Roach poop on walls and roaches in traps under food prep tables get restaurants cited
Did Miami-Dade restaurant owners redeem a bunch of Get Out of Roach Citation for Free cards? Did Miami-Dade roaches leave for the season? Or, did they have their own version of white flight?
Because this Roach Report of Miami-Dade restaurants recently cited for live roaches comes light on volume. Only six restaurants made the list. But while there's a lack of quantity, the per capita "ew" remains the same.
This report comes from state restaurant inspections, and as is custom, we start with the restaurants that got shut down for the day and had roach issues among their High Priority violations.
▪ Inedit Gourmet, 12100 SW 132nd Ct. #A-116, South Miami-Dade — On his March 23 visit, the inspector saw "approximately 27 live roaches found in the kitchen on walls and floors next to the three compartment sink area" as well as roach poop "on the walls in the kitchen next to the three compartment sink area."
Improper storage of fish caused a Stop Sale to be dropped on 49 pounds of fish. And their cutting board had enough cut marks that it was "no longer cleanable." That means there were little bits of fat, poultry and other foodstuffs taking residence in there like squatters.
Inedit was allowed to reopen March 26.
▪ Wongs, 12420 Biscayne Blvd., North Miami — One roach crawling by the dishwashing machine? One dead roach behind the dishwasher drain board?
That didn’t grab our attention from Wong's April 9 inspection as much as the Stop Sale after the inspector saw "cooked chicken wings draining oil onto newspaper on the kitchen table." Newsprint as post-cooking seasoning? Seems a little expensive, as well as inky.
Also, all these foods were supposed to be held at 41 degrees or less: bean sprouts (found at 89 degrees); cut lettuce (87 degrees); cooked rice (89 degrees); raw beef (47 degrees); and raw chicken (50 degrees).
Some of the kitchen slicing was done by a knife "stored in cracks between pieces of equipment." If that seems a little lazy, apparently moving a broom is beyond the energy reserves of the kitchen workers: "Observed approximately one dead rodent underneath the cook line."
Wongs’s got it together for an April 10 reopening.
High priority violations
Then, there were the places that got "Administrative Complaint Recommended." The official explanation for this is, "Existence of high priority violations found during an inspection require administrative action to ensure compliance." In action, it means you were within a sneeze of getting closed down.
▪ Huang’s China Buffet, 3800 West 18th Ave., Hialeah — Huang's topped this Roach Report with 44 total violations. Among its eight High Priority violations were "one live roach found under a two-compartment sink next to a barbecue oven and one live roach in the bottom of the dish machine located next to cookline."
Those two seem to be the survivors of a once mighty clan, judging by a description that sounds like Huang's Roach Morgue: "seven plus dead roaches under cabinets in front counter steam tables ... 15 plus dead roaches on electrical compartment on top of dish machine ... 10 plus dead roaches on a glue trap in the bottom of a preparation table in kitchen area."
Huang's had hand problems, too. "Employee handled soiled dishes or utensils and then handled clean dishes or utensils without washing hands," and "bare hand contact with ready-to-eat food while the establishment is under a foodborne illness investigation. Observed employee scooped ice with a cup touching ice with bare hands."
You don't want want to see anything handled with bare hands, anyway, but especially in a place cited for "build-up of food debris, dust or dirt on nonfood-contact surface. Observed door handles on coolers soiled, exit back door with very heavy food debris, cooler baskets soiled, all cooking equipment, table fan."
The men's bathroom door wasn't tight-fitting or self-closing.
Also, Huang's sold people "crab" but gave them "Mr. Krab:" "At the time of inspection observed operator advertise crab Rangoon on the menu but product used is imitation king crab legs."
The buffet line's imitation krab sushi rolls were among the foods not kept at a temperature that would curtail bacteria growth. Also on that list were cooked pork, raw beef, raw chicken and pork wonton.
And the bread-and-butter might have included some extra sauce: “Observed margarine and bread not stored under sneeze guard.”
▪ Miami Subs, 600 NE 167th St., North Miami Beach — The bug side of the April 11 inspection: a couple of live roaches by the milkshake machine near the drive-thru's second window and a couple of dead ones by the ice machine there; and a corpse by the reach-in cooler behind the bar; seven dead ones behind an unused reach-in cooler near the bar; and one dead roach by the refrigerator by the front counter.
Speaking of the ice machine, "accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine."
The marinara sauce in the steam unit by the cook line is supposed to be kept at 135 degrees. It was being kept at 70 degrees.
On the April 12 comeback, the inspector saw a live roach on the wall near the aforementioned milkshake machine, three dead roaches by the milk machine and another three dead ones in a corner.
A warning or less
Then, there were the places where inspectors saw live roaches, but the overall violations added up to a warning or less.
▪ Babylon Turkish Restaurant, 560 Washington Ave., Miami Beach — One live roach crawling on the dishwasher.
▪ IRD-Harry Soffer Room, 19999 W. Country Club Dr., Aventura — Four live roaches in the kitchen cove molding at the floor/wall junction by the walk-in cooler and one inside the walk-in cooler. But also, more than 100 pieces of roach excrement on the kitchen walls by the walk-in cooler.
This story was originally published April 20, 2018 at 10:14 AM with the headline "Roach poop on walls and roaches in traps under food prep tables get restaurants cited."