By Kaitlin Thaney

University House of Pizza on Huntington Avenue was recently cited for a laundry list of health code violations by the Boston Inspectional Services.

According to the City of Boston Web site, 17 violations were filed from a visit on February 19, three of which were marked as critical items. Violations included using unclean towels, evidence of rodents and insects in the establishment, dirty mops and brooms, food handlers smoking and eating while preparing food, raw food stored in the display area with other food, food not being properly washed and meat not being stored at a cold enough temperature nor cooked at a high enough temperature.

UHOP co-owner Tina Savvidis vehemently denied the accusations.

“This is completely wrong,” she said. “[The inspector] is here two times a year. I get high scores on my cleaning and everything else.”

She later recanted by saying, “Find one place in Boston that doesn’t have any mice.”

Though she originally said the inspector only comes twice a year, she admitted that “he was here in February, he found that I had to do some repairs, I did it, he gave me some time and came back in March.”

According to the Web site, UHOP was inspected four times in the past seven months. Two of those times were re-inspections due to previous violations. Critical violations were cited, which if not amended, can lead to food contamination, illness or an environmental health hazard.

Mayorsfoodcourt.com is set up to give consumers an indication of a restaurant’s cleanliness based on random, unannounced inspections.

In an inspection dated March 5, three violations were filed involving peeling paint from shelves, tableware soiled with encrusted food and grease lining the floor under the cooking equipment.

This visit was a re-inspection from February 19.

“He didn’t close me down because I have cracks on the floor for God’s sakes,” Savvidis said.

Some students feel UHOP might not be the cleanest place to dine.

Junior mechanical engineering major Matt Begin said, “UHOP is cheap. We all know that. I’m not surprised about the violations. Everyone knows that place is dirty.”

“I ate there last night,” said Dan Meyers, also a junior mechanical engineering major. “I won’t be eating there again. That’s disgusting.”

However, middler accounting major Michael Livingstone said that he has “no complaints.”

“I’ve been eating over here for years, I’ve never gotten sick,” Livingstone said.

Kat Saunders, an 18-year-old resident of Salem, Mass., said that, “I’ve been coming here a lot since August. Back here may not always look the cleanest, but the food’s always good. I drive from Salem to come here on occassion, that says something.”

When asked how she felt about the towels being reused, Saunders said, “Have you ever worked in a small restaurant? That’s a very common practice.”

Despite the violations, Savvidis does not feel that there is a problem with her restaurant.

“I’m happy with my place, I’m happy with my customers,” she said. “This is my family business.”

To access the Mayor’s Food Court Web site go to http://www.ci.boston.ma.us/isd/newfrontend/default.asp

– News Staff writer Stephanie Vosk contributed to this report.