The rodents are running — and pooping — at these 8 South Florida restaurants

As the Miami Herald’s Rodent Report returns from a post-Hurricane Irma break, we find five restaurants in Broward and three in Miami-Dade on the list.

Each of the three in Miami-Dade were issued only warnings. Such leniency wasn’t shown in Broward. Getting shut down after their inspections were...

▪ Golden Corral, 2100 W. Atlantic Blvd., Pompano Beach — Either there’s a lot of furry creatures running around in this Golden Corral or those present are extremely regular. Wednesday’s inspection reported 80 dry rodent droppings on top of the dishwashing machine; the dry storage shelves had 30 dry droppings under it; 20 dry poop pieces under the salad bar stations on the shelves and the chiller unit; 10 dry ones under the soda box storage; and eight on a ladder stored near the back door. Perhaps most disturbing were five fresh droppings in a box of marshmallows; 10 dry droppings in a ranch dressing box; six dry leavings in a box of grits; three dry leavings on a box of pancake mix; and one dry poop piece on a can of tomatoes. All these food items got a Stop Sale order. Hopefully, before that, none found their way into the food disguised as chocolate or peppercorns. A return inspection on Thursday allowed them to reopen with an extension to address the issues.

▪ Schwartz’s Deli & Grill, 5463 Lyons Rd., Coconut Creek — Apparently, the big rodent hangout is near the blue bunny cooler because “approximately 10 fresh rodent droppings found behind blue bunny cooler at front counter service station.” Schwartz had 19 problems Thursday, but that was just one. Others included: “once rusted can of Globe apple topping present” that resulted in a Stop Sale order; “In-use tongs stored on oven door handle between uses. Ice scoop stored on top of dirty ice machine between uses;” and “food stored in dry storage area not covered. Two open boxes of pancake mixture.” The inspector returned later that day to give the green light to open again.

▪ Sunset Bakery, 6941 Sunset Strip, Sunrise — The Sunset in Sunrise got eclipsed on Oct. 9 for 31 violations, including eight High Priority violations. Topping the list of the latter, the inspector said, “approximately 30-40 dry rodent droppings on a large white dough machine ...10 dry rodent droppings on the floor by the large oven in the rear of the establishment; five dry rodent droppings on the floor behind a upright unused oven near the kitchen;...dry rodent droppings on another dough machine in another prep area; 16 dry rodent droppings on the floor under a shelf use to store food.’’ This took the jam out of the inspectors doughnut, along with dry foods being stored in large garbage cans; no soap or towels at the handwash sink; and a lot of ready-to-eat food prepared more than a day before but with no exact date on them. Sunset got a time extension the next day from the inspector.

▪ Wanfu Chinese Restaurant, 2301 W. Sample Rd., Pompano Beach — Wanfu got closed on Oct. 9 after 33 violations, six of which were High Priority. Their rodent problem was described as “one fresh rodent dropping under dishwashing table; approximately 10 fresh droppings under food preparation sink; one fresh dropping at employees’ restroom door; five dry droppings under Hobart mixer and one fresh dropping found at dry storage area.” There were some Stop Sale orders for food improperly stored. But not for the can of mushrooms and can of bean sprouts stored in the handwash sink. Or the flour and corn starch in containers that had “soiled residue” accumulated. They got an extension when the inspector returned the next day.

As for those South Florida restaurants that remained open with rodents...

▪ Gourmet Station, 7601 Biscayne Blvd., Miami — One High Priority violation among the six total for the catering business that operates out of this location: “Observed approximately 20 dry droppings in the storage room next to refrigerator and on the bottom of wooden shelf.”

▪ Perry Wings Plus, 10817 NW 27th Ave., Miami — The Sept. 20 inspection turned up 39 total violations and one of the nine High Priority ones read “Observed approximately 100 plus dry droppings on the shelf at the front counter underneath the ice machine.”

▪ Pizza Fiore, 9540 NE Second Ave., Miami Shores — The inspector spotted only three High Priority violations among 27 violations on Oct. 6, but one of them just kills the appetite for sausage topping: “observed, in the kitchen area next to the air conditioner, approximately 10 dry and crumbly droppings.”

▪ Umberto’s Pizza and Restaurant, 3051 E. Commercial Blvd., Fort Lauderdale -- They got off with a warning despite “approximately 50 (droppings) on and around the chemical bottles in the dishwasher area. Unable to determine if new or old due to moisture in the area from the dish washing machine.”

This story was originally published October 16, 2017 at 7:52 AM with the headline "The rodents are running — and pooping — at these 8 South Florida restaurants."