Eight Columbus-area restaurants have scored a C on a Georgia health inspection so far in 2026, twice as many as in all of 2025 and the most in any year since at least 2022.

The lowest score of the year belongs to Chef Lee's Peking Restaurant on Bradley Park Drive, which scored a 70 on Aug. 25, one point above failing. Inspectors found raw chicken handled without handwashing, food stored uncovered and coolers running too warm.

The other seven C grades went to two Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants, a wing shop, a taquería, an African kitchen and two national chains. Seven of the eight did better when inspectors came back, most within about a month.

That's according to a Columbus Times review of every state inspection in our Restaurant Scores database, which tracks the reports the Georgia Department of Public Health posts for restaurants in Columbus and the surrounding area.

The big picture: Columbus kitchens still score well

C grades are rare. Of the 1,111 inspections in our database from Jan. 1 through Oct. 19, 2026:

• 1,016 (91%) earned an A, and 567 were a perfect 100.
• 87 (8%) earned a B.
• 8 (less than 1%) earned a C.
• None failed. No Columbus-area restaurant has scored below 70 this year.

But 2026 has been the toughest year on record in our database, with more than two months still to go.

This year's 87 B grades are already more than in any full year since 2022. The year's average score, 96.5, is the second-lowest of the five years, just above 2023's 96.4.

How Georgia grades restaurants

• A: 90 to 100
• B: 80 to 89
• C: 70 to 79
• U (unsatisfactory): 69 or below

Every grade from A to C is a passing score, and a restaurant with a C can stay open. Inspectors take points off for each violation, and the biggest deductions go to the problems most likely to make someone sick: food held at unsafe temperatures, employees not washing their hands and raw meat stored where it can drip on ready-to-eat food.

Every C grade in 2026, lowest score first

1. Chef Lee's Peking Restaurant: 70 (C) on Aug. 25

6100 Bradley Park Drive · Google rating: 4.1 (1,841 reviews)

What inspectors found:

• A food employee preparing chicken walked out the back door, came back in and went back to preparing the chicken without washing their hands. (Corrected during the inspection.)
• Pre-cooked egg rolls, dumplings, noodles, chopped lettuce, bell pepper and raw sliced chicken stored uncovered in the walk-in cooler. Cut pineapple and bamboo shoots were also uncovered. This was a repeat violation.
• Several foods that must be kept cold were stored above 41 degrees, and some foods weren't cooling down fast enough in the walk-in cooler.
• The walk-in cooler read 42 degrees, and a reach-in cooler and prep table had internal thermometers reading 50 degrees.
• Buildup inside flour and cornstarch bins and inside a meat grinder; food residue on shelving; grease and food debris on the oven and fryer.
• Cardboard used as mats in front of the fryer, also a repeat violation.

The trend: Chef Lee's scores have dropped at five straight inspections, from 93 in July 2023 to 92, 92, 87, 82 and now 70.

What happened next: As of Oct. 19, no newer inspection had been posted, so the 70 is still its current score.

2. Pho Sai Gon: 72 (C) on Aug. 27

2301 Airport Thruway, Suite D-11 · Google rating: 4.6 (190 reviews)

What inspectors found:

• No designated person in charge when the inspection began.
• Several dishes of cheese in the walk-in cooler with what inspectors described as "a fuzzy-like, dark-colored substance on it." (Corrected during the inspection.)
• Foods held above 41 degrees in the prep cooler and walk-in cooler, and meat thawing improperly.
• Single-use bowls, scoops and containers being reused, and cardboard used as mats.
• A "significant accumulation of grease and food debris" throughout the kitchen, on and between equipment and on the floors.
• An employee eating at a table in the kitchen near food prep.

What happened next: On Sept. 30, Pho Sai Gon80 scored an 80 (B). Inspectors still found meat thawing at room temperature (a repeat), soup and raw meat stored on the floor and food in the walk-in without date labels. It also scored a C, a 76, in November 2024.

3. Wing City: 72 (C) on June 17

3846 St. Marys Road, Suite 12 · Google rating: 3.5 (44 reviews)

What inspectors found:

• No person in charge present.
• Employees changing gloves without washing their hands.
• A kitchen handwashing sink without soap or towels, and a food container stored in the handwashing sink.
• Food on the fryer held below 135 degrees, not hot enough to be safe, and other foods held above 41 degrees. Both were repeat violations.

What happened next: On July 17, Wing City81 scored an 81 (B). Inspectors again found handwashing sinks without supplies and foods held above 41 degrees, both repeats.

4. Taquería Tapatíos: 75 (C) on Jan. 28

7042 Moon Road, Suite C · Google rating: 4.3 (143 reviews)

What inspectors found:

• A food employee touching cooked rice and eggs on the steam table with the same gloves used for another task.
• Cooked rice sitting on the steam table at 71 degrees, and rice cooked at 7 a.m. reading 50 degrees.
• Foods in the reach-in cooler held above 41 degrees.
• Foods prepared several days earlier with no discard dates, a repeat violation.
• The most recent inspection report wasn't posted.

What happened next: On Feb. 27, it scored an 84 (B), and on July 9, a 91 (A). Taquería Tapatíos scored 100 at three straight inspections in 2022 and 2024 before slipping in 2025.

