These restaurants failed with cabinet roaches, ceiling flies — and that crust at Rey’s Pizza
We’re warning you right now — this is a rodent-free Sick and Shut Down List.
No rodent poop in a box under a prep table. Or live mice running through pallets holding food.
But we do have restaurants from Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties with other problems.
What follows comes from Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation restaurant inspections. We don’t control who gets inspected or how strictly. We report without passion or prejudice, but with a pinch of humor.
In alphabetical order:
Croissanterie, 9940 Belvedere Rd., Royal Palm Beach — What would bother you the most?
“Ceiling/ceiling tiles/vents soiled with accumulated food debris, grease, dust, or mold-like substance.” Despite the “mold-like substance” possibly present, this is only a Basic violation.
“Ready-to-eat, potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food marked with a date that exceeds seven days after opening/preparation. Onion soup dated 5-11-19. And potato soup dated 5-7-19. (The inspection) date is 5-21-19.” Yeah, that’s a little more veteran than you want your soup, unless we’re talking bomb shelter or Terminator shelter conditions. The inspector dropped Stop Sales on those soups like they were roaches on the move.
Speaking of roaches, the inspector saw only two live ones, one under the front service line and one under the sandwich reach-in cooler. But 14 dead roaches were spotted under the sandwich reach-in cooler (four), under the front service line (four), behind a bagel rack in the kitchen (four), and along the wall under prep tables in the kitchen (two).
“Employee failed to wash hands before changing gloves and/or putting on gloves to work with food. By the prep cook.”
For the re-inspection, Croissanterie made the roaches disappear. But they didn’t repair a torn reach-in cooler gasket or clean the ceiling tiles and the soiled shelves in the walk-in cooler. So, they got “Administrative Complaint Recommended.” Not a shutdown, but close enough that a wrong-way sneeze could put you over the line.
La Playa Grill, 9698 SW 328th St., Homestead — When you’ve got a horror movie slow pan on the kitchen ceiling — “approximately 70 to 100-plus flying insects on ceiling throughout the kitchen, the most accumulation was observed by kitchen door exit and entrance” — the rest of the inspection is just killing time.
The handwashing sink by the walk-in cooler was being used as storage for an ice scoop and a plastic container. You have to wonder how often it’s used anyway, seeing as how there’s no way to dry the hands after washing them.
“Floor/table fan has accumulation of food debris/dust/grease/soil residue. On small prep table by kitchen entrance.” So, that seems to mean the fan is blowing some of that food debris/dust/grease/soil residue onto whatever’s being prepped on the prep table.
“Carbon dioxide/helium tanks not adequately secured.”
La Playa was back playing after passing the May 22 re-inspection.
Papa Piccolo’s, 8016 SW 81st St. Dr., South Miami-Dade — We’re not sure if Papa Piccolo is any kin to Jenny Piccolo, but we are sure why the place passed a March inspection with 12 violations, but failed a May 22 inspection on only 3 violations: roaches.
Three Intermediate violations and nine Basic violations comprised March’s inspection citations. But the High Priority violation on last week’s inspection was 22 live roaches in the kitchen — “six in the kitchen cabinet, three at the front counter, two inside the oven, three on the wall behind the refrigerator, three on the food preparation table and approximately five on the floor by the cook line.”
And one of the two Basic violations was “approximately 40-50 dead roaches inside the food cabinet inside the kitchen.”
Wonder if they ate the food.
Papa was a rolling stone again after passing Wednesday’s re-inspection.
Rey’s Pizza, 1050 E. Eighth Ave., Hialeah — The inspector found the roaches on May 20, over 15 live ones hanging out between the reach-in coolers and the wall.
And that reach-in cooler acted like pizza didn’t agree with it. The cooler’s inside temperature of 50 degrees becomes a problem when it’s asked to bring things in under 41 degrees. The ham and pepperoni got moved to a working reach-in.
“Encrusted material on can opener blade. Observed can opener soiled attached to preparation table.” We don’t think that’s a good attachment, do you?
On the re-inspection May 21, the inspector saw three roaches playing Spider-Man on the wall behind the three-compartment sink. And the kitchen back door gap of May 20 remained for the May 21 re-inspection. Rey’s finally got back open on May 22.
This story was originally published May 29, 2019 at 6:49 AM.
