At a glance
CleanCleaver food safety systematic review results
What happened?
91/ 100 · 9 points taken off
3 problems found · Routine county inspection · Mar 31, 2026
Is that a lot?
Most food places here got 2 to 15 points taken off. The Melt got about the same as most.
Compared with 9,600 Santa Clara County food places. Each place's last routine inspection counts.
What was found out about The Melt?
It's fair to care about this. Here's what the county found. Tap any item to see how a kitchen fixes it.
- Food-contact surfaces not cleaned or sanitized right K14How to fixFix it
- Cooked food not cooled in time K09How to fixFix it
- Hand sink not ready to use K06How to fixFix it
Source: County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health
We review Santa Clara County health data to make this report. We are not the County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health.
Visit them directly at deh.santaclaracounty.gov (opens the department's site) · How we review
For The Melt's team
Is this your place?
Welcome, The Melt. We'll walk through this together, one item at a time. To log the fixes, claim The Melt first; we check that you run it.
Your whole team can help. Each person gets one next step, and everyone can see what's done.
This is my place: claim The MeltWe'll help you get every item done. You don't have to do it alone.
We know an inspection can feel heavy, especially when it's busy.
Fix it together
Follow the steps for each item, with the rule beside it.
Next: Food-contact surfaces not cleaned or sanitized rightThe county found: “Accumulation of brown/black mold-like residue in the crevices of the heavily scratched/scored cutting boards…”
First step: Clean first, then sanitize
Then the next one: Cooked food not cooled in time
Show what you did
Saying what you fixed, in your own words, builds trust. Families and regulars respect a kitchen that owns it and fixes it.
Each fix step comes from the rule it names: Food Code 4-603.16, Food Code 2-301.15, Food Code 7-201.11, Food Code 4-301.12.
Try it yourself
Fix and log it: Food-contact surfaces not cleaned or sanitized right
A practice run. Nothing is saved. Tap each step when it's done.
0 of 3 done
Clean first, then sanitize
From Food Code 4-603.16
Logged
That's one done. We'll be here for the next.
What people see now
Today, people see the department's words and nothing from you.
What people see after you fix and log it
Example reply
CleanCleaverBusiness reply
Your business replied to this with the public statement:
We fixed this the same day. Now our team logs it on their phones at open and close.
The date of your reply
This is not an official update to the health inspection report. The county's record is unchanged.
Most kitchens get something cited at some point. What people remember is that you fixed it.
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Replies are part of a paid plan. We read each one before it goes up. You can take it down any time. Only the department can change its record.
Do you work there, and someone else owns it? I work there
What people see next
Under each item here, people see what you fixed, in your words.
Left alone, or fixed together
Left alone, the same items can come back at the next inspection. Fixed together, they're done.
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Inspections
From County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health · 4 inspections on record · Last checked Oct 6, 2026
The county visited once in the last 12 months (1 routine).
Fewer points taken off than last time (16 → 9). That takes a team.
Every visit
LatestMar 31, 2026Routine inspection91 out of 100 (Green placard)
This one: 91 out of 100 (Green placard), inspected Mar 31, 2026.
3 violations listed, 0 marked critical.
Not critical (3)
Food-contact surfaces not cleaned or sanitized right
The department's words
K14 Food contact surfaces clean, sanitized
Accumulation of brown/black mold-like residue in the crevices of the heavily scratched/scored cutting boards maintained on prep coolers at the cook-line. [CA] Food contact surfaces shall be maintained clean. Repair or replace.
Food Code 4-602.11
How can a restaurant or home fix this?
Clean first, then sanitize
- 1. Scrape off food.
- 2. Wash with detergent and warm water.
- 3. Rinse off the soap (soap weakens sanitizer).
From Food Code 4-603.16
When to clean food-contact surfaces
4 more steps in the full guide Read the free guide
Cleaning vs sanitizing, and sanitizer strengths
The full guide has 4 more parts. Sign up to open the full guide in the app.