5. Wakis African Kitchen: 76 (C) on April 24

2901 University Ave., Suite 1 · Google rating: 4.0 (150 reviews)

What inspectors found:

• The restaurant's certified food safety manager certificate had expired.
• Cooked beef sitting on the counter above the stove at 103 degrees, and cooked goat and chicken on the counter at 83 degrees. Cooked food left out like that must be kept hot (135 degrees or above) or cold (41 or below). This was a repeat violation.
• Cooked oxtail, tripe and egusi thawing in large containers on the counter, and fish thawing in a sink with no running water.
• Rice with an incorrect or missing date label.
• An inspection report from June 2024 posted instead of the current one.

What happened next: Wakis made the biggest turnaround of the year. On May 22, inspectors returned and gave it a perfect 100. On Sept. 10, it scored a 93.

6. Xin Kee BBQ: 78 (C) on March 3

5750 Milgen Road, Suite 106 · Google rating: 4.0 (81 reviews)

What inspectors found:

• Whole cuts of raw pork being seasoned in the three-compartment sink with no sanitizer available.
• Raw duck stored in the walk-in cooler at 56 degrees.
• Whole duck and sliced pork kept under a heat lamp below 135 degrees, a repeat violation.
• No seven-day discard dates on foods held longer than 24 hours.
• Unlabeled containers of seasoning, and canned foods with expiration dates of December 2025 and February 2026.

What happened next: On April 6, Xin Kee scored a 90 (A), and on Sept. 30, a 95. It also failed an inspection with a 64 in December 2023, then scored 100 when inspectors returned 10 days later.

7. Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen: 79 (C) on March 24

6820 Midland Commons Blvd.

What inspectors found:

• No paper towels at the drive-thru handwashing sink, and an automatic handwashing sink that wouldn't turn on. Both were repeat violations.
• Cooked rice under a heat lamp at 113 degrees, also a repeat.
• Coleslaw and cooked bacon without a preparation or discard date.

What happened next: On April 23, it scored an 89 (B), and on July 23, a 91 (A). This Popeyes also scored a C, a 75, in October 2025, making it the only restaurant with C grades at two of its last four inspections.

8. Captain D's: 79 (C) on April 2

3281 Victory Drive · Google rating: 3.9 (421 reviews)

What inspectors found:

• Black residue built up on the drink machine nozzles, a repeat violation.
• Several foods in the reach-in cooler held above 41 degrees, a repeat.
• A reach-in cooler and freezer that couldn't hold temperature: the cooler read 51 degrees and the freezer 43 degrees, also a repeat.

What happened next: Just 20 days later, on April 22, Captain D's scored a 98 (A), and on Oct. 14, a 95.

What happens after a C

Seven of the eight restaurants got a new inspection within five weeks of their C, and all seven scored higher the second time. On average, their scores went up about 13 points.

Close calls: the lowest B grades of 2026

These restaurants scored 80 or 81 this year, just above a C:

• The Legends80, 5762 Milgen Road: 80 on June 26. Inspectors found chicken wings in a fryer basket at 106 degrees and no thermometers to check food temperatures.
• Ole Times Buffet85, 1900 Manchester Expressway: 80 on April 21. The walk-in cooler read 45 degrees, and warmer cabinets on the buffet line weren't working properly.
• JD Wings, 3507 Macon Road: 81 on Jan. 16 and 81 again on Oct. 1. In October, inspectors found raw chicken stored above ready-to-eat sauce (a repeat) and single-use soy sauce containers reused to make tea, lemonade and punch.
• Bowlero, 1636 Bradley Park Drive: 81 on April 17, including raw chicken stored next to sausage with blood spillage in the walk-in cooler. It scored 84 on Oct. 16.
• Ruby Tuesday81, 3431 Manchester Expressway: 81 on June 29, including "several insects in main kitchen area."
• Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet90, 2040 Auburn Ave.: 81 on April 16, including dishes sanitized in water with 0 ppm of chlorine. It scored 90 on Oct. 8.
• Hibachi Express, 6160 Bradley Park Drive, and Chickchickporkpork Grill81, 6516 Kitten Lake Drive in Midland, also scored 81, both in August.

The most common problems

Across these inspections, the same handful of problems came up again and again:

1. Cold food not kept cold. Foods that can grow bacteria must be held at 41 degrees or below. It showed up at nearly every restaurant on this list.
2. Hot food not kept hot. Cooked food held for serving must stay at 135 degrees or above.
3. Handwashing. Missing soap or towels, blocked sinks, and employees switching tasks or gloves without washing.
4. Uncovered or undated food. Prepared food held more than 24 hours must be labeled with a discard date, no more than seven days out.
5. Repeat violations. Many of the problems above had also been written up at the restaurant's previous inspection.

Look up any restaurant

Every inspection in this story, plus the full inspection history for every restaurant in Columbus and the surrounding Georgia counties, is free to search at columbustimes.com/restaurants. You can also sign up there to get an email when a restaurant you follow is inspected.

Georgia law also requires every restaurant to post its most recent inspection report where customers can see it. If you don't see it, ask. (Several of the restaurants above were written up for posting an old report.)

To report a food safety concern, call Columbus 311 at 706-653-4000.