like I am a criminal but I’m not – I would never serve a customer something I wouldn’t serve my family.”
Even though Rosa’s has had its is- sues with the DOH, Troia did point out that he has also had positive experiences with health inspectors. “There was this one Russian lady and she was so nice. She helped me a lot.”
Troia is happy to display his new letter grade in the window and holds no grudges. “Maybe now people who did not come in will come in,” he added.
By Natalia Kozikowska
