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PUPUSAS LOVER

2525 ARAPAHOE AVENUE, BOULDER, CO 80302

Last inspected Apr 15, 2026

Official source: Boulder County Public Health (bouldercounty.gov) · All data sources

Passed. Met health requirements at the latest inspection. Some health departments report pass/fail instead of letter grades.

✓
Passed

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The record, in plain English

CleanPlate holds 3 inspections on record for PUPUSAS LOVER, spanning November 2025 to April 2026 — every one straight from Boulder County Public Health.

The trend is positive: it improved from closed at the previous visit to passed now.

The most recent inspection noted 4 violations, none of them critical.

Every sentence above is computed directly from the official record — CleanPlate adds no opinions. How our grading works →

Inspection history

  1. Apr 15, 2026

    ✓
    4 violations
    • 3-501.17 Date Marking. Observed cooked, refrigerated foods inside the cooling unit with no date mark being held over 24 hours. Refrigerated, ready-to-eat, time/temperature control for food safety prepared and held in a food establishment for more than 24 hours shall be clearly marked to indicate the date or day by which the food shall be consumed on the premises, sold, or discarded when held at a temperature of 41ºF or less for a maximum of 7 days. The day of preparation shall be counted as Day 1. The owner will be date marking all refrigerated ready to eat foods.
    • 6-501.111 Controlling Pests. Observed a live cockroach crawling a kitchen wall. The premises shall be maintained free of insects, rodents, and other pests. The presence of insects, rodents, and other pests shall be controlled to eliminate their presence on the premises by a routinely inspecting incoming shipments of food and supplies; routinely inspecting the premises for evidence of pests. The owner was able to provide pesticide receipt to show they had pesticide services a couple of days ago. Clean areas hard to reach to avoid cockroaches.
    • 3-501.16 Cold holding. Observed cooked rice at 52°F. Cooked chorizo and beans at 74F. Time/temperature control for food safety shall be maintained at 135°F or above at all times during cold holding. Talked to PIC and they will maintain time as temperature control to avoid growth of bacteria. Provided information.
    • 2-102.12 Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM) The facility does not have a CFPM on site during operating hours. Owner has taken course and is waiting for certificate. Email certificate once received.
  2. Mar 31, 2026

    !
    13 violations
    • 3-302.11 Cross contamination by storage. Inside the walk in cooling unit there was a large box with raw meat stored directly above fresh tomatoes. Observed raw fish stores directly above fresh produce. Food shall be protected from cross contamination by separating raw animal foods during storage, preparation, holding, and display from raw ready-to-eat food including other raw animal food such as fish or other raw ready-to-eat food such as fruits and vegetables, coked ready-to-eat food, and fruits and vegetables before they are washed. All foods shall be properly stored to avoid cross contamination. Provided handout.
    • 3-602.12 Allergen notification. The facility does not have an alleged notification to alert customers of food allergens. The permit holder shall notify consumers by written notification of the presence of major food allergens as an ingredient in unpacked food items that are served or sold to the consumer. Provided food allergen notification handout.
    • 3-501.13 Thawing. Observed raw meat being thawed out in a container at room temperature. Frozen foods shall be properly thawed out to avoid bacteria/virus growth. Proper methods are placing food inside the refrigerator a couple of days prior to use. Submerged under cold running water or other approved methods.
    • 3-501.16 Observed cooked dish with beans and rice in a pan sitting in the prep table at 112°F. Cook stated she leaves it there until she needs to serve a portion in food orders. Time/temperature control for food safety shall be maintained at 135° or above at all times during hot holding. Hold holding will be maintained at 135°F or above at all times during hot holding.
    • 2-501.11 Procedures for vomiting and diarrhea cleanup. The facility does not have written procedures for vomiting and diarrhea. A food establishment shall have written procedures for employees to follow when responding to vomiting or diarrheal events that involve the discharge of vomitus or fecal matter onto surfaces in the food establishment. Provided handout.
    • 2-301.12 Cleaning procedure observe cook wipe her hands in her apron and on dry cloth towels instead of washing hands. Food employees shall use the following cleaning procedure in the order stated to clean their hands and exposed portions of their arms, including surrogate prosthetic devices for hands and arms. Food employees shall wash their hands by washing hands with hand soap rinsing with warm water and drying with disposable paper towel. Person in charge will educate all food employees.
    • 3-501.16 Cold Holding. Observed time/temperature control, ready to eat foods on the cold hold unit in front of the cooking line at temperatures ranging from 47°F to 54°F as some foods were sitting in containers on top of the top-cold-hold. All cold foods shall be maintained at 41°F or below at all times during cold hold. Person in charge will be using time/temperature control method to maintain foods at proper food temperatures.
    • 3-501.17 - Date Marking. Observed time/temperature, ready-to-eat foods inside the walk-in cooling unit such as cooked beans, cooked dishes with no date mark. Refrigerated, ready-to-eat, time/temperature control for food safety prepared and held in a food establishment for more than 24 hours shall be clearly marked to indicate the date or day by which the food shall be consumed on the premises, sold, or discarded when held at a temperature of 41ºF or less for a maximum of 7 days. The day of preparation shall be counted as Day 1. Date mark all ready-to-eat, time/temperature control foods in the refrigerators.
    • 3-301.11 Bare hand contact - Observed cook plating food with bare hands such as cooked rice, meats and garnishes. Food employees may not contact exposed ready to eat foods with their bare hands and shall use utensils such as deli tissue, spatula, tings, single-glove-use or dispensing equipment. Person in charge will be educating all food employees.
    • 2-102.11 Demonstration of knowledge. The person in charge does not have a CFPM and was not able to answer basic food safety practice questions. Based on the risks inherent to the food operation, during inspections and upon request the person in charge shall demonstrate to the regulatory authority knowledge of foodborne disease prevention Person in charge shall be knowledgeable in food safety practices. Person in charge will be getting a Certified Food Protection Manager certification.
    • 5-205.11 Hand sink accessibility. The hand sink by the end of the cooking line was completely blocked by the door to the kitchen as it was propped open. A hand washing sink shall be maintained so that it is accessible at all times for employee use. Sink will remain accessible at all times.
    • 2-102.12 Certified Food protection manager. The facility does not have a Certified food protection manager on staff. Person in charge stated she was not aware of the requirement. The person in charge shall be a certified food protection manager who has shown proficiency of required information through passing a test that is part of an accredited program. Provide a Certified food protection manager on staff at all times during operating hours.
    • 3-603.11 Consumer advisory. The facility is serving undercooked animal foods such as eggs without a consumer advisory. If an animal food such as beef, eggs, fish, lamb, milk, pork, poultry, or shellfish is served or sold raw, undercooked, or without otherwise being processed to eliminate pathogens, either in ready-to-eat form or as an ingredient in another ready-to-eat food, the permit holder shall inform consumers of the significantly increased risk of consuming such foods by way of a disclosure and reminder. The facility shall provide a consumer advisory to notify customers of the foodborne illness risks if consuming undercooked animal foods. "Consuming raw or undercooked MEATS, POULTRY, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness, especially if you have certain medical conditions"
  3. Nov 4, 2025

