A Palacio de los Jugos is among 9 South Florida restaurants that failed inspection
Guess which member of this week’s Sick and Shut Down List had “one live roach inside a container of rice” and that container of rice didn’t get ordered into the trash.
Or, just read the list below and we’ll tell you.
NO, REALLY, WE DON’T JUST WRITE THIS TO KILL TIME. READ IT: 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 state inspection remains closed until passing re-inspection.
If you see a problem and want a place inspected, contact the DBPR. Do not call us. Do not email us. We don’t control who gets inspected nor how strictly the inspector inspects. Let us say that again — we do not control who gets inspected.
We don’t include all violations, just the most moving, whether internally or literally moving (because it’s alive or once was alive). Some violations get corrected after the inspector points them out, but you have to ask, why do the violations exist in the first place? And how long would they have remained if not for the inspection?
We report without passion or prejudice but with a full shaker of humor.
In alphabetical order...
Chery’s Restaurant, 12781 W. Dixie Hwy., North Miami: 11 total violations, one High Priority violation.
The inspector looked behind the kitchen reach-in cooler and found eight roaches strolling about and another two on the floor of the kitchen’s dry storage area. They ran around a floor with broken and missing tiles, which, yes, is a violation.
You know how bad an oven has to be for an inspector to note, “observed food debris inside oven.”
There’s no chlorine test kit for the sanitizer that’s supposed to be used at the dishwasher, the three-compartment sink and for wiping cloths.
Chery’s was back in business after the Aug. 17 re-inspection.
China City Restaurant, 4793 NW 167th St., Northwest Miami-Dade: 15 total violations, five High Priority violations.
The more you age, the more you’ll wonder how “bathroom facility not clean” is not a High Priority violation or even an Intermediate violation. It’s Basic.
The inspector didn’t need to see the more than 10 dead roaches on the kitchen floor under the cookline or the six live roaches elsewhere to know China City had a bug problem. They marked their territory.
“Observed 20-plus roach droppings underneath preparation table, in between empty boxes.”
Swiffer the vents, people. “Ceiling/ceiling tiles/vents soiled with accumulated food debris, grease, dust, or mold-like substance.”
China City passed re-inspection on Tuesday.
El Palacio de los Jugos, 5741 W. Flagler St., Miami: 15 total violations, six High Priority violations.
Most restaurant inspections are the regular, finally-got-around-to-it inspections or from a customer complaint. But this was a food licensing inspection, the one inspection the restaurant owner knows is coming, like another subway car or Law & Order reruns.
OK, one Stop Sale trashed the pasta salad, made the previous day and a few degrees too warm. Another Stop Sale got rid of 50 merengues in a plastic container because the operator couldn’t prove they came from an approved source.
But where was the Stop Sale for the “one live roach inside a container with rice inside the kitchen area?”
Six other roaches were running around under the three-compartment sink and two flies buzzed the jugos area, but we really want to know how that one roach and his rice didn’t get ordered into the trash.
The kitchen floor was “covered with standing water” and a grinder had food residue.
This Palacio de los Jugos passed re-inspection Aug. 18.
Executive One Catering, 4747 N. Congress Ave., Boynton Beach: Eight total violations, seven High Priority violations.
More permissive inconsistency in inspection. Tuna salad got tossed after a fly used it as its personal Heathrow Airport. Being stored at temperatures too warm for safe keeping got meat balls, cheese, rice, potatoes, beef, tomato sauce, gravy, salsa and heavy cream tossed.
But the tomatoes that four flies landed on in the prep area remained in play?
Of the 12 roaches, three were under the prep table next to the pizza oven, so take a hard look at your pizza’s black olives, especially if you didn’t order them.
“No hose connected to the sanitizer station on the wall.” That doesn’t sound executive level.
Executive One passed Wednesday’s re-inspection.
Smiling Brothers, 7108 Pembroke Rd., Miramar: Seven total violations, two High Priority violations.
“Approximately 25 rodent droppings on shelf in the kitchen where clean containers are stored. Four rodent droppings on top of steam table in the cookline. Three rodent droppings on top of microwave in the kitchen.”
“Frigidaire reach in freezer interior has accumulation of soil residues. Bottom shelf has blood.” Blood from...what? Roast? Rodent? Human? Details matter, Inspector Luger.
“Juice packaged in the establishment that has not been specifically processed to prevent, reduce, or eliminate the presence of pathogens not bearing a warning label.” Long-winded way of saying they have to let you know you’re drinking the Strawberry/Berry and soursop juices by front counter at your own risk.
Wally and The Beaver were back in business after the Aug. 18 re-inspection.
Spoons Grill, 3987 NW 19th St., Fort Lauderdale: 10 total violations, three High Priority violations.
Before we get to the vermin, let’s check out the food.
Chicken wings that nobody put time on got hit with a Stop Sale. Cooked sausage was at 47 degrees and outside temperature control, along with too warm cheese and cooked salmon. Other sausage in the steam table, which should’ve been at 135 degrees or more, was at 94 degrees.
So when we see 10 dead roaches, one behind the counter at the cash register, we wonder “Did they get into the sausage?”
Spoons came correct in Thursday’s re-inspection.
Thai Me Up, 2389 Wilton Dr., Wilton Manors: 17 violations, five High Priority violations
For vermin, rodents really do like to hang around the cleaning appliances, such as dishwashers and clothes washers. The inspector counted 50 rodent droppings on top of the kitchen dishwasher, 20 pieces of rodent poo behind it and five on the floor behind a walk-in cooler.
Did everybody get food refrigeration amnesia last week? Stop Sales hit too warm tofu, raw chicken, cooked noodles, butter, lobster and cooked rice.
No hot water or paper towels at the sushi station’s handwashing sink. It might not start out as gas station sushi but it turns into gas station sushi when not properly washed off hands.
Thai me up passed re-inspection Thursday.
Victoria’s Cuisine, 111 S Third St., Lantana: 11 total violations, five High Priority violations.
Three flies, eight live roaches, four of them on the cookline prep area flip top cooler.
Oh, gosh, Victoria’s committed our pet peeve violation. “In-use knife/knives stored in cracks between pieces of equipment at cook line.”
And it’s not as if those knives were getting all that crumbs and crud properly washed and sanitized, not with the dishwasher registering zero on the sanitizer.
Vicki’s passed Thursday re-inspection.
Zuuk Mediterranean Kitchen, 1250 S. Miami Ave., Miami: 17 total violations, two High Priority violations.
In the big picture, it really didn’t matter that the inspector saw “approximately 10 live roaches crawling inside a food equipment storage cabinet” and that cabinet is under a kitchen steam table.
Nor did it matter that a food tray was stored on top of a kitchen garbage can. Or, that “accumulated food debris/dust” caked on the ceiling tiles/vents in the prep area in the back of the kitchen.
No paper towels at one of the handwashing sinks, which would matter more if, say, hot water ran at the handwashing sink...or at the three-compartment sink. Or, at any of the other handwashing sinks, including the restrooms.
“Observed no hot water in entire establishment.”
That gives you an inspection F by itself.
After the Aug. 18 re-inspection, Zuuk still got “follow-up inspection required.”
This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 8:51 AM.
