Update, 5 p.m.: Playa Bowls has reopened after it passed an inspection Tuesday afternoon.

A Retail Food Facility inspection report conducted by the State College Borough determined the restaurant was in compliance with health code guidelines in a report filed at approximately 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. The assessment found the 11 violations cited below had been corrected at the time of inspection.

Original Story: The Playa Bowls located at 482 E. Calder Way has temporarily closed due to a number of health code violations found in a report filed Monday, March 9.

The Pennsylvania Bureau of Food Safety and Laboratory Services found 11 total violations within the store, including improper employee hand-washing techniques, unclean bathrooms and working areas, and improper food storage.

According to the report, bathroom floors, toilets, and sinks were “soiled and not being cleaned at a regular frequency” and possessed limestone buildup. The bureau also found food preparation areas, such as cutting boards and coolers, lacked proper sanitation and up-to-code thermometers, respectively.

Additionally, the report observed an employee wash their hands in a food prep sink rather than a designating handwashing sink. Allegedly clean cutting boards were also found to still have residue on them and were “not clean to the touch.”

The assessment also found Playa Bowls’ plumbing system “not maintained in good repair” and cited broken faucet heads and leaky drains in the restaurant.

Neither Playa Bowls’ corporate office nor its owner, Penn State alumna Desiree Arroyo, were immediately available for comment on the closure.

This is now the third notable closure in downtown State College in recent weeks. College Ave.’s Taco Bell closed on February 26, while Five Guys temporarily closed a week later due to a broken water heater.

Playa Bowls opened under The Legacy in January 2019 and specializes in health food, such as açai bowls, smoothies, and juices.

We’ll update this post with more information as it becomes available.