Mold on plantains, a roach in salsa among violations in South Florida restaurants
Bugs in sauce, dirty chairs, rodents running and it’s another week at The Sick and Shut Down List.
So, let’s get to it.
HOUSE 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. 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). Some violations get corrected immediately 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 side dishes of humor.
READ MORE: Brown lettuce, croqueta problems at two Vicky Bakery locations
In alphabetical order:
China Star, 10105 W. Oakland Park Blvd., Sunrise: Routine inspection, 29 total violations, seven High Priority violations.
We love shrimp like Bubba’s family at The Sick and Shut Down List — had it for dinner last night, will have it for lunch tomorrow — so what follows had us calling up words like “apoplectic.”
“Observed chicken wings stored in the walk-in cooler uncovered...raw shrimp on the floor, under the food shelf, uncovered.”
“Observed raw shrimp being thawed on top of the reach-in cooler in the kitchen area at room temperature.”
“Observed three live flies flying around the prep area...landing on raw shrimp being peeled on reach-in freezer lid.” The peeler killed the flies and tossed out the shrimp.
After that, we wonder if the three dead roaches behind the reach-in freezer actually were just wayward shrimp tails.
Not sure if this was the same person who the inspector saw “wiped hands on a dirty apron and returned to preparing foods without washing hands.”
“Cleaned, sanitized containers stored on racks with grease buildup and mold-like substance,” which kind of ruins the whole cleaning and sanitizing thing.
“Grease and food buildup residue” on the handles of the reach-in cooler, walk-in cooler and microwave oven. Wonder how often they de-grease their hands.
The flour, potato starch and corn starch were “stored in dirty containers,” a description for the insides and the lids.
Speaking of unclean interiors, “interior of rice cooker lid with heavy grease buildup...interior of microwave with grease buildup...gaskets on the interior of reach-in coolers , walk-in cooler and reach-in freezers accumulated with green/ black mold like substance.”
The Star shined after passing re-inspection the next day.
Dlc Carribbean Restaurant, 2441 10th Ave. N, Lake Worth: Routine inspection, 15 total violations, four High priority violations.
List appearance No. 3 in the last year for the Lake Worth place bedeviled by roaches and water previously, this time had “13 live ants on a two-door reach-in freezer used as a prep table.”
The roach trap over the mop sink had three roaches (all dead) as did the oven (two living, one dead) and steam table (one live, two dead).
They couldn’t get to the handwash sink because the prep table sat directly in front of it.
Dlc still needs to pass a follow-up inspection, but it’s open.
Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill, 10101 W. Oakland Park Blvd., Sunrise: Routine inspection, 32 total violations, nine High Priority violations.
“Observed plantains in a box on a shelf at the cookline with mold buildup.” About 20 flies flew around those plantains.
Also in the kitchen hung six sticky pest strips, each with “100 or more flies.”
The light shields over the food prep areas held the bodies of eight to 10 roaches. The ceiling tiles and vents over the food prep areas were described as “soiled...with accumulated food debris, grease, dust or mold-like substance.”
Somebody get these folks a step ladder, a sponge and a Swiffer.
A prep shelf was used for veggies and raw fish, but wasn’t sanitized to prevent cross contamination.
The handle of a scoop was touching the cooked rice and beans in the front counter’s rice cooker.
The inspector hurled Stop Sale lightning like an angry god at the food the sinners didn’t properly cool: cooked oxtail; cooked curry goat; brown stew chicken; curry chicken; salted cod fish; cooked mackerel; raw oxtail; raw goat; cooked macaroni and cheese; and shredded cheese.
A “stainless steel tray with an onion stored was on top of dirty open garbage can with garbage beside a vegetable prep table at the cookline.”
The walk-in cooler had “heavy rust and mold-like substance buildup” on the shelves.
The cookline didn’t have a handwashing sink.
Somehow, this joint passed re-inspection the next day.
Guadalajara Restaurant, 905 U.S. 1, Lake Park: Routine inspection, 12 total violations, six High Priority violations.
No excuse for cooked pork and black beans being uncovered in a walk-in cooler. Somebody get funky with the Saran Wrap?
Ah, the ice machine and you regular readers know what’s coming. That’s right, an “accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior.”
“Five live roaches on a kitchen shelf above the steam table crawling around clean dishes and takeout containers...one live roach crawling on a cutting board at the steam table...approximately 10 live roaches in the kitchen crawling on the floor under the double door stainless reach-in freezer.”
The inspector counted 20 dead roaches on the floor under the steam table and 10 under a kitchen handwashing sink. People kept washing their hands there and nobody thought to clean the corpses?
Salsa roja remained too warm after cooling overnight. It got hit with a Stop Sale, as did the salsa verde after one live roach fell into it.
This place passed re-inspection the next day. Still, you might want to sneak in your own salsa.
One Stop Jamaican Restaurants, 1736 45th St., West Palm Beach: Routine inspection, 10 total violations, nine High Priority violations.
Have a seat! The dining tables and chairs were “soiled with grease, food debris, dirt, slime or dust.”
But, you better put your feet up or something might run across them. Such as, whatever left the 130 rodent droppings throughout the restaurant, including 50 in shelved boxes at the front line.
Standing water under the dishwasher sink means the rodents have a wading pool.
“Heavily soiled, grease buildup,” is what the inspector saw underneath cooking equipment, shelves and the dishwashing sink, throughout the kitchen and the storage area.
When the inspector returned, there were only 23 rodent droppings, which is still 23 too many to pass a re-inspection and nobody hit the dining tables and chairs with a cloth and Lysol.
Monday, One Stop passed inspection on the inspector’s third stop.
This story was originally published August 26, 2022 at 8:30 AM.