    ✓
    4 violations
    • 22. Time/Temperature Control for Safety Food, Cold Holding Observed a glass bowl of chicken reading at 43ºF. in cold top, set on top of metal holding pans above fill line. Employee says it was taken out of walk-in cooler less than 1 hour prior. 3-501.16(A)(2) Except during preparation, cooking, or cooling, TIME/TEMPERATURE CONTROL (TCS) FOR SAFETY FOOD shall be maintained a 41°F or less. Corrected during inspection, person in charge removed the bowl of chicken and put it back into walk-in cooler until the temperature reaches 41°F, then prepared metal pans to be held inside of cold top. Education provided, Employee agrees to keep the cold top lid closed when not in use, use metal pans and fill only to fill line. Items in cold top should be routinely monitored with a probe thermometer and maintained at 41ºF or below throughout storage. No TCS food items will be stored above the metal containers in the cold top.
    • 08. 2-301.14 Hands clean & properly washed Observed food employee working front register, then went to kitchen prep area, donned gloves and continued to prepare plaintains without washing hands first. 2-301.14 FOOD EMPLOYEES shall clean their hands immediately before engaging in FOOD preparation...as often as necessary to remove soil and contamination when changing tasks and before donning gloves to initiate a task that involves working with FOOD. Corrected during inspection, education provided.
    • 2. Certified Food Protection Manager No CFPM was present at time of inspection. 2-102.12(A) Certified Food Protection Manager (C) The PERSON IN CHARGE shall be a certified FOOD protection manager who has shown proficiency of required information through passing a test that is part of an ACCREDITED PROGRAM. Emailed acceptable CFPM courses, requested in Spanish. Person in charge will email inspector CFPM certificate by 1/5/2026.
    • 16 - Food contact surfaces; cleaned & sanitized Observed chlorine strips reading at 0 PPM in mechanical dishwasher. 4-501.114 Chemical Sanitization-Temperature, pH, Concentration and Hardness: All food contact equipment shall be washed-rinsed-sanitized. Maintain adequate sanitizer in dishwashwasher and use test strips to confirm sanitizer is working. Corrected during inspection, person in charge called for dishwasher to be serviced, filled sanitizer at 3 compartment sink, reading at 300 PPM quaternary ammonia and will wash rinse and sanitize at the 3-compartment sink until dishwasher is serviced and dispensing sanitizer appropriately.

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Source: Boulder County Public Health (bouldercounty.gov). Data shown unmodified from the official government record. CleanPlate is an independent service, not affiliated with any government agency. See something wrong? Report a data issue.