Live flies in peppers, Subway’s unsafe food and other South Florida restaurant yuck
One place on this week’s Sick and Shut Down List had 181 pieces of rodent dung and rodent’s making themselves at home with all but Wi-Fi and Netflix. And we had flies in the food for the second straight week.
So, let’s get to it.
READING IS FUNDAMENTAL AND SO IS THIS: What follows comes from Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation restaurant inspections in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties. A restaurant that fails state inspection remains closed until passing re-inspection.
If you see a problem and want a place inspected, contact the DBPR. Do not call us. Do not email us. We don’t control who gets inspected nor how strictly the inspector inspects. Let us say that again — we do not control who gets inspected.
We don’t include all violations, just the most moving, whether internally or literally moving (because it’s alive or once was alive). Some violations get corrected after the inspector points them out. But, you have to ask, why do the violations exist in the first place? And how long would they have remained if not for the inspection?
We report without passion or prejudice but with free bread baskets of humor.
In alphabetical order:
Brus Room Sports Grill, 123 State Road A1A, Deerfield Beach: Routine inspection, three total violations, one High Priority violation.
Just the flies. Of the 80 flies, 25 were at a dish area scrape station, 25 at a dirty bus tub under a hand wash sink, 15 on the wall and ceiling at the back door next to the prep area.
Brus passed inspection the next day.
Cecibon, 1395 W. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale: Routine inspection, 20 total violations, five High Priority violations.
Only three live roaches, although one was under a kitchen prep table. But there were seven dead roaches under the cash register counter and 10 inside an ice machine that was turned off for cleaning and three dead inside bathroom vents (can’t say this inspector wasn’t thorough).
The debris on shelves and behind the microwave on the kitchen prep table got Cecibon dinged. Maybe after taking a rag (sanitized, mind you) to that, they can deal with “walls and door in kitchen with dirt and food debris.”
Cecibon passed inspection the next day.
D — Caribbean Spotlight, 1026 S. Military Tr., West Palm Beach: Routine inspection, four total violations, one High Priority violation.
We’ll get to the 10 live roaches in a moment, but what’s up with Heckle and Jeckle in the kitchen?
“Two caged birds on the premises. Per manager only has them in kitchen until someone picked them up to take to vet.”
Nice favor. Probably cost them the rest of the day’s business because you can survive 10 live roaches. Or, maybe not, considering two were on prep tables, three were on top of a reach-in cooler, and one on the dining room floor..
D passed re-inspection the next day.
Kosher Cuisine, 4238 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood: Routine inspection, nine total violations, three High Priority violations.
It’s hard to get worse than the inspector’s 181 pieces of rodent droppings, including “over 100 rodent droppings in a rear storage area of the establishment in a corner under an unused dish machine. The storage room is for storage of utensils, flatware, dish ware, and other catering supplies.”
Another 20 were in a storage room under a storage cart holding liquor, and you really don’t want the little furry ones getting into the drink and getting courage to run out where the people are.
“Observed over 20 rodent droppings on the floor in a storage room under a storage cart holding liquor and under a shelf holding cleaning supplies.”
What’s worse? Finding the rodents have nested, made a home in your restaurant.
“Rodent burrow. Observed a hole in the wall at floor level under the hand wash sink near the cooking line with chewing or gnawing marks around the perimeter.”
After that the “accumulation of black mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine/bin” that wasn’t touching the ice and the lack of hot water at the employee handwash sink seem kind of benign as violations, don’t they?
Not really, but we’re trying to give a break here.
Things were kosher at the next day’s inspection even though you can get rid of human tenants more easily than furry squatters.
Plastic in the turkey? More than 14,000 pounds of Butterball and Kroger brands recalled
La Union Restaurant of Fla, 1000 S. State Rd. 7, Margate: Routine inspection, 11 total violations, three High Priority violations.
Half the eight dead roaches were inside a lighting shield. About 22 flies filled the air, four of which were “flying around and inside the dish machine,” so it’s a little disconcerting when the dishwasher is an insect water park.
Speaking of water, standing water on the floor at the deep freezer in the main kitchen.
At least that freezer worked. A walk-in cooler that’s supposed to keep food at 41 degrees or below couldn’t get it under 50. So Stop Sales rained on raw chicken breast, beef flank, shredded cheese, refried beans, beef and potatoes and whole shell eggs.
“Operator stated items were delivered yesterday and cooler is not working.”
So, they knew the cooler wasn’t cooling, but they still put the food that needed to be kept cool in the cooler that wasn’t cooling?
Not cool.
La Union passed re-inspection on Oct. 8.
