Some restaurants in Bangor appear to be years overdue for a health inspection, according to a state database — but whether that’s accurate and why it’s happening is unclear.
Wayne Johnson, co-owner of Chimera Coffee, said he hasn’t seen a health inspector since February 2023 when the business — which was once West Market Square Artisan Coffeehouse — changed hands and rebranded, requiring an inspection before the coffee shop could reopen.
State health inspectors are supposed to visit eateries at least every two years.
Going more than two years without a health inspection is a stark difference from what Johnson used to experience while working in restaurants in Seattle. There, restaurants could expect a surprise health inspector check-in roughly every six months, or at least once a year, Johnson said.
While Johnson isn’t concerned about Chimera being overdue for an inspection, as the business doesn’t handle or serve any high-risk foods like meat or fish, he wonders whether other local restaurants are receiving a similar treatment.
Only 43 businesses in Bangor have been inspected this year as of May 2, according to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. Maine DHHS keeps an online searchable database of health inspection reports from businesses across the state. The database lists records from as far back as 2018.
Of the 452 entries within Bangor on the state’s health inspection report database, 146 inspection reports are from 2024 and 135 inspections took place in 2023.
Numerous Bangor businesses, however, haven’t been inspected in several years and some have no inspection record at all.
Bangor is the only major Maine city without its own health inspector assigned to check on the city’s many businesses, instead relying on the state. But that the state’s database shows local eateries being years overdue for an inspection calls into question whether this system is actually working.
When asked why some Bangor businesses appear to be years overdue for an inspection and others are missing from the database entirely, DHHS spokesperson Lindsay Hammes said “it is possible that an inspection has not been conducted within the past three years or the establishment has only received a pre-operational inspection.”
The state has one vacant health inspector position, Hammes said.
Aside from bars, cafes and restaurants, businesses such as tattoo and piercing shops, campgrounds, and school cafeterias all need periodic health inspections by DHHS.
Periodic inspections are the state’s responsibility. The check-ins are supposed to happen without warning, so kitchen staff don’t have time to prepare. This gives inspectors the best idea of how eateries operate and handle food on an average day.
New businesses also need to pass a health inspection before they can open, and a restaurant needs a health inspection if there’s an ownership change, according to the state. Those first inspections are generally scheduled, multiple business owners reported.
The Bangor Daily News contacted multiple business owners whose eateries are years overdue for an inspection or not listed at all, according to the state database. Most declined to comment or didn’t return requests for comment. One hung up the phone when a reporter asked when their business was last inspected.
The state is broken into 18 regions and each region is assigned a health inspector to oversee businesses. However, some of the state’s largest cities, including Portland, South Portland and Lewiston, employ their own inspectors to oversee health inspections, which the state accepts.
When looking at the nearly 900 health inspection reports from restaurants in Portland and South Portland, which employ their own health inspectors, most establishments that are still in business appear to have been inspected within the last two years. Additionally, most Portland and South Portland businesses appear to have been inspected multiple times in recent years, the state database shows.
Bangor doesn’t employ its own health inspector, which means the city is lumped in with more than 30 other communities that share one inspector.
That inspector, Jennifer Springer, declined to comment and referred all questions from media to her supervisor.
Bangor used to have its own health inspector, but the position was removed around 2010 or 2011, according to David Warren, a spokesperson for the city.
“At that time, the state introduced some new rules and requirements when it came to things like reporting health inspections or violations to the state,” Warren said. “The city made the decision to turn health inspections over to the state, which already had health inspectors serving the greater Bangor area and Penobscot County.”
If the city receives a complaint about a restaurant, a state inspector will “promptly” visit, Warren said. There are no plans to revisit this arrangement, he added.
Michael Towle bought 11 Central in December 2019, years after the restaurant opened in 2011. The last health inspection for 11 Central listed on the state’s database is from December 2019; however, Towle said the restaurant has been inspected twice since then, including within the last year and a half.
The records of those inspections are not listed on the state’s database.
While it’s unclear whether there are records missing from the state’s health inspection database, the list shows reports of inspections that took place as recently as last month.
“It’s either two things: have they had an inspection and it’s not uploaded, or have they not had an inspection?” Towle said. “It’s two schools of thought and you don’t really know.”
