Mama's Cafe
2442 NACOGDOCHES RD, San Antonio, 78217
Area: Northeast Side
· Metro Health licence 1254765
Weak record
rank 92 of 112
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Latest health inspection
93/100 on Jul 31, 2025 (371 days ago)
Inspections start at 100 and lose points for each violation found. 69 or below is a failing inspection. A score describes one visit on one day — Metro Health says so itself — not the condition of the business today.
Inspection history — 12 on record
Open any inspection to see what the inspector actually found, in plain English, with the Food Code section it was cited under.
Jul 31, 2025 93 No violations recorded
✓ Metro Health recorded no violations at this inspection.
Mar 26, 2025 90 No violations recorded
✓ Metro Health recorded no violations at this inspection.
Sep 11, 2024 84 7 findings · 5 illness risk factors
Food was not held cold enough or hot enough
Between about 41°F and 135°F bacteria multiply fast. Food parked in that window for hours is the single most common cause of foodborne illness.
“several food items stored in cold hold unit inside kitchen area out of required temperature. Ensure food items are held at 41F or lower”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 3-501.16(A)(2) — Time/Temperature Control for Safety Food, Hot and Cold Holding · inspection item 2
The cooling or hot-holding equipment could not keep up
A fridge or steam table that cannot hold its temperature under real service load means everything inside it drifts into the danger zone.
“cold hold unit in kitchen area not able to maintain required temperature of 41F. Ensure cold hold unit is able to maintain required temperature”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 4-301.11 — Cooling, Heating, and Holding Capacities · inspection item 27
No probe thermometer for checking food temperatures
You cannot verify chicken is cooked through or that the steam table is holding without sticking a thermometer in the food.
“two cold hold units without a thermometer. Ensure all cold hold units holding TCS food items are supplied with a thermometer”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 4-302.12(A) — Food Temperature Measuring Devices · inspection item 29
Food on hand was unsafe, adulterated, or misrepresented
The broadest food-safety finding in the code. Read the inspector's note for what specifically was wrong.
“food items inside walk in cooler with a passed use by date. Ensure all food items are safe”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 3-101.11 — Safe, Unadulterated, and Honestly Presented · inspection item 7
A hand sink was blocked, or used for something other than washing hands
Hand sinks get used as dump sinks or stacked with boxes. A hand sink you have to move something to reach does not get used mid-rush, which is exactly when it matters.
“hand washing sink in kitchen area being used for filling up sanitizer solution bucket. Ensure hand washing sinks are only used for hand washing purposes”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 5-205.11 — Using a Handwashing Sink · inspection item 31
Equipment or utensils were not clean
Split into two standards: anything that touches food must be clean to sight and touch, and everything else must be free of built-up grease, dust and debris. This is the most cited line in the whole code.
“several utensils stored as clean dirty with food debris. Ensure all utensils and food containers are properly washed, rinsed and sanitized”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 4-601.11(A) — Equipment, Food-Contact Surfaces, Nonfood-Contact Surfaces, and Utensils · inspection item 10
The premises were not cleaned often enough
Floors, walls, shelving, the areas under and behind equipment. This is the finding for build-up in the places nobody wants to reach.
“food debris under dry storage shelves. Ensure floor areas under equipment are cleaned on a schedule that will prevent build up”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 6-501.12 — Cleaning, Frequency and Restrictions · inspection item 45
May 13, 2024 96 2 findings · 1 illness risk factor
Wiping cloths were left out instead of kept in sanitizer
A damp rag on the counter is the most effective bacteria-spreading tool in a kitchen. Between uses it belongs in a bucket of sanitizer at the right strength.
“sanitizer solution buckets stored on the ground. Ensure sanitizer solution buckets are stored off the floor”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 3-304.14(E) — Wiping Cloths, Use Limitation · inspection item 36
Equipment or utensils were not clean
Split into two standards: anything that touches food must be clean to sight and touch, and everything else must be free of built-up grease, dust and debris. This is the most cited line in the whole code.
“several food containers stored as clean dirty with food debris. Ensure all utensils and food containers are properly washed, rinsed and sanitized”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 4-601.11(A) — Equipment, Food-Contact Surfaces, Nonfood-Contact Surfaces, and Utensils · inspection item 10
Jan 22, 2024 93 3 findings · 2 illness risk factors
Food on hand was unsafe, adulterated, or misrepresented
The broadest food-safety finding in the code. Read the inspector's note for what specifically was wrong.
