Flies on onions, roaches in beans and other Miami to Palm Beach restaurant problems
Nose-wiping during food prep. Insects, by land and air, in the food. Sewage backups. Those are some of the issues greeting us with the return of the “Sick and Shut Down List” of restaurant inspections.
Fourteen restaurants in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties have state inspections uglier than D-Wade’s statue or the Dolphins’ season. So, let’s get to those found wanting by the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation inspectors.
Unless noted, each restaurant passed re-inspection the next day.
In alphabetical order:
A-1 Restaurant, 2056 S. Military Tr., Unincorporated Palm Beach County: Routine inspection, seven total violations, five High Priority violations.
The most obvious problem were the flies, especially the six “crawling on food (cooked rice) stored in an open container on the stove” and landing on sugar, chopped onions, chopped peppers, fish sauce, crushed peanuts and crushed dried garlic. Stop Sales rained on all the fly-contacted food.
Elsewhere, 20 flies were on a kitchen garbage bin, 10 on the three-compartment sink, three on utensils that were clean before the flies.
Don Rodone, 3333 Sheridan St., Hollywood: Routine inspection, seven total violations, five High Priority violations.
“Accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine/bin.”
Two of the kitchen roach motels had more than five dead guests. One live roach sitting on a bin of flour next to the fryer brought a Stop Sale down on the flour.
Inside a cookline oven, seven roaches could’ve had a poker game. Three roaches scurried under the oven. A kitchen shelf with clean pans had one roach. One roach was on a kitchen electrical outlet and another was inside the outlet. One roach lived dangerously, in the drip pan under a stove burner. A roach was near the food expediter’s window in the kitchen.
Roach excrement was found at the water heater under the three-compartment sink.
Inside the two-door stainless cooler, food should have been at or under 41 degrees for safe-keeping. Instead, the cooked rice (60 degrees), cooked pasta (59) and cheese (59) all were way too warm for the cooler and too warm to be safely served. Stop Sales put them all in the garbage.
READ MORE: 7,600 pounds of croquetas marked as made in Hialeah were recalled from Florida and Texas
El Mayoral, 13726 SW 88th St., Kendall: Routine inspection, 15 total violations, three High Priority violations.
“Interior of microwave soiled with food debris.”
In a cookline reach-in cooler, trays of chicken, pork, fish and beef weren’t covered. The dishwasher didn’t have sanitizer, but did have four roaches crawling on top.
The handwash sink next to the three-compartment sink had only water, no soap or paper towels. The bar handwash sink had water and soap, but no paper towels.
El Portal Maya, 3660 Davie Blvd., Fort Lauderdale: Routine inspection, seven total violations, four High Priority violations.
See the dry storage shelf. See the bucket of dry red beans on the dry storage shelf. See the one dead roach and two live roaches in the bucket of dry red beans. See the dry red beans in the garbage.
There were three other dead roaches and five other live roaches.
“Non food grade bags were used in direct contact with food.” Where? “In the reach-in freezer in the front of the kitchen, raw chicken was stored in thank you bags.”
On the re-inspection, five roaches behind a kitchen area dry storage rack and two roaches on a cookline shelf with plates kept El Portal closed.
The re-re-inspection went better.
Florida City Restaurant, 1209 NW Ninth Ave., Florida City: Complaint inspection, 35 total violations, five High Priority violations.
“Objectionable odor throughout the entire establishment.”
Maybe that’s because the “handwash and toilet were dirty in the bathroom,” there was a “lack of toilet tissue at each toilet,” and the “women’s restroom was in disrepair.” Also, the restroom was not “completely enclosed with tight-fitting, self-closing doors.”
And the customer bathroom didn’t have any soap at the handwash sink. “No paper towels at handwash sinks throughout the entire establishment.”
Three of the five dead roaches counted sat “in a rat trap near the three-compartment sink in the kitchen.”
Chicken in a reach-in cooler wasn’t covered. To-go containers sat on the floor in dry storage.
Probably not the best storage strategy when you’ve got enough rodents to leave 40 droppings behind a kitchen reach-in freezer, another 10 on glass plates on a prep table and another 10 on a dry storage shelf with onions, and powdered beverage in the kitchen.
