Roaches in a South Beach restaurant, filth in other places closed by inspection
There’s a lot of recidivism on this week’s Sick and Shut Down List of restaurants in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties that managed to fail inspections. At least three places that made the list before didn’t clean their way onto the list again.
How we do this: What follows comes from Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation restaurant inspections in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties. A restaurant that fails inspection remains closed until passing re-inspection. If you see a problem and want a place inspected, contact the DBPR, not us.
We don’t control who gets inspected nor how strictly the inspector inspects. We don’t include all violations, just the most moving, whether internally or literally moving (because it’s alive or once was alive). We report without passion or prejudice but with a dash of humor.
In alphabetical order:
Amare Ristorante, 1 Collins Ave., Miami Beach: It’s been a rough Spring Break in South Beach.
Amare’s part of that roughness had “approximately 11 roaches on the floor in the kitchen area under the refrigerator next to the cook line....approximately two more live roaches in the dry storage area inside the kitchen under a box of potatoes.”
Also, three dead roaches next to the kitchen refrigerator.
Have a Coke and a smile. “Accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine.”
“Interior of microwave soiled with encrusted food debris.” Look, folks, everybody gets a dirty gas oven. They’re a hassle to clean. But a microwave? You can knock that out with some elbow grease and cleaner in a few minutes. No excuse for that.
Amare passed Friday re-inspection.
Crafty Crab, 2861 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale: Wonder if SpongeBob jokes bounced around the inspector’s head until he saw, four pieces of rodent dung on the floor under cardboard soda boxes next to the ice machine and six on the floor under the dishwashing machine.
Speaking of the dishwashing machine, “Dishmachine chlorine sanitizer not at proper minimum strength.” Actually, it was at minimal strength — none, 0 parts per million.
No paper towels or mechanical hand drying device provided at handwash sink at cook line.” You know that’s an apron dry.
The Crafty Crab was back open after passing re-inspection the next day. We’re sure all the rodents left (at night...).
Jenaritos Restaurant, 285 NE 44th St., Oakland Park: This week’s restaurant for the game “Which is Worse?”
Violation No. 1 is “Sewage/wastewater backing up through floor drains. Grey water backing up on to the kitchen floor from the sink next to the cookline. Operator turned off the water at the sink to prevent further use. Operator tracked grey water through the kitchen.”
Violation No. 2 is “Food with mold-like growth...cheese stored in customer takeout cooler.”
Violation No. 3 is “Stored food not covered. Cheese, ham, tortillas stored uncovered in reach-in cooler next to the hand wash sink.” Surely, there’s no splashover onto the food from the sink...
Violation No. 4 is another Stop Sale, tamales cooked one day, a bacteria boat the next.
Violation No. 5 is “Food-contact surfaces not sanitized after cleaning, before use...Employee did not employ sanitizer step after washing ice scoop. Advised employee dishes will need to be sanitized before use.” The inspector had to tell the employee.
And, violation No. 6 is an old favorite, “Accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine.”
You choose between these evenly matched, no-live-and-moving violations!
This place passed re-inspection the next day.
Jerk Machine, 4261 NW 12th St. Lauderhill: Jerk Machine shows up on The Sick and Shut Down List more regularly than Aunt Esther used to on “Sanford & Son,” most recently in February.
This time, the inspector saw 26 pieces of rodent poo, four under the food prep table in the kitchen and two on the cookline next to the stove. And 10 flies landing on a box with peppers and four flies on the cookline.
“Observed Chef began working with food, handling clean equipment or utensils, or touching unwrapped single-service items without first washing hands. Chef went outside and continue to prepare foods without washing his hands.”
“Observed plumbing system in disrepair at the hand wash sink in the kitchen.”
The dishwasher washed utensils without sanitizing them.
And the Jerk Machine was running on a suspended license.
Jerk Machine passed re-inspection two days later.
La Rosa, 913 Lake Ave., Lake Worth: A Wayne Gretzky Award Winner with a hat trick of failed inspections.
Inspection No. 1 on March 22 was lowlighted by live roaches, 20 of which were inside an oil box on the floor by the cookline and another seven under that box.
“Wall heavily soiled with accumulated black debris in dining room.”
“Handwash sink removed from food preparation/dishwashing area. Must be reinstalled in the same location where removed. No hand sink at the bar, plans approved with a hand sink.”
Inspection No. 2, on March 24, featured six dead roaches on a cutting board on the bottom shelf of a prep table, one live roach crawling on the wall by the cash register and two other living bugs.
And, to finish the trick, “One live on the floor in the dining room. The manager killed it and cleaned the area. One on the bottom shelf of the prep table next to the three-compartment sink. The manager killed it and cleaned the shelf.”
Throw your hats!
They still haven’t completely passed an inspection.
Las Fajitas, 2298 N. Dixie Hwy., Boca Raton: This place had a standing water-roach-Stop Sale problem that put it on an October Sick and Shut Down List, right under another Jerk Machine appearance.
This time, the inspector had just one general problem with this joint: “Approximately five rodent droppings under the prep table in the kitchen. Approximately five rodent droppings under the chest freezer in the kitchen Approximately 15 rodent droppings behind the dry storage rack in the kitchen next to the cookline.
Las Fajitas passed inspection the next day. All the rodents were gone, yessiree, Bob.
Villagio, 1760 Sawgrass Mills Cir., Sunrise: Villagio’s last appearance on the list was years ago. Many flies, alive and dead, showed themselves.
This time, the inspector spotted six roaches crawling underneath a prep table and one dead roach under a prep table.
“Ceiling/ceiling tiles/vents soiled with accumulated food debris, grease, dust, or mold-like substance above the warewashing area in the rear.”
Villagio passed inspection the next day.
Yogurt Rendezvous, 7150 Beracasa Wy., Boca Raton: This is under “Yogurt Rendevous” on the DBPR site.
“One dead roach on shelves in dining room, one dead roach behind the reach-in freezer in the dining room...” You could probably stop right there for most patrons. They wouldn’t need to know about the “approximately 20 dead roaches behind the reach-in cooler in the kitchen” or the “approximately 10 dead roaches under the utility sink in the kitchen.”
A live roach in the kithchen, one in the doorway from the kitchen to the front counter and three under the front counter is not an encouraging trend.
That was it. And when the inspector came back the next day, six live roaches were skating around the grease trap in kitchen.
The rendezvous finally came together on Thursday’s re-re-inspection.
This story was originally published April 1, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
