100 insects on pasta among the worst restaurant filth in South Florida
The world’s most popular fast-food chain and a competitor are among the 11 restaurants in South Florida that failed inspections in the past week.
The “Sick and Shut Down” list covers inspection results for Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. If you want to file a complaint about a restaurant, contact the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation.
Restaurants usually reopened after passing a re-inspection the next day. We note below when a place failed more than one inspection.
In alphabetical order:
Berries in the Grove, 2884 SW 27th Ave., Miami
Complaint inspection, 15 total violations, three High Priority violations.
We told you Tuesday about the rodent droppings and other problems found at Berries during the original inspection and during the next day’s callback inspection.
READ MORE: Rodent dung among reasons inspectors closed a popular Miami restaurant
Bruno’s Bakery and Restaurant, 21315 NW Second Ave., Miami Gardens
Routine inspection, nine total violations, two High Priority violations.
Like kids who’ve stayed on the playground too long after Kool-Aid, the four-legged furry vermin at Bruno’s almost made it to the toilet — “15-plus rodent dropping on the floor by the bathroom.”
More than five were behind a front counter reach-in cooler, more than six behind the steam table and more than 10 behind the stove and prep table.
The kitchen handwash sink lacked soap, paper towels and a mechanical blower.
The inspector “observed ceiling tiles with water damage in the kitchen and lobby.”
The inside of a reach-in cooler had an “accumulation of soil residues.”
Somebody got a little happy with the wiping cloth sanitizer solution, using too much.
The callback inspection apparently surprised folks at Bruno’s, who didn’t have the wiping cloth sanitizer bucket set up and didn’t take a mop to the “floor soiled throughout the kitchen.” There were also rodent droppings in the lobby behind a speaker, under the front counter and behind a reach-in cooler.
Callback inspection No. 2 went better, and Bruno’s reopened.
READ MORE: Want to save money at the grocery store? See deals at South Florida supermarkets
1804 Bread, 13737 NW Seventh Ave., North Miami
Routine inspection, 17 total violations, two High Priority violations.
To paraphrase a famous riff about car rental reservations, the 1804 Bread folks know how to put down the glue traps, but they apparently don’t know how to pick up the glue traps after the rodents are trapped. Which is, really, the important part of the glue trap.
That means the inspector saw “two dead rodents in a glue trap ... in a dry storage room in the kitchen.”
The inspector also spotted over 30 pieces of poop on wood shelves in dry storage. Over 15 droppings in another dry storage area by the food prep area. And 10 droppings left by rodents who sneaked behind a kitchen oven.
With all this rodent activity, the staff still left “a plastic container with raw pork on the floor in the kitchen.”
Six roaches roamed a cabinet with bags of coffee at the front counter.
“Unused, (but also) unprotected place settings left on table with seated customers were reused for other customers without cleaning them first.”
“Food was stored in a room/shed that is not fully enclosed.” Cans of all-vegetable shortening, ketchup bottles and cans of marinara sauce were in a back area that wasn’t fully enclosed.
No paper towels at the kitchen or front counter handwashing sinks.
MORE: Ancient food among the inspection problems at a Milam’s Market near Coral Gables
Florida Coal Fired Pizza, 1003 State Rd. 7, Wellington
Complaint inspection, 16 total violations, seven High Priority violations.
Before we get to the handwashing problems, let’s start with dishwashing area ceiling tile vents that were “soiled with an accumulated mold-like substance.”
That didn’t seem to bother the proliferation of flies, 97 of them as counted by the inspector.
About 11 were landing on “clean and sanitized dishes, paper towels, open single services boxes of single service to-go items over the three-compartment sink.” About six were on pizza boxes. Another five were on a bag of onions. Two flies were on a food prep table and two were under the prep table. About 17 live flies were “landing on clean metal trays and plastic food bins.”
But the largest number, about 40, congregated under the dishwasher and the wall around the dishwasher.
The “floors at the front counter pizza station are no longer easily cleanable as evident with standing water in between tiles with food debris.”
“Throughout the kitchen, the floors were soiled with food debris under all equipment and along the walls.”
Meatballs in the walk-in cooler since the previous day needed to be at or under 41 degrees. They measured 61 degrees. Stop Sale on the meatballs.
The handwash sinks at dishwashing area and front counter pizza station handwash sinks were described as “heavily soiled with a build out of food debris.”
No paper towels or other way to dry hands at the front counter pizza station.
An employee “removed his/her hat, fixed the hair and without washing hands, then handled cleaned and sanitized dishes.”
Someone else “handled the rim of the trash can to move it and, without washing hands, handled cut onions and clean utensils to prepare customer salads.” Stop Sale on the onions and two portions of mixed salad.
Gary Rack’s Farmhouse Kitchen, 204 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach
Complaint inspection, eight total violations, three High Priority violations.
One roach died on the kitchen floor. Another roach died in the spoons container at the kitchen’s coffee station.
There were also two live roaches in the spoons container. Another five were in an “unused, old, dirty ice cream cooler used as a storage cabinet at the kitchen.”
Clean spoons and forks were “stored in dirty containers.”
The pitcher and the milk container at the coffee station were “food-contact surfaces soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime.”