“A/C vent soiled with dust in the dining area. Also observed walls and floors soiled with grease throughout kitchen”
None of the coolers worked: “Observed all coolers in establishment not maintaining proper temperatures.” “Also “all the reach-in coolers in establishment maintaining an ambient temperature of above 50F.” That’s a problem when their whole raison d’etre is getting food under — and keeping it under — 41 degrees.
This means a rain of Stop Sales on raw shrimp, chicken and chicken gizzards from the reach-in cooler.
The hot water at the three-compartment sink couldn’t even make room temperature, reaching only 72 degrees.
Saturday’s re-inspection ended in failure because of two pieces of rodent poop on the prep table.
There’s no online record of passing a second callback inspection.
4 Szn Grill, 2540 Village Walk Cir., Wellington: Complaint inspection, seven total violations, four High Priority violations.
We have a Barkov Award (formerly Gretzky Award) winner for a hat trick of inspection failures.
Inspection No. 1: “Observed employee touch under the nose with gloves on; then, touched walk-in cooler door; then, handled the slicer to slice cabbage. No glove change; no hand wash.”
Seven of the nine dead roaches were legs up between a flip top cooler and a wall near a prep table.
Crawling on the wall behind that flip top cooler and under it were eight very alive roaches. Two roaches roamed “under the prep counter, on a shelf among containers of sauces.” One roach got on an empty container. Five roaches were under a cookline oven.
The sanitizer wasn’t strong enough to properly sanitize cookware or utensils.
After touching hair or the face, an employee “engaged in food preparation, handled clean equipment or utensils, or touched unwrapped single-service items without washing hands.
Inspection No. 2, Re-inspection No. 1: Five roaches, one under a handwash sink, four crawling behind the aforementioned flip top cooler.
Inspection No. 3, Re-inspection No. 2: Live roaches spotted behind the flip top cooler again and under the handwash sink
Inspection No. 4, Re-inspection No. 3: Passed.
Golden Wok, 1428 W. Lantana Rd., Lantana: Routine inspection, 12 total violations, five High Priority violations.
No doors between dry storage and the cookline. That’s important when the inspector spots more than 50 pieces of rodent regularity under a dry storage shelf. There were another 10 rodent droppings under the cookline coolers. Out in the dining area, there were more than 20 poop pellets on a window sill.
Yet with all these live, food-seeking rodents, no one covered the cooked chicken in the walk-in cooler.
The entire outside of a chest freezer, the vertical curtains in the dining area and the dining area window sill were “soiled.”
“Inside smoker soiled with grease and food debris.”
No paper towels at the handwash sink next to the triple sink.
Cooked rice got left out at room temperature for too long. Stop Sale.
No paper towels or mechanical hand drying device provided at handwash sink next to triple sink.
La Bodega, 13774 SW 88th St., Kendall: Complaint inspection, 37 total violations, 12 High Priority violations.
Observed sewage from the dishwasher machine disposal at floor in kitchen area, which is why the kitchen floor had standing water. “The drain is clogged. And wastewater from handwash sink was draining on floor in the bakery area.
“Food placed in soiled container/equipment.”
“Observed bread stored in soiled drawer at bakery station.”
The bakery station shelves had a dead roach. On the floor were single service articles.
The dishwasher had no sanitizer.
“The interior of the microwaves has an accumulation of black substance/grease/food debris...”
Back at the bakery station, the reach-in cooler’s gasket was “soiled” and there was a “heavy accumulation of grease and debris on the stove.“
While it’s nice to bring food in to work, there’s a problem if you bring it in and sell it. So, homemade deserts and tamales made in someone’s home might be tasty, but the home kitchen isn’t subject to inspection.
Stop Sales came down on those and on these foods still not under 41 degrees since despite being in the cooler the previous day: ground beef, mashed potatoes, cooked shrimp, octopus.
The prep area’s handwash sink lets you get your hands wet. That’s it. No wash (no soap for you!), no dry (no paper towels.
Oh, and the handwash sink’s water doesn’t get hot enough.
