DineSafe Toronto

This week on DineSafe: 5th Element, Blarney Stone Pub, Caplansky's, Coco Rice, The Rex, Thai Basil, The Annex Live, Silver Dollar

This week on DineSafe, a handful of Toronto's live music venues were given the once-over. Actually, better make that "twice-over" since a number of those inspected were granted temporary conditional passes, meaning they will require subsequent evaluations. While the show must go on, as the late Freddie Mercury might say, he would also probably add that the show cannot go on indefinitely when paired with improperly stored food or venues of poor sanitary conditions. I'm speculating, of course, yet I remain fairly confident that Mercury wouldn't be on the side of "inadequate food temperature control."

With varying numbers and severity of infractions, jazz hub The Rex, blues room The Silver Dollar, and everything else Annex Live were handed conditional passes, along with several other notable Toronto spots where guests dine to pre-programmed soundtracks. Here are some of the DineSafe highlights for the week.

5th Element
Inspected on: January 23
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional Pass)
Number of infractions: 7 (Minor: 3, Significant: 4, Crucial: 0)
Crucial infractions include: N/A

Blarney Stone Pub
Inspected on: January 24
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional Pass)
Number of infractions: 12 (Minor: 2, Significant: 6, Crucial: 2)
Crucial infractions include: Inadequate food temperature control, failure to ensure/provide for proper employee hygiene/handwashing

Caplansky's Delicatessen
Inspected on: January 26
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional Pass)
Number of infractions: 4 (Minor: 0, Significant: 2, Crucial: 2)
Crucial infractions include: Inadequate food temperature control, operator fail to ensure premises cleaned to prevent food contamination

Coco Rice
Inspected on: January 23
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional Pass)
Number of infractions: 3 (Minor: 2, Significant: 0, Crucial: 1)
Crucial infractions include: Inadequate food temperature control

The Rex
Inspected on: January 23
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional Pass)
Number of infractions: 2 (Minor: 1, Significant: 0, Crucial: 1)
Crucial infractions include: Failure to protect food from contamination

Thai Basil
Inspected on: January 24
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional Pass)
Number of infractions: 7 (Minor: 0, Significant: 5, Crucial: 2)
Crucial infractions include: Failure to protect food from contamination, inadequate food temperature control

The Annex Live
Inspected on: January 24
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional Pass)
Number of infractions: 1 (Minor: 0, Significant: 1, Crucial: 0)
Crucial infractions include: N/A

The Silver Dollar
Inspected on: January 23
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional Pass)
Number of infractions: 3 (Minor: 1, Significant: 1, Crucial: 1)
Crucial infractions include: Failure to protect food form contamination


Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in Eat & Drink

Toronto business owner to sell flowers and gifts but not food due to burnout

New smaller No Frills to replace recently closed grocery store in Toronto

Huge pasta-eating competition coming to Toronto

Canada's complaints with Loblaws are getting international attention

Iconic Toronto restaurant moves its operations to a food truck in a parking lot

Summerlicious announces 2024 restaurant list

Toronto burger joint abruptly shuts down

Here's how grocery prices in Australia compare to Canada