13 Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach restaurant inspection fails, including a Pollo
An argument over handwashing and a plunging rodent count as the “Haven’t Seen That Before” parts of this week’s Sick and Shut Down List of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach restaurants closed by state inspectors.
A reminder that this list is entirely reactive. We don’t choose who gets inspected. We don’t do the inspecting. You have a problem with that or want to complain about a restaurant, tell the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Some violations get corrected immediately, which is nice. What would’ve been better is if the violation hadn’t been there for the inspector to see in the first place.
Restaurants open again after they pass a re-inspection.
In alphabetical order...
Avocado’s Food, 11401 Pines Blvd., Pembroke Pines: Routine inspection, four total violations, one High Priority violation.
Avocado’s got put in time out on the one High Priority violation, four roaches crawling on a prep table, two promenading on clean food containers, four on a box with limes and onions and one on the floor.
This joint was back open after passing inspection the next day.
Bánh Cuốn Tân Định, 2845 N. Military Tr., Suite No. 2, Unincorporated Palm Beach County: Routine inspection, six total violations, three High Priority violations.
Live roaches are considered a High Priority violation while dead roaches are considered a Basic violation. But, sometimes, the dead roaches say more than the live roaches.
In South Florida, everybody’s in a continuous fight to keep the native vermin out of their homes and businesses. Still, the inspector seeing nine live roaches, two of which were found under the cash register — following the smell of money? — falls well short of ideal.
But, how little does a restaurant’s management care when there are 50 dead roaches on the dry storage floor, 20 dead roaches on the front line floor and 100 dead roaches on the kitchen floor for an inspector to see? Did a thief break in and steal all the brooms?
Or, was this management’s way of feeding the rodents that left 50 poop pellets on the dry storage floor?
When the inspector came back, no signs of rodents were spotted, but there were “10 dead roaches on the floor throughout the establishment” and “10 live roaches found in the dining room.”
The inspector did the restaurant’s owners the favor of a Friday, same day re-re-inspection. The restaurant passed and was back dishing bánh cuốn for the weekend crowd.
Basilic Vietnamese Grill, 218 E. Commercial Blvd., Lauderdale-By-The-Sea: Routine inspection, 10 total violations, five High Priority violations.
The inspector found the floor “soiled” with “an accumulation of debris” under the cooking equipment, under all the dry storage shelves, around the water heater and by the back kitchen door.
Somebody really needs to grab a mop before the roaches and rodents get their feet all dirty.
Two live roaches were crawling on a dry storage shelf with “packages of rice paper, peanuts and decorations.”
Smaller, more stationary but, perhaps, more bothersome on the same shelf were four rodent droppings. Another six were found in the front bar area.
After the inspector finished discerning roaches from rodent poop, the Stop Sale gun came out and cut cabbage (51 to 55 degrees), raw mussels (57 degrees), cooked rice (60 to 65), cooked white carrot (55), raw pork (46 to 48) and raw beef (46 to 48) all got hit and buried in the garbage for not being at or under 41 degrees.
Wet wiping cloths should be stored in a mix with sanitizer, but somebody decided to add detergent to the sanitizer. Way to go, Pasteur.
Basilic passed re-inspection the next day.
Bel-Air 509, 7366 Lake Worth Rd., Lake Worth Beach: Routine inspection, nine total violations, four High Priority violations.
We start here with a disagreement about hand washing.
“Cooked plantains grabbed with bare hands,” the inspector said. “Operator stated that he washed hands before handling plantains. Stop sale issue. Operator served (plantains) to a customer.”
The operator might have more credibility if the inspector didn’t also note elsewhere, “No soap provided at the handwash sinks by the ice tea machine, dishwashing area and kitchen.”
Also, the handwash sink next to the three-compartment sink was draining onto the floor. As the inspection didn’t note employees standing in water at the three-compartment sink, it seems that sink gets no use.
About 20 flies partied under the dishwasher. Under the dishwashing sink and dishwashing machine, 10 roaches found their final resting place. Three of the other 10 dead roaches were under a kitchen prep table.
