Taco Bell is known for many things, including creative advertising, and fast and cheap questionably Mexican food.

Taco Bell, 1743 Sherman Ave., now can be known for something else: A perfect restaurant inspection report.

Although some Evanston dining establishments were cited for mouse droppings, fruit flies or improperly prepared foods, Taco Bell was one of two restaurants in 2005-2006 city health reports that received a perfect score, including dining spots at Northwestern and in downtown.

“We’re really cautious with what we do,” shift manager Joe Ruiz said. “This is more than one business – it’s a corporation. It’s pretty good what we’re doing, and we’re doing a lot better here than a lot of restaurants are.”

The Daily gathered the two most recent Evanston Health Department inspection reports for 38 popular restaurants in Evanston, including seven on-campus eateries. The reports range from January 2005 to January 2006.

Eateries started with scores of 100, then lost points every time they violated any aspect of state health standards.

The other perfect scoring restaurant was Lisa’s Cafe, 2332 Campus Drive, which received two consecutive 100s on inspection reports. Taco Bell scored 100 two reports ago, then lost two points in its most recent inspection for a dirty hand wash sink.

Of the seven on-campus eateries for which reports were available, all but Sargent Hall received scores above 90 on both of their two most recent inspections.

Getting a high score does not necessarily speak to the seriousness of the problems observed. At Foster-Walker Complex and Elder Hall, flies were observed, while squirrel droppings and fruit flies were found at Sargent Hall.

A spokeswoman for nuCuisine was unavailable for comment Thursday despite repeated phone attempts.

Results from one of the two inspections of Sargent were read over the phone and not received in hard copy. Results were requested but not received for the dining hall at 1835 Hinman.

Weinberg freshman Casey Rubinoff was not surprised to hear that NU dining services scored highly.

“I think they would have to or else we would all get sick and that would get blamed on them,” she said.

Evanston restaurants did not always score as well.

Fruit flies, unlabeled chemicals and improperly stored ingredients were found during one inspection of Philly’s Best, 815 Emerson St. Cooked chicken breast was found stored on a garbage container in an October 2005 check.

The restaurant was able to improve its score from 66 to 90 in its most recent inspection.

The manager at Philly’s Best was unavailable for comment, despite repeated attempts.

Insect or rodent problems appeared on reports for 13 of the restaurants. Eighteen eateries were marked down for having potentially hazardous food that failed to meet temperature requirements.

Inspectors judge restaurants on 45 different criteria in regular random inspections to ensure that they comply with state regulations. Some violations are corrected during the inspection, while others are given a time frame.

Bombay Garden, 626 Church St., was closed in July 2004 after being cited for an inoperative walk-in cooler, out-of-temperature food, poor plumbing, infestation of roaches and flies, and other issues, said Carl Caneva, supervisor of environmental health for the Evanston Health Department.

“There’s no score that would tell us to close down a restaurant immediately,” he said. “An immediate closure would be the result of finding conditions that would mean an imminent health hazard to the public.

“The rule of thumb is that you have about five percent who get 100 percent (scores) and about five percent that the conditions are so bad that you do an immediate closure.”

Most of the restaurants received scores at or above 90 in at least one of the two reports obtained. Four restaurants scored between 65 and 89: Cozy Noodle & Rice, 1018 Davis St.; International House of Pancakes, 100 Asbury Ave.; Phoenix Inn, 608 Davis St. ; and Merle’s Barbecue, 1727 Benson Ave.

“We always have two people certified for the handling of food, and the health inspector comes by and does his periodic reports,” said Neal Jordan, manager of Merle’s Barbecue. “We take it very seriously.”

Reach Matt Presser at [email protected].