“food items inside walk in cooler with a passed use by date. Ensure all food items are safe”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 3-101.11 — Safe, Unadulterated, and Honestly Presented · inspection item 7
Raw and ready-to-eat food were not kept separate
Raw chicken stored above or beside food that will not be cooked again is how salmonella gets onto the thing you eat. This is the classic one.
“food items in reach in freezer and walk in cooler without a cover/lid. Ensure food items are protected”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 3-302.11(A)(4) — Packaged and Unpackaged Food - Separation, Packaging, and Segregation · inspection item 37
A chemical container was unlabelled
An unlabelled spray bottle in a kitchen is the one that eventually gets sprayed on food or mistaken for water.
“chemical spray bottle without a label. Ensure all chemicals are properly labeled”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 7-102.11 — Common Name · inspection item 18
Sep 22, 2023 91 5 findings · 4 illness risk factors
Raw and ready-to-eat food were not kept separate
Raw chicken stored above or beside food that will not be cooked again is how salmonella gets onto the thing you eat. This is the classic one.
“food items inside walk in cooler and reach in freezer without a lid/covering. Ensure all food items are protected”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 3-302.11(A)(4) — Packaged and Unpackaged Food - Separation, Packaging, and Segregation · inspection item 37
In-use utensils were stored improperly between uses
Tongs and scoops left in standing lukewarm water sit in a bacteria incubator between every use. They go in the food handle-up, on a clean dry surface, or in water kept above 135°F.
“food container being used to scoop food items. Ensure only scoops with a handle are used and handle is maintain outside of food item”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 3-304.12(A) — In-Use Utensils, Between-Use Storage · inspection item 39
Wiping cloths were left out instead of kept in sanitizer
A damp rag on the counter is the most effective bacteria-spreading tool in a kitchen. Between uses it belongs in a bucket of sanitizer at the right strength.
“sanitizer solution buckets stored on the ground. Ensure sanitizer solution buckets are stored off the floor”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 3-304.14(E) — Wiping Cloths, Use Limitation · inspection item 36
Staff did not wash hands when they were required to
Between raw chicken and ready-to-eat food, after the restroom, after touching the face — these are the specific moments contamination moves.
“kitchen employee handling personal phone with gloves and begin to continue working. Ensure kitchen employees know when to wash their hands”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 2-301.14 — When to Wash · inspection item 14
Equipment or utensils were not clean
Split into two standards: anything that touches food must be clean to sight and touch, and everything else must be free of built-up grease, dust and debris. This is the most cited line in the whole code.
“several food containers stored as clean dirty with food debris. Ensure all utensils and food containers are properly washed, rinsed and sanitized”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 4-601.11(A) — Equipment, Food-Contact Surfaces, Nonfood-Contact Surfaces, and Utensils · inspection item 10
May 17, 2023 94 4 findings · 2 illness risk factors
Raw and ready-to-eat food were not kept separate
Raw chicken stored above or beside food that will not be cooked again is how salmonella gets onto the thing you eat. This is the classic one.
“food items inside walk in cooler, reach in freezer and bar freezer without a lid/covering. Ensure all food items are protected”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 3-302.11(A)(4) — Packaged and Unpackaged Food - Separation, Packaging, and Segregation · inspection item 37
Clean equipment or single-use items were stored where they get dirty again
Clean plates stacked under an unfinished ceiling or beside a hand sink are re-contaminated before anyone uses them.
“clean dishware stored in dirty containers. Ensure all clean dishware are stored in a clean, dry location.”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 4-903.11(A)(1) — Equipment, Utensils, Linens, and Single-Service and Single-Use Articles · inspection item 39
Equipment or utensils were not clean
Split into two standards: anything that touches food must be clean to sight and touch, and everything else must be free of built-up grease, dust and debris. This is the most cited line in the whole code.
“several food containers stored as clean dirty with food debris. Ensure all utensils and food containers are properly washed, rinsed and sanitized”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 4-601.11(A) — Equipment, Food-Contact Surfaces, Nonfood-Contact Surfaces, and Utensils · inspection item 10
The premises were not cleaned often enough
Floors, walls, shelving, the areas under and behind equipment. This is the finding for build-up in the places nobody wants to reach.