As for the living, 12 were under a hot holding steamer, a fryer, burner and a reach-in cooler in the kitchen. Another four were under a burner and fryer in the backup kitchen. Four roaches stood in a to-go line. Maybe they were hustling for Door Dash.
By the time of the follow-up inspection, three roaches died in the walk-in cooler, three under the dishwasher and six under the cooking equipment. The party train kept a-goin’ for 10 flies at the dishwashing area. Six roaches ran, scattered about the restaurant.
As of Thursday, there is no online record of Bel-Air passing an inspection to get back open.
Kabuki Restaurant, 2465 S. State Rd. 7, at The Mall at Wellington Green, Wellington: Routine inspection, seven total violations, four High Priority violations.
Here, there be hardheaded folk.
The inspector saw them failing to wash avocados before use in sushi prep. The inspector counted 20 dead roaches by dry storage and near the back door. The inspector saw no hand drying method at a cookline handwash sink.
The inspector slapped a Stop Sale on cooked rice for still being at 53 degrees, 12 degrees too warm, after being cooked the previous night; on old sushi rice from the previous day and on a dented can of food. The inspector reminded the manager that paper towels lining a container with fish eggs doesn’t cut it in restaurants because the paper towels being used weren’t food grade material.
But, the inspector didn’t shut Kabuki down. And, Kabuki management knew or should’ve known the inspector would be back soon.
Upon return the next day, the inspector counted 12 dead roaches in dry storage and another 10 “in-between shelves near clean plates and single service items” as well as “eight live roaches underneath buckets of sauce and dry bags of food.” Somebody killed six roaches in front of the inspector.
Oh, there’s a dented can of baby corn waiting for a Stop Sale. Remember the paper towel problem? This time, a container of sliced cucumber was “wrapped in paper towels.”
“Employee washed hands without soap, then proceeded to handle cleans dishes and serve customers.” As Jules Winfield would say, that’s not washing hands, that’s just getting them wet.
After five inspections, Kubuki still didn’t reach “Met Inspection Standards.” And, they got dinged for putting cut veggies and fried salmon on a non-food grade paper towel.
La Salchipaperia D.C., 500 E. Oakland Park Blvd., Wilton Manors: Routine inspection, eight total violations, two High Priority violations.
What sits in the former old school Taco Bell building apparently has plumbing from when the building was a Taco Bell.
“Operator does not permit customers to use bathroom. Bathroom access is denied to customers as the toilets are in disrepair and not working.”
“The manager explained that they go across the street to use La Granja’s bathroom.”
When those are your first violations, just sign the inspection and close your doors. You’re done for the day. The rest of the inspection is just running up the score.
Running up the score with standing water (or very slow draining water) in the three-compartment sink.
“The cook washed gloved hands in the three-compartment sink, then went back to prepare foods without changing gloves then went back to preparing food without putting on gloves.”
That’s a violation on not changing single use gloves before prepping food; a violation on washing gloves instead of bare hands; and a violation on washing hands in the three-compartment sink instead of the handwash sink. (Not joking. Each sink has its function and inspectors view using one sink for another’s job the way your mother used to look at you when you used a spoon to fling Apple Jacks at your siblings).
We usually don’t note the storage violations, but raw chicken wings sharing a container with raw beef is bad enough to be worth mentioning.
They’re open, but there will be a follow-up inspection.
Latin American Restaurant, 1590 Coral Way, Miami: Routine inspection, 37 total violations, nine High Priority violations.
We told you earlier this week about tumbling mice and walls that weren’t walls.
READ MORE: A falling rodent helped a Miami restaurant fail inspection
The Oaks at Boca Raton POA, 9950 Bridgebrook Dr., Unincorporated Palm Beach County: Routine inspection, seven total violations, one High Priority violation.
This suburban Boca Raton gated community calls itself “the obvious choice for luxury living” and, apparently, the roaches see the restaurant as their Del Boca Vista.
There were over 25 dead roaches at an electrical box and “inside of folded paper tucked into electrical wire...” Five dead bodies were spotted “inside of an in-use four-drawer, under grill unit on the cookline.” Five died under cookline flip top cookers. One roach lay “on the ground next to soda bibs.”
