Photo by staceyviera.

After my initial pancake-related excitement over this announcement regarding hiring at the new IHOP in the DCUSA complex simmered down, my eye drifted to the “note of importance” at the bottom: applicants with a “food handlers license” would receive special consideration during the hiring process. Seems like this is pretty standard language in job announcements for the food services industry around town.

Of course, I had just one question: how do you actually go about getting one of these licenses? (I mean, legitimately.) A cursory Google search revealed two things: that the city apparently has a “Food Handler Certification” center located at 4200 Connecticut Avenue NW, and that there are dozens of internet operations, most with names like “foodsafetyfoodhandlerclassesonline.org,” that appear to offer handler’s licenses which may or may not actually be legit.

Turns out that it’s the D.C. Department of Health who handles food handler’s licenses. And that address on Connecticut Avenue has nothing to do with it. (Thanks for nothing, Google.)