Papa John’s, Don Pan and a live rodent among worst inspections in South Florida
The chronicling of this week’s South Florida restaurants failing inspection includes chains, rodents, roaches and a truck that can’t move.
The 11 places on this week’s Sick and Shut Down List all are in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Restaurants are closed when they fail inspection by the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation and reopen when they pass re-inspection.
In alphabetical order:
Cayard’s Bakery, 12801 W. Dixie Hwy., North Miami
Routine inspection, 15 total violations, three High Priority violations
Not the kind of “hole-in-the-wall” restaurant you want to be. “Hole in the wall in the kitchen area.”
And with a hole, “a live rodent spotted behind an oven in the kitchen.” And 10-plus rodent droppings were found under the kitchen flour mixer.
A dozen dead roaches dotted the kitchen. Four dead roaches were under the mop sink.
As for the living, eight live roaches hung out between a kitchen wall and reach-in cooler. Another five roaches were seen “on the shelves where fresh products are stored” in the kitchen.
The flour mixer qualified as a “food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime.”
No hot blower, paper towels or even a paper towel dispenser in the restroom.
The microwave had an accumulation of food debris.
During the first re-inspection, on Sept. 18, the rodents left eight markers on a bakery area shelf and six roaches ran under shelves in dry storage.
Wednesday’s re-re-inspection noted three live roaches were in a reach-in cooler gasket and another live roach was under a kitchen shelf.
Thursday’s re-re-re-inspection got Cayard back open after a nine-day shutdown.
Don Pan, Pembroke Lakes Mall, 11045 Pines Blvd., Pembroke Pines
Routine inspection, 12 total violations, four High Priority violations
Four flies landed on a napkin dispenser and single-package condiments at the self-serve station. The flies at the front prep area numbered about 20, “landing on clean food containers, a clean counter and sandwich bread.”
As the flies landed on the bread, so did the Stop Sales.
The inspector saw someone “washing and rinsing utensils and food containers without sanitizing them.”
Floor tiles were missing at the dishwashing and prep stations.
Also at the prep stations, “several wet wiping cloths at the front line food preparation station weren’t stored in their sanitizer solution” as they’re supposed to be when not in use.
El Toro Loco Churrascaria, food truck, 11381 SW 40th St., West Miami-Dade
Routine inspection, eight total violations, three High Priority violations.
The food truck or “mobile food dispensing vehicle” is supposed to be, well, mobile. Not at this offshoot of a local chain.
“Mobile food dispensing vehicle is not self-propelled or otherwise movable from place to place,” the inspection said. “Observed MFDV resting on wood, no longer completely on ground.”
Also, you’re supposed to do all the fixing and cooking in the food truck. “Non self-sufficient mobile food dispensing vehicle operating from an unapproved commissary. The address provided for the commissary is a parking lot.
About 20 flies entered and exited the stationary food truck, “landing on clean equipment, cutting boards, and food prep tables.”
A cookline employee “exited MFDV to discard cardboard boxes and re entered MFDV and began food preparation without washing his hands.”
European Cafe & Farmer’s Market, 2121 W. Oakland Park Blvd., Oakland Park
Complaint inspection, 13 total violations, five High Priority violations.
A dead fly on the floor under a dining room windowsill and two dead flies on the floor next to a water heater weren’t the worst things found on the floor.
A piece of rodent poop was in the back of the kitchen. Two pieces were on the floor next to the hot box. Another three were by the back door. But the main rodent restroom seemed to be under a cooler on the cookline, where more than 10 droppings were left.
Of the 11 dead roaches, eight were under the microwave table in the back kitchen. Two were under a counter in near the front counter.
The yellow cutting board in the back kitchen had “cut marks and is no longer cleanable.”
Yams got hit with a Stop Sale for temperature abuse, not being kept warm enough in hot holding.
A Fuego Lento, 7780 NW 25th St., Doral
Routine inspection, 16 total violations, four High Priority violations.
Put on your white boots and let’s wade through this inspection with quite a bit of standing water.
“Observed floor with standing water at the bar area.”
That’s because “the kitchen area floor drain overflowed with grey water in the kitchen, bar, dishwasher, ice machine and mop areas.” Employees were “walking through the grey water to get from the prep area to the dishwasher area” and were “standing in the grey water” in the kitchen area.
And the extra agua problems didn’t just come from below. The inspector observed three doors ceiling tiles in the bathroom soiled, as well as water leaking through the ceiling by the kitchen area.
Ceiling/ceiling tiles/vents were soiled with accumulated food debris, grease, dust or mold-like substance. The ceiling tiles were soiled throughout the lobby.
Meanwhile, the main dishwasher and the bar area dishwasher’s combined sanitizer content? Zero.
Then there were “two flies in the prep area.”
“Glass reach-in walls soiled throughout the establishment.”
The “cutting board has cut marks and is no longer cleanable.”
White cheese sitting on the prep table for more than four hours measured at near room temperature, 70 degrees. That’s far from 41 degrees or below for safe keeping of cheese, and a Stop Sale was issued.