La Ventantita, food truck, Palm Beach County: Routine inspection, eight total violations, four High Priority violations.
The food truck didn’t have a waste tank. The inspector wrote that the manager said the “tank was removed.”
“Observed wastewater from the handwash sink and the three-compartment sink draining into a pipe on the floor.”
The handwash sink also was missing a faucet.
“Employee switched from working with raw food (beef) to ready-to-eat food (tortillas) without washing hands.” That’s a no-no.
“Employee handles broom then change gloves and proceeded to handle food without washing hands.” That’s also a no-no.
The Mexican Avocado Grill 2, 1941 S. Military Tr., Unincorporated Palm Beach County: Routine inspection, three total violations, one High Priority violation.
The roaches did it all on their own.
Six dead roaches right under the containers with cheese at the standing glass cooler.
As for the living, there were seven roaches crawling on the floor under the fryer, five on a light switch, four under “clean utensils above the triple sink,” two on a kitchen floor, two more on a wall.
Ocean’s Grille, 3720 N. Ocean Blvd., Fort Lauderdale: Routine inspection, 10 total violations, four High Priority violations.
An “employee used a disposable tissue to wipe his nose then engaged in making customers food order without washing his hands.”
To be fair, the prep area handwash sink didn’t have any soap.
There was a live roach near the front counter, four more at the cookline, two more under the dishwasher and another two under the three-compartment sink.
The sticky roach traps collected eight dead roaches under the slicer; five behind a cookline cooler in one trap, three in another; and killed two roaches on the wall next to magnetic storage for the knives.
“Soda gun holster soiled with slime-like substance.” Hope that didn’t put extra flavor in your Sprite.
The dishwasher sanitizing was at 10 parts per million and could get up to only 50 ppm.
“Ceiling vents soiled with accumulated dust throughout establishment.”
At re-inspection, the soda gun holster was still slimy and the inspector spotted five live roaches.
Ocean’s passed a second callback inspection.
Pa Heladitos Shadday, 1222 Lucerne Ave., Lake Worth Beach: Routine inspection, four total violations, one High Priority violation.
In this one-room restaurant, two live roaches were near the handwash sink and one was on the lid of a out-of-use flip top cooler. A dead roach was inside.
A bag of corn thawing in the handwash sink gets you a double shot of citations — improper thawing of food and anything being in the handwash sink.
The ice cream joint got back scooping and scoring after the next day’s re-inspection.
RC Caribbean Restaurant, 220 Congress Ave., Delray Beach: Routine inspection, five total violations, one High Priority violation.
“Sewage backing up through the floor drain under triple sink, when the handwash sink is in use. Employees are walking through the waste water. The area can not be isolated.”
That’ll get you closed, if every time somebody washes their hands, sewage slushes up from the floor.
“Accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine/bin.”
The cutting board at the steam table “has cut marks and is no longer cleanable.”
The wiping cloth sanitizing solution lacked sanitizer.
Red Crab Juicy Seafood, 6177 Jog Rd., Unincorporated Palm Beach County: Routine inspection, 23 total violations, 11 High Priority violations.
Anybody else think of Mr. Krabs and the Krusty Krab?
“Establishment advertised Haddock on the menu but serves Swai fish instead; no boxes or invoices of Haddock observed “
Under cookline cooking equipment lay six dead roaches. The inspector saw two live roaches.
And, the inspector saw “approximately 25 rodent droppings on the wooden shelves used to store flours and seasonings, large bags by the walk-in freezer.
“Food stored in a location that is exposed to splash/dust.” Do what? “Seasoning bags stored under moldy, dripping condenser line on the wooden shelves next to the walk-in freezer...”
Yet another dishwasher with sanitizing powers but no sanitizer.
Be that as it may, an “employee placed a raw fish inside a bowl, dropped the food inside a fryer and rinsed bowl in the three-compartment sink with water only. Employee placed bowl back on prep table to be used again.” No washing, no sanitizing.
There were “approximately 20 live small ants under seasoning and flour bags on the wooden shelves by the walk-in freezer, in a room adjacent to the main kitchen.”
A spider crawled across seasoning bags.
On top of that, no paper towels or blower to dry hands.
