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Andy's Rest. Scorecard: Best Italian, plus scores as of 10/25/09

By Andy Wise - bio | email | Twitter | Facebook

FRAYSER (WMC TV) - Honesty and integrity.

They are the two essentials of a restaurant manager.

It took an unreturned phone call and an unannounced visit by Action News 5 to get the manager of Frayser's Mrs. Winners to demonstrate them.

Mrs. Winners, 2200 Frayser Boulevard, failed its 10/21 health inspection with a 62:

"insecticide stored with cleaning chemicals"

"No hot water at hand sink"

"drain flies"

"old food build up on can opener, bracket"

Inspector ordered worker to "discard" fried chicken for unsafe food temperatures

The store's manager asked not to be identified.  Before he stopped returning my calls, he told me none of the violations had anything to do with food.

Beg your pardon, sir?  Look at the highlighted above.

"I wasn't here when this happened," was his answer at the store.  He asked us to leave.

But I have to give him credit.  He must have had a guilty conscience because he called me back.

"Food had spilled on (the can opener) when (my employees) opened up a can," he told me on the phone.  He said his staff failed to clean up the mess.

About the fried chicken that had to be thrown out, he said, "One of the heating elements had gone out on the front line, and we only had one working. We got that fixed."

Frayser's Mrs. Winners passed its re-inspection on 11/2 with an 81.

THIS WEEK'S BIG TIP:  Lucchesi's Ravioli & Pasta Company, 540 South Mendenhall (at Sanderlin), Suite 3, East Memphis, 901-766-9922, http://www.lucchesis.com/

38 nominations put Lucchesi's over the top for Best Italian in our Restaurant Scorecard nominations.

"It's convenient, it's good, it's consistent," said Minetry Apperson of East Memphis.  She gobbles up batches of the ravioli with meat sauce, Alfredo lasagna and coconut cake.

A century's worth of the Lucchesi family's influence goes into every old-country dish in this delectable eatery with a "neighborhood atmosphere."  Owner Michael Lucchesi said 80 percent of his business is take-out -- folks buying whole batches of lasagna, a take-and-bake pizza or a sub sandwich and taking 'em home.

"Some of my personal favorites are the seasonal varieties that they offer, too, such as the butternut squash ravioli," said Susan Mealer of East Memphis.

WHAT ANDY LIKES:  Meat Ball Sub, Grilled Chicken & Spinach Lasagne (I say 'lasagna'), Ms. Becky's Take-And-Bake Pizza

For all of this week's Memphis-Shelby County restaurant scores, click here.

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