Are you The Melt? Fix it
Cooked food not cooled in time
The department's words
K09 Proper cooling methods
Cooked pasta measured 49F while maintained in a deep, lid covered container in the walk-in cooler. Per staff and per a label on the container, pasta had been cooked approximately 4.5 hours prior. Cooked pasta measured 45F while maintained in a deep, lid covered container in the walk-in cooler. Per staff and per a label on the container, pasta had been cooked approximately 5 hours prior. Manager stated that the facility has SOP's in place in which they utilize ice baths to cool the pasta down to 41F prior to placement into the walk-in cooler. Manager stated that the employee had likely forgotten to cool the two containers of pasta to 41F prior to placement into the walk-in cooler. [CA] After heating or hot holding, Potentially Hazardous Foods (PHFs) shall be cooled rapidly from 135°F to 70°F within 2 hours and from 70°F to 41°F within 4 hours. Approved cooling methods include: 1) Placing the food in shallow pans 2) Separating the food into thinner or smaller portions. 3) Using rapid cooling equipment (Ex. blast chiller) 4) Using containers that facilitate heat transfer (ex. stainless steel) 5) Adding ice as an ingredient. 6) Using ice paddles 7) Using an ice bath and stirring frequently 8) Accordance with a HACCP plan. Cooling foods shall have enough space around the containers for cold air to circulate, be loosely covered, or uncovered and stirred as frequently needed to evenly cool. [COS] Pasta was placed into ice baths to facilitate rapid cooling.
Food Code 3-501.14
How can a restaurant or home fix this?
If you miss a stage
- Missed stage 1 (not 70°F by 2 hours): reheat to 165°F and start over, or throw it out.
- Missed stage 2 (not 41°F by 6 hours): throw it out.
How to cool fast
3 more steps in the full guide Read the free guide
Cooling food in two stages
The full guide has 3 more parts. Sign up to open the full guide in the app.
Are you The Melt? Fix it
The department's words
K06 Adequate handwash facilities supplied, accessible
Handwash sink at the side preparation area lacked soap. Wash basin observed filled with a bucket lid and several pairs of tongs. *Note: Additional, available hand wash sink located nearby [CA] Handwashing facility shall be clean, unobstructed, and accessible at all times. Provide handwashing cleanser in dispenser at handwash stations at all times. [COS] Soap dispenser refilled. Obstructions removed.
Food Code 5-205.11
How can a restaurant or home fix this?
Hand sinks are for hands only
- Wash only at a handwashing sink.
- Never wash hands in the dish sink, a food prep sink, a mop sink, or a drink cooler.
- Never dump drinks, rinse utensils or fill pitchers at the hand sink.
From Food Code 2-301.15
Soap and hand sanitizer
4 more steps in the full guide Read the free guide
Handwashing
The full guide has 4 more parts. Sign up to open the full guide in the app.
Are you The Melt? Fix it
EarlierAug 18, 2025Follow-up inspectionGreen placard
No notes were taken, but there was an interaction, likely addressing some or all of the prior report. No inspector comment was found. See the official report (opens the department's site) for more information.
EarlierAug 14, 2025Routine inspection84 out of 100 (Green placard)
5 violations listed, 1 marked critical.
Critical (1)
Marked critical by County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health
The department's words
K07 Proper hot and cold holding temperatures
1. Raw patties, raw chicken, various sliced cheeses, cooked onion, cooked mushrooms, raw shell eggs, and sliced tomatoes measured in the range of 48F-56F in the 4 lower drawers and the upper prep inserts of the prep cooler to the right of the cook-line. Per the PIC, all of the listed foods with the exception of the raw shell eggs had been left in the unit overnight. Raw shell eggs were taken out of the walk-in and placed into the unit this morning (less than one hour prior). Ambient of the unit (lower drawers and upper inserts) measured in the range of 50F-59F. Facility's thermometer placed inside the top left drawer unit measured 53F. *NOTE: Equipment MUST be capable of maintaining potentially hazardous foods (PHF) at or below 41F, regardless of surrounding ambient air temperature. [CA] PHF shall be held at or below 41F, OR at or above 135F to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria. [COS] All PHF listed within the unit VC&D, except for the raw shell eggs. See VC&D report. Raw shell eggs relocated to the walk-in cooler. Facility shall use the other available working prep and under-counter refrigeration units while they await a fridge tech who can fix the currently non-functional unit. 2. Cooked pasta measured 72F in a large plastic tub situated on a cardboard box underneath the metal counter units outside of the walk-in cooler. Per an employee, he had taken it out of the walk-in 20 minutes prior. [CA] PHF shall be held at or below 41F, OR at or above 135F to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria. [COS] Cooked pasta relocated to the walk-in cooler. _____________ Minor violations: 1. Various sliced and shredded cheeses measured 44F-48F in the upper prep inserts of the prep cooler to the left of the cook-line. Per employees, they had taken the the cheese out of the bottom drawers of the unit and/or the walk-in one hour prior. Ambient of the unit (lower drawers) measured 40F. [CA] PHF shall be held at or below 41F, OR at or above 135F to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria. Recommend using deeper, metal inserts to ensure that cold air can be more efficiently conducted through the food, and to ensure that the food is closer to the cooling element of the unit. [COS] Cheese relocated to lower drawers of prep unit. Ambient measured 40F. 2. Soft serve mix in the upper hopper of the soft serve machine measured 43F at the bottom and 48F at the top layer. Per the employee, the facility occasionally has issues with the machine because it trips the breaker. Soft serve mix had been mixed 1 hour prior. [CA] PHF shall be held at or below 41F, OR at or above 135F to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria. [COS] Soft serve to be used within 4 hours of initial mixing. Continue to monitor machine with available probe thermometer to ensure temperature reaches 41F or below.
