BELCHERTOWN — The Board of Health will require restaurant Tables on the Green to provide a plan demonstrating food safety before renewing the establishment’s food license after two health inspections last fall found moldy food, uncovered meats and surfaces coated in dirt and grease.
“I think the concern is the type of violations, the extent of the violations and the risk that it poses,” Board of Health member Gail Gramarossa said during a Dec. 22 meeting.
Over the past three months, John Prenosil, a health inspector for Belchertown, Ware and Pelham’s shared health department, the Quabbin Health District, reported repeated violations of the food safety code from the restaurant and bar located at Cold Spring Country Club. While the restaurant closed for the winter season last October, the Board of Health raised concern over owner Tara Weagle using the space for catered events during the winter after Prenosil reported the kitchen remained unclean.
Just before Tables on the Green catered Thanksgiving brunch buffet on Nov. 27, Prenosil reported that the kitchen went through a complete deep cleaning. However, he said restaurants often get into a cyclical pattern where violations are fixed in the short term but continue to become problems. The Board of Health members expressed the same concern on Dec. 22.
“As long as it’s maintained, that’s perfect,” Prenosil said. “But what we end up seeing with most establishments is we do an inspection, conditions are not that great, we point out the violations, things are better, and then we come back three months later and it’s back to where it started. We are looking for compliance all the time. You should always expect the inspector.”
In a phone interview Thursday, Weagle explained she had already taken proactive steps prior to Prenosil’s inspection by closing the kitchen in its messy state, firing the kitchen manager and hiring a deep-cleaning service.
She said she has never had any of these violations at her other restaurant Tables on the Farm, and all of her staff besides the fired kitchen manager are ServSafe certified. During the golf off-season, Weagle is reevaluating her plan for Tables on the Green to ensure the kitchen remains food safe for all customers.
Weagle stressed that she shut the kitchen down on her own after seeing the state of the space. A day later, Prenosil showed up to inspect before she had time to clean.
“I would never serve anything that was bad, I would never jeopardize a customer ever,” she said. “I had already shut myself down before he came in there because I was like, ‘this is terrible,’ and she was terminated.”
The following inspection at the end of October, Weagle had unloaded her car with four events worth of dishes at 2 a.m. the night before. She showed up the next day to bus the kitchen and found Prenosil standing outside the door.
She admits her oversight of Tables on the Green suffered while she balanced running two kitchens, a catering company and special catering for all Cold Spring Country Club golf tournaments. During the seasonal closure, Weagle said she is rethinking her plan to balance the various businesses, including limiting hours at Tables on the Green to focus on tournaments. She will also hire a new kitchen manager, one that is ServSafe certified.
Kitchen in violation
Health concerns around Tables on the Green began in early October when the Quabbin Health District received an anonymous complaint about the condition of the kitchen. When Prenosil arrived at the restaurant on Oct. 2, he reportedly found enough health code violations to order an emergency shutdown, which he said he has never done in three years as an inspector for the health district.
“It’s one of the worst ones I’ve ever seen,” Andrea Crete, director of health for Belchertown, told the Select Board on Dec. 15. “It was just a complete negligence and lack of food safety.”
Food sits unorganized and loosely covered in walk-in fridge at Tables on the Green in Belchertown on Oct. 2, 2025. Contributed by John Prenosil 
Food trays piled on top of each other and spill out in the walk-in fridge at Tables on the Green in Belchertown on Oct. 2, 2025. Contributed by John Prenosil. 
Flour split all over a dolly and floor at Tables on the Green on Oct. 2, 2025. The health inspection report said food stains could be found on the food, walls and inside appliances. Contributed by John Prenosil. 
A box of moldly zucchini left in the walk-in fridge at Tables on the Green in Belchertown on Oct. 2, 2025. Photo contributed by John Prenosil. 
The presence of “pests” in the Tables on the Green kitchen on Oct. 2, 2025. Fly catchers were reportedly in corners and around food prep areas. Contributed by John Prenosil. 
Food stains on the walls and floor at Tables on the Green in Belchertown on Oct. 2, 2025.
Prenosil said Weagle addressed several of his concerns and reopened the following day for a local golf tournament. He told her that she’d need to address the remaining violations in a timely manner, but the kitchen remained unclean and old food remained in the walk-in fridge when Prenosil returned on Oct. 23.
“A lot of times with our inspections, even ones that are not very good, when we go back a couple days later, a week later, it’s all brought up to compliance,” Crete told the Select Board. “That’s the norm, this is not the norm. We should be seeing full compliance at this point.”
Step in right direction
Prenosil did not issue a second shutdown because the end of October marked Tables on the Green seasonal closure, Crete said. Since then, Crete said Weagle ordered the deep clean and the space is “night and day” from its previous inspections.
“Overall, we felt the place was safe to prepare food, safe if a catering event was going to happen to use the oven or reheat something in a microwave or use the refrigerator to keep things cold in the event,” Crete said.
The Tables on the Green location hosted a few events, such as the Thanksgiving brunch, catered with food from Tables on the Farm. Health inspections from Palmer do not show the same conditions as the Belchertown location, Crete said.
Select Board member Nicole Miner requested Crete continue to check on the conditions of Tables on the Farm.
“If she comes in late winter, early spring to reapply, I want to know what’s going on somewhere else,” she said. “Otherwise, I will be very vocal about them not reopening. I was disgusted with what I saw.”
Weagle had not applied to renew Tables on the Green’s food permit as of the Dec. 22 Board of Health meeting. This is most likely due to Cold Spring Country Club’s closure for the season. When Weagle decides to renew, the board expects her and her team to come before them with plans.
“I would just want to hear much more detail so that it doesn’t get to the point where we saw in some of those horrific photos,” Gramarossa said, referring to photos taken from the restaurant during the inspections. “And that the public in Belchertown and anywhere else can feel confident that they could ultimately eat in that restaurant safely without health risks.”
*This story has been updated to reflect an interview with Table on the Green’s owner on Thursday, Jan. 15.