Piman B&K Bar Restaurants, 6025 Kimberly Blvd., Pompano Beach: Routine inspection, eight total violations, three High Priority violations.
The roach crawling on the reach-in cooler door doesn’t look good, but isn’t the fatal blow that 12 pieces of rodent regularity behind the reach-in cooler were.
“Six flying insects flying around and landing on cooked turkey and cooked beans and rice” and “three flying insects flying and landing on cooked plantains, raw onions and cutting board” but no Stop Sales?
Much like the above, not entirely sure what’s going on in the next violation, but there’s no interpretation in which it sounds all right.
“Worn, torn and/or soiled floors/carpeting. Main kitchen reach-in cooler at exit door, observed floor heavy soiled with grease-like substance. Main kitchen, observed food and debris over entire floor.”
Piman passed re-inspection the next day.
Subway, 2312 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood: Routine inspection, eight total violations, three High Priority violations.
“Cold holding equipment not maintained in good repair. Do not store time/temperature control for safety food in this unit until the unit is repaired.”
And that’s why Stop Sales cascaded down upon teriyaki chicken; steak; meatballs; provolone cheese; shredded jack cheddar cheese; cheese flatbread; mozzarella cheese; turkey; ham; Swiss cheese; American cheese; tomatoes; and shredded mozzarella cheese. All of it, basura.
Of the 66 flies counted, five were “landing inside of cups on the storage shelf above the three-compartment sink. Operator instructed to destroy cups” and “over 10 small flies on the walls and storage cabinet around the soda fountain in the front area of the restaurant.
“Employees began killing the flies and cleaning and sanitizing the areas.”
Subway passed re-inspection the next day.
Sweet’s Sensational Cuisine, 25 SW Fifth Ave., Delray Beach: Routine inspection, seven total violations, three High Priority violations.
This was all about the roaches, 15 live and eight dead. Four of the living were “behind prep table directly next to triple sink and across from stove. Observed going behind grease trap. Table has bottom shelf containing unwashed produce.”
The dead ones kind of hid. One under a vanity in the men’s room, one under a cash register on a shelf in a closet, three under the front counter.
Sweet’s was sour until passing re-inspection the next day
Tacos El Papi and Blanka’s Bakery, 3591 N. Andrews Ave., Oakland Park: Complaint inspection, 18 total violations, five High Priority violations.
Tacos El Papi set a Sick and Shut Down List record by failing an inspection, a re-inspection, a re-re-inpsection, a re-re-re-inspection, a re-re-re-re-RESPECT, um, no, re(4)-inspection...five inspections. They started stinking it up on Oct. 4 and didn’t pass inspection until Tuesday.
And this was not the food truck but the brick and mortar restaurant, where the inspector saw “six flying insects crawling in a container of dried chili peppers.”
“Stored food not covered. Cucumbers and cooked pork in walk in cooler.” Cooked pork not covered? Unless any form of cooked pork is being eaten — bacon, sausage, chops, pulled — it better be covered.
The 31 live roaches were fairly spread out, other than the eight on the wall between a prep area and the kitchen. One was on a drink dispenser machine. One crawled into a box of paper towels on the kitchen floor.
No soap or way to dry your hands at the kitchen handwash sink, but that doesn’t matter. It doesn’t get used for handwashing, but for storing buckets.
The inspector gave El Papi every chance to get back open for the weekend, including two inspections on Friday. But the roaches kept returning with the incessant relentlessness of Mike Myers and “Twilight Zone” reboots.
Oh, and they kept getting dinged for no soap at the handwash sink, which is completely unnecessary. There are shortages, but we’ve got soap. Neutrogena has been on sale at Walgreens, pump action even.
El Papi finally passed re-inspection on Tuesday. Slow clap.
Wally Jean’s Paradise Restaurant, 2467 N. State Rd. 7, Lauderhill: Routine inspection, 11 total violations, 3 High Priority violations.
Wally Jean’s had a roach problem when they wound up on the Sick and Shut Down List last year. We’re happy to see they cleared out the crawling bugs.
But as the for flying ones, 15 flying insects landing on whole cabbage. Flying insects are inside container and coming out container. One live flying insect flying over and landing inside cooked beans and rice.”
The manager said the rice would be thrown out, which is good of him. Maybe he should find somebody to pick the pot of cooked beans up off the floor.
“Food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime” referring to several things, including a container of marinated chicken in the walk-in cooler and “clean pot lids soiled.”
“Stored food not covered” on a dry storage back “a bowl of open raw rice with no covering being stored under chemical spray bottles.”
Wally Jean’s passed re-inspection the next day.
