June was a banner month for the five Martinsville restaurants that passed inspection with only a few citations among them.
June’s inspection list is available online. The previous month’s inspections are usually made available online around the end of each month.
Five full-service restaurants — El Navagente, Jerry’s Pizza, San Jose Mexican Restaurant, 3rd Bay Cafe and Chatmoss Country Club — passed their June inspections.
Of the five restaurants, at least one had only a single citation having to do with incorrect labeling.
“Consistency is the most important thing,” said Yvonne Givens, the owner of 3rd Bay Cafe. “It’s part of your everyday consistency. It’s the consistency to make sure everything is cut fresh daily. We make a lot of things in-house. It’s important that you date it so that you constantly know what you have and when it was made so everything can stay in code.”
Located at 1163 Spruce St., the cafe — located in a former auto garage — predates Givens’ time as owner by a few years. She purchased the restaurant in 2008.
Givens and her team have since cemented the location’s status as a restaurant.
“It’s sort of important to have your days and your hours mapped out,” Givens said. “It’s sort of like a lesson plan of how you go through the day.”
Givens likening restaurant upkeep to a lesson plan stems from the 22 years she worked as an educator at Martinsville Middle School.
“Education has always been at the forefront,” Givens said.
She still involves herself with schools by serving on the Martinsville City School Board.
“I did various things, I coached; as a teacher you have to do a little bit of everything,” Givens said.
Tackling multiple roles is something that followed Givens to the restaurant business. She and her staff are up early, preparing the restaurant for the day. The cafe’s menu is filled with comfort food and the familiar, from salmon dishes to sandwiches.
“We have a lot of seafood and we try to give it a Southern twist,” Givens said.
