Fuddruckers, Bonefish Grill and a Key West eatery among Miami metro restaurant filth
Eight restaurants in Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and the Keys are on this week’s Sick and Shut Down List, which includes three chain restaurants and a food truck.
There are no Broward restaurants on this week’s list.
We’re telling you the results of state inspections. We don’t inspect the restaurants nor do we choose which ones get inspected. Three of the inspections on the following list came from complaints filed with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
In alphabetical order:
Bonefish Grill, 1880 N. Congress Ave., Boynton Beach: Routine inspection, 11 total violations, five High Priority violations.
Ten live roaches congregated inside an unused cooler on the cookline.
The flies got a little more social. More than five hung out at the bar’s wait staff counter. More than six were on the soda dispenser. Two kept landing on a closed ice bin. Four or more circled a drain.
“No paper towels or mechanical hand drying device provided at the handwash sinks on the cookline and in the wait station.”
“Raw red peppers and onions were not washed prior to preparation and cutting.”
“The cutting board has cut marks and is no longer cleanable.”
Also failing to handle its business were the coolers that held cream sauce, spicy cream sauce, seafood stuffing, crab meat, pasta, lobster, ravioli and scallops. All food prepared the previous day, all in the refrigeration units overnight, none of them cooled to 41 degrees or less. A Stop Sale shower sent them all to the garbage.
Bonefish was grilling again after the next day’s re-inspection.
El Palacios de Los Frijoles, 1736 W. 68 St., Hialeah: Routine inspection, 24 total violations, four High Priority violations.
“Establishment does not have enough coolers or space to maintain food at cold temperatures,” especially the case when a reach-in cooler measured 55 degrees and a walk-in cooler measured 56. Expecting that cooler to get cooked or otherwise prepared food down to 41 degrees is expecting turtles to fly.
Stop Sales crashed down on soup with pork (95 degrees), chimmichurri (72 degrees), chicarron (68), pork chops (60 degrees), chorizo (60 degrees), eggs (60), raw beef (60), marinated chicken (57), plantains (55), pineapple (55), shredded cheese (55), beef (5) and heavy cream (47).
Then again, the house probably didn’t know about this because there was “no probe thermometer provided to measure temperature of food products.”
Ironically, El Palacios thawed frozen chicken in the three-compartment sink, an unnecessary no-no when it obviously could’ve thawed almost as fast in the worthless coolers.
You know why you put washed dishes and pots tilted down as they dry? “Washed pots not inverted underneath the stove with water inside of them.”
The “cutting board was soiled.”
El Palacios passed the following day’s re-inspection.
READ MORE: Attention, Walmart shoppers: An inspection says a South Florida store had mold on meat
Fuddruckers in Westland Mall, 1645 W. 49th St., Hialeah: Complaint inspection, seven total violations, one High Priority violation.
Some of you just said, “There’s still a Fuddruckers open?” Yep, five of them in South Florida, four in Miami-Dade and one in Broward. This one, in Westland Mall, is owned by Marcelo Montalvan’s and Berna Montalvan’s Vitafoods Enterprises III, according to state records.
The website of the once mighty beloved chain declares: “Our Fuddruckers commitment to Safely Serving You the World’s Greatest Hamburgers. The safety, health and well-being of our guests and employees are our highest priority...” — but somebody forgot to tell the folks at the Hialeah location.
Otherwise, they might have disposed of the “16 dead roaches in glue rodent traps under the utility sink at the bakery area.”
Six live roaches roamed including two “inside the bread proffer at the bakery area.”
Knives at the front counter prep area also were “clean utensils stored between equipment and a wall.” You can’t stay “clean” in crevices.
Lot of cutting board problems. The prep area cutting board was “soiled.”
Fuddrucker’s passed the next day’s callback inspection.
Hook Fish & Chicken, 5701 N. Australian Ave., Mangonia Park: Compliant inspection, five total violations, three High Priority violations.
What’s the difference between a Basic violation and a High Priority violation?
A dead roach on the kitchen floor is a Basic violation. The 20 rodent droppings on the kitchen floor under dry storage shelves is a High Priority violation.
A wet towel in the handwash sink says either the staff is lazy or the sink isn’t being used for de-dirtying hands very often.
The Hook was off the inspection hook after the following day’s re-inspection.
Jennifer’s Cafeteria, 16464 NE 16th Ave., North Miami Beach: Routine inspection, 35 total violations, seven High Priority violations.
Earlier this week, we told you about yet another North Miami Beach restaurant not up to snuff when the inspector dropped by for a once-over.
READ MORE: Mold on food among the 35 violations at a North Miami Beach restaurant
Oh, you wanted to wash your hands in the restroom? No soap for you!
They passed re-inspection the next day with “Follow-Up Inspection Required.”
Okan Ebi Citrus & Product Corp., Food Truck, 10918 SW 184 St., West Perrine: Complaint inspection, 21 total violations, two High Priority violations.
Bad food truck inspections usually involve water. Case in point...
“Establishment operating without an approved sewage system.”
“No running water at the three-compartment sink.”
Water at the employee handwash sink didn’t reach 85 degrees.
“No soap, paper towels or mechanical hand drying device provided at the handwash sink.”
Throw in five flies around the three-compartment sink and 50-plus flies swarming the food truck and its grease receptacle and you’ve got a food truck that’s done for the day.
The re-inspection was passed with “Follow-Up Inspection Required.”
READ MORE: Inspectors found white mold on green vegetables and other problems at a Broward market
Terra Fiamma in Delray Marketplace, 9169 W. Atlantic Ave., Unincorporated Palm Beach: Routine inspection, nine total violations, three High Priority violations.
“Accumulation of roach excrement inside of the four-way electrical outlet box directly next to steam table on the kitchen cookline.”
If that didn’t tell you they might have a roach problem, the five dead roaches and four live ones in that box could be another indicator. Two dead roaches were on the floor under a salad line flip-top cooler. Another one was under a kitchen prep sink.
“Floor heavily soiled under cookline equipment.
Terra Fiamma was back on solid ground after the following day’s re-inspection.
Viva Saloon, 903 Duval St., Key West: Routine inspection, 16 total violations, four High Priority violations.
It took us to the last restaurant, the first in a while from the Keys, to get to the usually much more common “Accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine/bin.”
The inspector counted over 50 pieces of rodent regularity in a dry storage area that had single service items and a reach-in freezer with raw beef.”
“Observed employee engaging in food preparation and not washing hands after changing tasks.”
But the cookline handwash sink was “not accessible for employee use at all times.”
And, workers who got to the handwash sink and washed their hands didn’t have a quick way to dry without rubbing them on their shirts or pants.
“During the routine inspection, the walk-in cooler was running at 50 degrees.”
Which means here comes the Stop Sale rain again, falling on the food for food safety. Cooked steak with corn, cooked pasta, raw beef, cooked risotto, steak empanadas and cooked potatoes ranged from 55 degrees to 58 degrees, and all tossed.
The Saloon passed its second chance inspection on Tuesday.
This story was originally published August 22, 2024 at 12:09 PM.
