Are food safety and food tasty mutually exclusive goals? You have to ask after both Zesto's and Wild Ginger show up on the P-I's list of Seattle's dirtiest restaurants.

Zesto's, the venerable burger joint of 15th N.W. and 65th, has the most "red critical" violations of any restaurant in Seattle this year: 15.

Frankly, if it takes 15 red critical violations to get the yumminess into their burgers and shakes, we will assume the risk.

Zesto's serves some awfully meaty, greasy burgers, and when we go there we are fully expecting to pay for it, digestion-wise, for a couple of days.

Wild Ginger makes the top ten as well, with 11 red critical violations, including one for storing shrimp at 80 degrees. Maybe they were Gulf Coast shrimp?

The P-I's Daniel Lathrop has the full story, including incredulous commentary from Wild Ginger's owner, who thinks his restaurant is being held to an unfairly high standard.

"Take a look at the other restaurants on this block," says he. "You see if they get held to the same standard we get held to."

It's true, we can't imagine that Bruno's Mexican-Italian on 3rd is particularly high on the cleanliness front, that place has been there for fifty years and they are probably still on the same batch of pepperoni.

Other popular restaurants on the list are Cafe Septieme on Broadway, Salmon Bay Cafe, and the Johnny Rockets in U. Village.

Photo by ntisocl from the Seattlest Flickr pool.