McDonald’s, 15096 NW Seventh Ave., North Miami-Dade
Routine inspection, five total violations, one High Priority violations.
This is the MickeyD’s just west of Interstate 95 at the Northwest 151st Street exit of I-95 north, a franchise store owned by Fort Lauderdale’s Rio Vista Management Group.
There was an “accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine/bin.”
Three live roaches hung out “behind the McCafe machine by the front counter.”
There was enough “grease under cooking equipment” to be noted.
Miyi La Cubanita Cuban Cafe Chola Wengue, 1332 NW Second Ave., Boca Raton
Routine inspection, 12 total violations, nine High Priority violations.
Rodents didn’t just make it to the prep table, where they left 20 droppings under that and nearby storage shelves, but they made it on the prep table (six pieces of poop) and on the shelves (about 10 on shelves and inside storage containers).
Safe food storage wasn’t a strength. Cooked chicken in the walk-in cooler measured 51 degrees, 10 over the limit. Cooked rice couldn’t be reheated to 165 degrees. Both the rice and the chicken go with Stop Sales.
The cookline handwash sink lacked soap and any way to dry your hands.
A server “handled soiled dishes while removing them from a customer’s table and carrying them to the dish area, then picked up plated food for new customers without washing hands.”
The three-compartment sink’s washing section worked just fine on food storage containers. Rinsing? Good. Then the employee put them to dry without sanitizing them because the sanitizing section hadn’t been readied.
Rocca Trattoria Italian, 2014 E. Sample Rd., Lighthouse Point
Routine inspection, 14 total violations, three High Priority violation.
Disgusting as it is to imagine “approximately 50 live insects resting and crawling on the floor under the hand sink opposite the kitchen cookline,” that’s a Gross Grand Prix lap behind “approximately 100 live insects crawling on dried pasta, lasagna; elbow noodles; on a container of black olives stored with no lid; and all over the food prep table in front of the kitchen handwash sink.”
Stop Sales rained like a late summer storm on all that food.
A can opener blade counted as a “food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime.”
The kitchen handwash sink did “not have enough water pressure to properly wash hands.” One of the handwash sinks was “blocked by a food prep table” with shelves.
And those shelves had “rust that has pitted the surface.”
Tom Sawyer Restaurant & Pastry Corp., 1759 NW Second Ave., Boca Raton
Routine inspection, eight total violations, six High Priority violations.
Time for “Which is Worse?”
A: About “20 live roaches on the floor at the food expo window service area.”
B: “Approximately 10 live roaches inside the paper towel dispenser at the cookline handwash sink.”
Maybe the chance of yanking out roaches when drying your hands after washing was why an “employee cracked raw shell eggs, then handled ready-to-eat cheese and bread without washing hands.” Or why an “employee touched the face/mouth, then handled clean utensils to prepare pancakes and touched French toast without washing hands.”
The dishwasher sanitizer measured zero point zero.
Wendy’s, 701 Boynton Beach Blvd., Boynton Beach
Complaint inspection, five total violations, three High Priority violations.
Just two weeks after rodents took up residence in a Wendy’s, the inspector returned to find they weren’t fully evicted.
READ MORE: Rodent nest at Wendy’s among the worst restaurant inspections in South Florida
“A bag of biscuits” was “half eaten with visible gnaw marks at the bread rack in back storage area in the kitchen.”
They must like their carbs because there was also a “saltine cracker pack” with “visible gnaw marks in the same area.”
Where do you put your single service items for customers with all these rodents running around? “On the floor of an outside storage shed,” and the inspector saw 15 rodent droppings nearby.
The re-inspection got scuttled by three dung pieces “on top of a cardboard box containing wrapped single service plastic cups at the dry storage shelves” in the back of the kitchen.
Wonder Wok Chinese Restaurant, 21313 NW Second Ave., Miami Gardens
Routine inspection, 19 total violations, one High Priority violation
The back exit door had a gap, leaving an open invitation to vermin.
No shock then that about half the 70-plus rodent droppings spotted were in the back storage room “where plates, rice and seasonings are stored.” Another 15 were “under containers of sugar, flour and msg.”
Two pieces of rodent regularity were “on the steam table at the front counter where bags and utensils are stored.” About five were under a kitchen prep table. Another eight-plus were behind a lobby reach-in freezer. Five more dookie dots were “on the shelves where the soda is stored in the lobby.”
Despite all the rodent action, “chicken wings, cooked chicken, beef, spring rolls and spring mix were not covered in the walk-in cooler.”
“Food containers in the kitchen were heavily soiled.”
None of the handwash sinks had paper towels, a blower or any way to dry your hands.
“Observed ceiling tiles throughout the establishment with water damage.”
“Old food debris” marred the inside of the microwave.”
The hood filters had “accumulated grease.” The outside of the rice maker was dirty. A flip top reach-in cooler was “heavily soiled with old food debris” inside. A reach-in cooler’s gaskets displayed “a mold-like substance.”
Obviously, nobody called Truly Nolen or Orkin before the re-inspection as six poop pieces dotted the lobby shelves with soda, eight were under the cookline, four were under containers in the back storage room.
This story was originally published September 19, 2025 at 6:38 AM.