Critical items are the ones most likely to make someone sick. This one comes first. Here's how a kitchen fixes it.
Not critical (4)
Chemicals unlabeled or stored near food
The department's words
K29 Toxic substances properly identified, stored, used
Unlabeled spray bottle of chemicals observed next to the hand sink near the soft serve machine. [CA] Chemicals shall be labeled with common name.
Dish sink or dish machine not set up right
The department's words
K34 Warewash facilities: installed/maintained; test strips
Facility lacks quaternary ammonium test strips. [CA] Testing equipment and materials shall be provided to adequately measure the applicable sanitization method used during manual or mechanical warewashing.
Floors, walls or ceilings need cleaning or repair
The department's words
K44 Premises clean, in good repair; Personal/chemical storage; Adequate vermin-proofing
1. 5+ full or partially full bottles of unchained CO2 observed next to the back door. [CA] Chain or secure CO2 bottles to a rigid structure. 2. 1/4 inch gap observed underneath back door. [CA] Install a door sweep or other method to reduce the gap in order to prevent the entrance of pests/vermin into the facility.
Wiping cloths left out of sanitizer
The department's words
K40 Wiping cloths: properly used, stored
Quaternary ammonium sanitizer in wiping cloth bucket outside of the walk-in cooler measured approximately 100 ppm. [CA] Wiping towels shall be stored in sanitizing solution of an approved concentration when not in use (100 ppm - chlorine, 200 ppm - quaternary ammonium). Ensure that the solution in wiping cloth buckets is changed more regularly.
EarlierNov 11, 2024Routine inspection92 out of 100 (Green placard)
3 violations listed, 0 marked critical.
Not critical (3)
Cooked food not cooled in time
The department's words
K09 Proper cooling methods
Large tray of grilled onions measured to be 60F. Onions were on large pile on the tray. Per employee tray was made about 4 hour prior. [CA] Properly cool PHF's using shallow containers and spread PHF out, using no more than 2 inches for solid foods and no more than 4 inches for liquids. [COS] Employee spread onion level and over the full sheet pan.
No hot or cold water at a sink
The department's words
K21 Hot and cold water available
Hot water measured to be 107F at 3-comp sink. [CA] Provide hot water at 120F at 3-comp sink.
Food on the floor or under drips
The department's words
K30 Food storage: food storage containers identified
Corn starch and flour observed to be in bulk dry food containers without labels. [CA] Containers of food not readily identifiable shall be labeled.
Source: County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health. This is the department's data, not CleanCleaver's. See the department's full record (opens the department's site)
What you can do
As a customer of The Melt, you can:
Learn how these get fixed
Free, step-by-step guides for each item.
- Food-contact surfaces not cleaned or sanitized right Read the free guide
- Cooked food not cooled in time Read the free guide
- Hand sink not ready to use Read the free guide
Call The Melt
Ask for the manager. The Melt can only fix what it knows about.
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Complain directly to the health department
We are not the health department. You can report to them on their site. Report to County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health (opens the department's site)
When regulars speak up kindly and kitchens fix things, the whole neighborhood eats well. Now you know what the inspector found, and what you can do about it.
About this record
Opens the county's own page for this place.
Most people don't know what a normal result looks like for a place that's open every day. The ranges use each place's last routine inspection in this area. No other county is mixed in.
100 means the inspector found no problems. Santa Clara County takes points off for each problem. Big ones take off more.
The county posts a green, yellow or red placard after each inspection, and gives routine inspections a score. In the county's data, a routine inspection with no violations listed scored 100, and the score drops as violations are found. The county's page does not say which scores or findings give each color: ask the department.
- Inspection type
- Routine inspection
- Result
- 91 out of 100 (Green placard)
- Source
- County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health
This is not an official ranking or grade. See the official source: County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health (opens the department's site) .
Information on this page may be out of date. Check the original source to confirm.