Restaurant Scores a 13 on Health Inspection

Gwinnett County, GA (WXIA-TV) - A Gwinnett County restaurant is closed after getting the worst score ever on a health inspection. It's the Mar Y Tierra restaurant in Lilburn.The health department closed down the restaurant after giving it the lowest grade ever on a health inspection. Health inspectors gave Mar Y Tierra a mere 13 out of a possible 100, and the designation "U", for unsatisfactory."Gotta have a pretty bad situation to get something like that," said Vernon Goins of the Gwinnett County Health Department.According to the report, food wasn't stored at proper temperatures, those making the food didn't have gloves, and then there are the pictures: still photos showing what Goins says is mold and mildew in ice chests, and raw meat stored above vegetables.WXIA-TV tried to contact the owner of Mar Y Tierra, and while workers could be seen inside, no one would come to the door.The health department has just started using new stricter federal guidelines, so all restaurants are getting slightly lower scores than usual, but nothing like the Mar Y Tierra.While routine health inspections are supposed to be surprise visits, the owner of this restaurant just changed the name so he requested an inspection meaning he set the date and time so he knew when they were going to show up. And still the restaurant only scored a 13.Now the doors will stay closed until the owner fixes the violations and gets a perfect score of 100.Each week, News19 brings you the best and worst grades here in the Midlands. For more, look here , and also be sure to watch at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. each Thursday on News19.