La Belle Monique Restaurant and Bakery, 937 State Rd. 7, Plantation
Routine inspection, 21 total violations, eight High Priority violations.
You can’t talk on your cellphone, then get back to food prep without washing your hands.
One of the handwash sinks was “being used to hold a container of butter” and there was water dripping from the sink.
The cookline oven’s door latch had four live roaches crawling around it.
Four flies in the cookline prep area were landing on boxes of gloves and a bag of sliced bread. Another four were landing on cookline equipment. Nine flies were elsewhere, in dry storage and the dishwashing area.
“Several boxes of food” sat directly on the walk-in freezer floor.
For other food safety failures, we introduce La Belle Monique’s walk-in cooler. Instead of being at or below 41 degrees, after being in the walk-in since the previous day, all of these foods measured 46 to 51 degrees: chicken wings; cooked macaroni and cheese; cooked rice and beans; cooked rice; cooked legumes; cooked spinach; cooked turkey; cooked oxtail; cooked goat; raw fish; cooked chicken; cooked curry beef; cooked griot; cooked plantains; and shredded cheese.
A monsoon of Stop Sales sent all of the above into the garbage.
A roach on the cookline, one in dry storage and six flies in the kitchen scuttled the callback inspection.
La Belle Monique passed the next callback inspection.
Las Americas Bakery of Dania Beach, 419 E. Sheridan St., Dania Beach
Sugar and applesauce sat uncovered on the dry storage rack. Four roaches died behind that dry storage rack, maybe on the way to the open feast. Roaches also died on the kitchen floor next to a prep table, under a cookline steam table, under the three-compartment sink and under a handwash sink.
Living roaches were seen behind a trash can and behind a trash can, one in each place.
An employee picked butter up from the floor with gloves (good), threw it in the trash (good), and “continued cooking without washing hands and changing gloves.” (not good)
There was standing water at the walk-in cooler entrance.
The nearby handwash sink was blocked with a bucket. The prep area handwash sink didn’t have paper towels or any way to dry hands
Matsuri Japanese Restaurant, 5767 SW 40th St., West Miami-Dade
Routine inspection, 34 total violations, 12 High Priority violations.
For such a popular restaurant, Matsuri tolerates a lot of flies, unwashed walls and substandard handwashing, as detailed in a Miami Herald story this week on last week’s inspection.
READ MORE: Roach stuck on wall, swarming flies, stink in a restaurant near Coral Gables
Mayu, 177 SW Seventh St., Miami
Complaint inspection, 22 total violations, five High Priority violations.
We went pretty deep into this week’s list before getting the common cold of violations, ice machine mold: “Observed an ice machine interior with mold-like substance...” at the ice maker next to the back door.
One dead roach. Four live roaches, one trying to scale the kitchen prep table. Three flies on the wall at the sushi station prep area.
The cookline ceiling tiles were as “soiled with accumulated food debris, grease, dust, or mold-like substance.”
Four bags of vacuum-packaged tuna were defrosting in the sushi area reach-in cooler, still in the reduced oxygen packaging. That’s a big no-no. You’re supposed to take it out of packaging, then thaw. One, two, three, four Stop Sales.
The cold prep area’s cutting board was “grooved.”
There was an ice bucket on the floor in the bar area, and no paper towels or blower at the handwash sink.
Papa John’s, 2877 Biscayne Blvd., Miami
Routine inspection, eight total violations, five High Priority violations
Let’s get this out of the way first: Another cutting board that’s no longer cleanable.
The five flies at the three-compartment sink and the 10 occupying the air around a dry storage area didn’t cause the problems that the five flies at the vegetable station did. Those bad little boys landed on cut tomatoes, green peppers, sliced mushrooms and cut onions, and all hit with Stop Sales.
Stop Sale lightning took out chicken wings and cooked boneless chicken wings measuring 55 and 52 degrees in a reach-in cooler apparently useless for keeping food at or under 41 degrees.
Also, a tomato can was dented badly enough for a Stop Sale.
Two sanitizer buckets for wiping cloths were like water because they had no sanitizer.
Pikio Taco in Generator Miami, 3120 Collins Ave., Miami Beach
Routine inspection, 21 total violations, four High Priority violations.
Pikio’s, located inside a Miami Beach hostel, had cleanliness issues.
Well, an ice bucket was cleaned and sanitized, but then “stored on the floor by the three-compartment sink.”
An “accumulation of dust on the ceiling vent inside a room in the kitchen area.”
An “accumulation of mold-like substance on the reach-in freezer gaskets.”
There was a “mold-like substance and debris inside the reach-in freezer.”
An “employee touched the trash container and started working with utensils in the kitchen without washing his hands.”
The handwash sink in the front of the cookline didn’t have soap, paper towels or a blower.
And 12 flies were over cleaned food containers at the warewashing area, and five roaches climbed the walls around the kitchen dishwasher.
