Restroom fly swarm. Rodent poop. Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Key West restaurant yuck
Welcome back, Florida Keys! Two Keys restaurants join two Miami joints and a Fort Lauderdale pizza place on the latest Sick and Shut Down List.
So, let’s get to it.
HERE ARE THE RULES: What follows comes from Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation restaurant inspections. These are the restaurants that fail inspection. A restaurant that fails inspection remains closed until passing a re-inspection.
We don’t do the inspections. We don’t control who gets inspected. We don’t control how strictly the inspector inspects. If restaurants in your part of South Florida are not included, we have nothing to do with that. If you see a problem and want a place inspected, contact the DBPR.
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 immediately after the inspector points them out. But in those situations, ask yourself, why did 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 a steaming hot pile of humor (and, indignation and exasperation).
In alphabetical order...
Ameeras Daycare Catering, 19925 NW Second Ave., Miami Gardens: Routine inspection, 24 total violations, two High Priority violations.
Water heater problems allowed the water to get to only 95 degrees after two minutes. It needs to be 100 for proper clean living.
Still, that five degrees had nothing to do with these other problems: “the reach-in cooler interior has an accumulation of soil residues,” “soiled shelves” and “walls soiled with accumulated grease, food debris, and/or dust.”
None of the handwashing sinks or the sink in the unisex restroom had a way to dry hands after they were (hopefully) washed.
There was a paper towel dispenser near the dishwasher. We know this because the inspector noted there was a dead fly on top of it. Apparently, nobody was bothered by that or the 15 dead flies on the floor of the electrical room.
“Outer openings not protected during operation and vermin and/or environmental cross contamination present.”
What did that mean? That meant over 20 live flies in the mop sink area; another 20 in the backroom area; 20 landing on a mop bucket; about 10 “resting on an insulated bag on top of an unused flat-top grill;” and, another 10 on a drink cup in a cookline area near a front service window.
That was one of the two High Priority violations. The other? “Metal stem-type thermometer soiled.”
Ameeras passed re-inspection the next day.
READ MORE: Pool chlorine among inspection problems at Joe’s Stone Crab seafood processor
Lovelys In The city, 1622 NW 62nd St., Miami: Routine inspection, seven total violations, three High Priority violations.
Just as at Ameeras, workers couldn’t dry their hands at the handwashing sink unless they used their shirts or pants. Or, wanted to flap.
Dented cans of ravioli and black-eyed peas got hit with Stop Sales.
Eight dead roaches dotted Lovelys, two of them by the front door entrance. A fly walked on a countertop and another two played on the rotating service windows.
Maybe they were waiting for Pixie and Dixie to come back for a smoke. Because the inspector counted three rodent droppings on the floor under the rotating service window and six pieces of rodent regularity at the rotating service pickup window.
That wasn’t the main dumping ground for the furry four-legged vermin. The inspector saw over 15 rodent droppings by a cart with canned goods, another 10 by the restroom used by customers, 10 inside a double door cabinet and a whopping 40-plus at the front counter.
But, just like that, Lovelys In The City passed re-inspection the next day.
READ MORE: Inspectors found moldy fruit, mouse dung, other problems in a Miami Walmart grocery
Maryanjali Organic Cafe, 1114 White St., Key West: Routine inspection, 12 total violations, four High Priority violations.
One handwashing sink was “blocked by multiple dishes and utensils” and another was “blocked by plastic Ziploc bags and wire racks.”
Not sure if that’s the same handwash sink that didn’t have soap.
The floor under the three-compartment sink was “soiled with black debris.”
About 10 flies swarmed the employee restroom and 20 covered the floor drain at the front counter three-compartment sink.
Speaking of swarming and covering, 13 “landed on a half cut avocado and the prep table” in the back kitchen.
That earned a Stop Sale for the avocado.
Myanjali passed a re-inspection the next day.
Pizza Rotti, 3142 NE Ninth St., Fort Lauderdale: Routine inspection, 13 total violations, four High Priority violations.
The frontline cooler didn’t work, which was why pizzas sitting in it for two hours were slightly warmer than room temperature which was only slightly cooler than outside. They got tossed.
There was a “bag of flour uncovered in the rear prep room” and three flies in the rear food storage room.
No way to dry your hands in the restroom. But the bigger problem was where the water was and where it wasn’t.
“Broken/ missing pipe under one compartment of three compartment sink...Establishment lacks means to warewash equipment due to plumbing issues.”
“Wasterwater on the ground by the rear of establishment by the dumpster. Unable to gain access to the dumpster without tracking onto wastewater.”
There’s no notation that a Rotti re-inspection has been passed.
Wingmasters, 934 Truman St., Key West: Routine inspection, 12 total violations, four High Priority violations.
A ceiling in disrepair over the prep area and kitchen three-compartment sink and soiled reach-in cooler shelves paled as a problem next to the roach situation.
Seven corpses under a walk-in cooler. One in the bottom of a reach-in cooler. Two next to a reach-in cooler’s glass door.
Ten live roaches hung out inside a prep table bin “that has tools and a sealed bag of sugar.” Four roaches walked up the wall next to the mop sink. One roach walked under the prep table and another one pranced on the prep table.
Three dead roaches and five live roaches caused Wingmasters to fail the May 3 re-inspection.
The inspector returned for a same-day second re-inspection. Wingmasters passed, allowing them to reopen Thursday, May 4, in time for the weekend crowd.