But, before they died, they probably lived their best life, similar to the 10 live roaches under cookline hood equipment and the 50-plus live roaches on the bottom side of the drawers under the grill unit. Inside one of that unit’s wheels were another five roaches. Three more were inside the wheel of a flip top cooler. Five more were on a cookline electrical outlet.
The soda guns at the bar were “soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime.”
The Oaks’ website’s dining link takes you to restaurant management company Restaurant Partners, Inc. After that first inspection, by gosh, you know RPI got it together for Friday’s re-inspection.
Morgan Freeman voice: it did not.
The inspector saw “10 live roaches in the kitchen area of the establishment.”
The inspector gave The Oaks a second chance on Friday only to see three dead roaches and five live roaches in the kitchen.”
It took a fourth inspection, the third on that Friday, for The Oaks to get back to the business of serving Lobster Grilled Cheese on toasted challah bread ($19.50).
Picanha Brazil Steakhouse, 22797 State Rd. 7, Unincorporated Palm Beach: Routine inspection, six total violations, three High Priority violations.
At the main prep table, the inspector saw an employee preparing ready-to-eat food, go outside the restaurant, put the food in a car, then come back to the kitchen and start more food prep without washing hands or changing gloves.
In the main dry storage room, the ceiling tiles or vents were “soiled with accumulated food debris, grease, dust, or mold-like substance.”
Picanha passed re-inspection the next day.
Pollo Tropical, 21852 S. State Rd. 7, Unincorporated Palm Beach County: Routine inspection, three total violations, one High Priority violation.
Flies alone buried this Pollo.
In dry storage, 15 were flying around cases of paper towels, toilet paper and and landing on bread buns (in original packaging) on bread racks. Four landed on an open bag of rice and clean plastic aprons. Two flew around the chicken tenderizer machine and another duo hung out at the meat tenderizer machine. There were 13 others around the Tropichop factory..
Somehow, the Pollo Posse got rid of all the flies and passed a same-day re-inspection.
Samosa — The Indian Cafe, 13101 W. Sunrise Blvd., Sunrise: Routine inspection, nine total violations, three High Priority violations.
The cookline shelves had 20 roaches. The cookline handwash sink didn’t have soap, paper towels or a blower. So, you were pretty much confined to running water.
Samosa’s back open, but still with a “Follow-Up Inspection Required” as its last inspection.
Singing Bamboo West, 2845 Military Tr., Unincorporated Palm Beach County: Routine inspection, eight total violations, three High Priority violations.
Can’t believe it took this long to get to “At the kitchen ice machine; accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine/bin.”
The floor under the cooking equipment was “heavily soiled with an accumulation of debris.”
That’s not a good mix with “water draining from underneath cooktop onto floor.”
There were seven dead roaches, four under a kitchen prep table, and six live roaches. The walking roaches were “in a kitchen prep area, crawling on the floor and on a wall behind the prep table.”
Know where the rodents consider their territory? Under the kitchen dry storage shelves and under the reach-in cooler next to the ice machine. They left 50 rodent droppings in each place.
In the bar area, “multiple prescription and over the counter medications were stored on a shelf over bar.” And, that’s all the inspector said about that.
The Singing Bamboo relocated the rodents and roaches long enough to pass re-inspection the next day.
Yip, 601 NW 100th Pl., in the Palm Johnson Shopping Center, Pembroke Pines: Routine inspection, 17 total violations, four High Priority violations.
Yip used to be Wong’s. It’s in the same strip mall spot Wong’s was and is operating under the same state license number.
Different roaches, dead and alive, though.
About the dead, are you bothered more by the 17 behind two kitchen chest freezers, six behind the dumpling machine or two behind the flour mixer?
The 10 living bugs were, among other places, under the dumpling machine (one), under a container of cooking oil on a shelf (two) and strolling next to a flour bowl under a cookline prep table (one).
“Sheet pans soiled with food debris inside the walk-in cooler.”
The employee handwash sink water reached no higher than 84 degrees. It’s supposed to reach at least 100 degrees.
Yip née Wong passed its comeback inspection the next day.