“food debris under dry storage shelves. Ensure floor areas under equipment are cleaned on a schedule that will prevent build up”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 6-501.12 — Cleaning, Frequency and Restrictions · inspection item 45
Jan 9, 2023 93 5 findings · 3 illness risk factors
Staff were not wearing effective hair restraints
Hats and hairnets are the visible half of a hygiene program. Inspectors read a kitchen without them as a kitchen not enforcing the rest.
“two kitchen employees handling food items without a hair restraint. Ensure all kitchen staff handling food items are wearing a hair restraint”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 2-402.11 — Effectiveness · inspection item 35
No soap at a hand sink
Rinsing with water alone does not remove the grease that bacteria travel in. A hand sink without soap is decoration.
“two kitchen hand sinks without paper towels and hand soap. Ensure all hand sinks are supplied with paper towels/hand dryer and hand soap”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 6-301.11 — Handwashing Cleanser, Availability · inspection item 31
No paper towels at a hand sink
Wet hands transfer far more bacteria than dry ones, and staff who cannot dry their hands mostly stop washing them.
“Hand washing cleanser, availability.”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 6-301.12 — Hand Drying Provision
An outer door, window or gap was not sealed against pests
A propped back door or a gap under a door is the single most common way roaches, flies and rodents get in.
“gaps under and around three back doors where noted during inspection. Ensure all outer openings are properly sealed to prevent any pests from entering establishment”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 6-202.15(A) — Outer Openings, Protected · inspection item 34
Equipment or utensils were not clean
Split into two standards: anything that touches food must be clean to sight and touch, and everything else must be free of built-up grease, dust and debris. This is the most cited line in the whole code.
“utensil and several food containers stored as clean dirty with food debris. Ensure all utensils and food containers are properly washed, rinsed and sanitized”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 4-601.11(A) — Equipment, Food-Contact Surfaces, Nonfood-Contact Surfaces, and Utensils · inspection item 10
Sep 1, 2022 100 No violations recorded
✓ Metro Health recorded no violations at this inspection.
Apr 28, 2022 100 No violations recorded
✓ Metro Health recorded no violations at this inspection.
Dec 16, 2021 98 2 findings
A Food Code requirement was not met
The inspector's own note below describes what was found.
“food debris in the dry storage area around food containers and under the shelves. Ensure all non-food contact surfaces are clean to sight and touch.”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Texas rule 25 TAC §228.113 · inspection item 42
A Food Code requirement was not met
The inspector's own note below describes what was found.
“no hand washing signage in the employee restroom. Ensure a sign or poster that notifies food employees to wash their hands shall be provided at all handwashing sinks used by food employees and shall be clearly visible to food employees.”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Texas rule 25 TAC §228.175 · inspection item 47
Sep 9, 2021 97 1 finding
A Food Code requirement was not met
The inspector's own note below describes what was found.
Texas rule 25 TAC §228.111 · inspection item 50
What these numbers do and do not mean
An inspection score describes one visit on one day. It is what one inspector recorded on one date at one address — Metro Health says so itself. It is not a standing condition, not a grade for the food, and not a prediction about your lunch. A kitchen that scored 88 in March may be spotless today, and one that scored 100 may not be.
A 311 complaint is a phone call, not a finding. The city records that a member of the public called. It is not a citation, not an investigation result, and not evidence that anything was wrong. The city files it against an address, so where two food businesses share one, neither the record nor we can tell them apart. We publish the count with its denominator and let you weigh it.
Awards are reported, not endorsed. Every recognition on this site carries its publisher, its year and a link to the page we read it on. We did not judge those contests and we do not vouch for them; where a publisher named a business rather than an address, the page says so.
Absence of data is never rendered as a finding. No inspection on record means no Bird Score — never a zero, never quietly ranked last. No award found means we searched 172 recognitions from 13 publishers and found none, which is a statement about press coverage and not about cooking.
If something here is wrong, we will fix it. Every figure links to the record it came from. Email us with the correction and we will check it against the source and correct it within 48 hours, whether or not you are a customer. How to request a correction.