A restaurant whose customers have contracted Salmonella infections has repeatedly failed health inspections but has not been closed down by authorities.

The Fadó Irish Pub & Restaurant in Seattle had unsatisfactory ratings from public health inspectors three out of four times in the past year, according to documents from Public Health of Seattle & King County. Restaurant officials have not responded to request for comment. Health officials are expecting results this week for test samples from food-contact surfaces in the restaurant that they collected July 1 after two customers were confirmed with infections from the relatively rare strain of Salmonella Thompson. The “unsatisfactory” inspection reports were from visits on June 2 and Nov. 3 in 2015 and July 1 this year. Only a June 8, 2015, inspection — which was a mandatory follow up — resulted in Fadó’s earning a “satisfactory” rating. Even that inspection report cited violations, though, including unclean food-contact surfaces and food held at improper temperatures. Many of the violations cited in June 2015 were also present during the November 2015 inspection, as well as the July 1 inspection this year. Failures included holding foods at improper temperatures, which encourages bacterial growth, and problems with hand-washing sinks that made it impossible for employees to keep their hands clean. Employees at the restaurant, which is part of a national chain headquartered in Atlanta, were also observed handling food with their bare hands when they should have been using utensils or wearing gloves. Equipment such as can openers and meat slicers were not clean, according to the inspection reports. In November mold was found in the ice machine. The July 1 inspection report included details about the health department’s procedures for compliance problems. A July 7 inspection showed the problems noted the previous week had been corrected. However, the restaurant could have continued to operate even if it failed the follow-up review. “The Health Department will conduct a re-inspection of your establishment within 14 days of this inspection. If not all red critical violations are corrected during the re-inspection, a second re-inspection may be required,” the July 1 report stated. “If these red critical violations are still not corrected on the second re-inspection, your permit may be suspended and your facility closed. Please note that your permit may be suspended after the third occurrence of a red critical violation within any 12-month period.” (To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)