On top of a series of scathing reviews, the New York City restaurant owned by Lady Gaga and her family this week scored miserably during a Department of Health inspection that found six "critical" violations, including failing to protect food from potential contamination, The Smoking Gun has learned.

The October 2 inspection of Joanne Trattoria on Manhattan's West Side found eight separate sanitary infractions, totaling a whopping 42 violation points.

Restaurants that are found to have in excess of 28 violation points are given a "C" grade, the lowest issued by city officials (and the kiss of death for a Gotham restaurant).

The posting of the "C" grade in the West 68th Street eatery's front window, however, can be forestalled by an appeal to the city's Health Tribunal. Until a restaurant's owners can be heard by that panel, a "Grade Pending" placard can be displayed.

The Department of Health review Tuesday was actually a reinspection prompted by an August visit that found five "critical" violations totaling 35 violation points.

As detailed here, the October 2 inspection of Joanne Trattoria, which opened in February, included sanitary violations for:

* Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

* Personal cleanliness inadequate. Outer garment soiled with possible contaminant. Effective hair restraint not worn in an area where food is prepared.

* Food worker does not use proper utensil to eliminate bare hand contact with food that will not receive adequate additional heat treatment.

* Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

The restaurant--operated by Gaga's parents Joseph and Cynthia Germanotta--was first inspected in early-March, when it racked up 31 violation points (good for a "C" rating). But a March 23 reinspection found only 12 violation points, barely qualiying the Italian restaurant for an "A" grade (which is awarded to eateries with less than 14 violation points).

On March 25, a photo was posted to the restaurant's Facebook page showing two employees posing with the "A" certificate. The image was captioned, "We received our A grade from the NYC Department of Health!"