Ocean Drive issues, mold and mice at Burger King: Miami to Palm Beach restaurant fails
A new Burger King record for filth and disgusting stuff on Ocean Drive, no matter if you mean Hollywood or Miami-Dade lowlight this week’s Sick and Shut Down List.
So, let’s get to it.
BUT, FIRST, THE RULES: 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 an 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 sauce of humor.
In alphabetical order...
Burger King, 4138 W. Blue Heron Blvd., Riviera Beach: Complaint inspection, 12 total violations, six High Priority violations.
We can debate pickles and lettuce on a Whopper (fine) or even mayonnaise on french fries (ptui), but there is no “have it your way” that includes mold in the breading.
But, at the breading station, the “flour has presence of mold like growth.”
Following the flour into the trash after being shot with the Stop Sale gun were sliced tomatoes, sliced ham, sliced cheese and shredded lettuce that had been on the cookline since 6 a.m., longer than four hours.
And we don’t know if the rodents run this joint, but they certainly look like it, leaving a 30-count of droppings right out there “in the dining room, at the drive-thru window, and behind the shake machine and registers.”
Not only did the dining room have rodent poop, but six of the 11 live roaches and 22 of the 49 dead roaches the inspector counted.
Epitomizing the general film of filth that tented this BK Lounge were “Ceiling, ceiling tiles and vents soiled with accumulated food debris, grease, dust, or mold-like substance above the cook line.”
Somehow, this Burger King passed Saturday’s re-inspection.
Kay Rico Beach Cafe, 2501 S. Ocean Dr., Hollywood: Routine inspection, three total violations, two High Priority violations.
This was all about the flies. About 40 of them were air playing around the exit and reach-in cooler door. Another 25 were landing on green scallions in a container of water. Another 15 were landing on to-go pizza boxes.
The inspector counted 118 flies. Or, the same number of stolen bases Lou Brock had in 1974 when he set the record Ricky Henderson later broke.
Kay Rico was back in business on Blue Star after passing re-inspection the next day.
Nature’s Way Cafe, 517 Lake Ave., Lake Worth: Complaint inspection, four total violations, three High Priority violations.
Now, This was all about the rodent poop.
Of the 35 rodent droppings, 15 — plus rodent pee marks — were “in a wooden tray on a wire rack shelf over a prep table in the kitchen.”
They seemed to like to do their business around the electrical outlets and and electric outlet boxes.
Oh, yeah, there were a couple of flies in the kitchen, too.
Nature’s Way found its way in time for the next day’s re-inspection.
Nikos Greek Kouzina, 289 US-1, Tequesta: Routine inspection, seven total violations, three High Priority violations.
There were 15 rodent droppings behind a single service item storage rack in the kitchen. Another five droppings were in the kitchen water heater room.
Also, in the water heater room: a dead body that probably produced all of the above.
Maybe the little furry vermin ate some of the lasagna and spinach pies, which were hit with Stop Sales for still being too warm after an all-nighter in the cooler.
“Standing water or very slow draining water in handwash sink in kitchen across from cookline.” Never good.
This joint passed re-inspection the next day.
Voodoo Lounge, 928 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach: Routine inspection, 28 total violations, zero High Priority violations.
The roots of most of the problems here were in the kitchen being under construction during a renovation.
This means the inspector “Observed exposed walls, metal rebar, pipes, utility lines and concrete flooring removed. Establishment setup a additional kitchen prep area, without a handwash sink, that is not indicated on previous plans and no plans submitted regarding revisions.”
So, Miss Rudolph’s favorite restaurant got dinged for “no hand washing sink available where establishment built a secondary prep kitchen. Food employees have no access to a handwash sink to properly wash hands while preparing food.”
And, “Ware washing is conducted in a room with no handwash sink where construction is being conducted...
Also, “the cutting boards soiled, at the prep reach-in cooler.”
“Warewashing conducted in a room exposed to splash, dust, or other contamination. Observed three compartment sink located in the middle of kitchen exposed to dust/other contamination due to kitchen under construction with exposed walls, metal rebar and pipes throughout kitchen, as well as, concrete flooring removed.”
In the unisex restroom used by food-handling employees, the hot water handle was missing at the handwashing sink.
There’s no online record of the Voodoo Lounge passing re-inspection.
This story was originally published April 15, 2022 at 10:13 AM.
