Roaches in ice. Snake at Little Caesar’s. South Florida restaurants failing inspection

Welcome to the Recidivist Edition of the Sick and Shut Down List, a list that includes a few South Florida restaurants that don’t bother finding new ways to fail inspection, when they can just repeat the same old mistakes.

So, let’s call the filthy roll.

HOW THE LIST IS DONE: 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 inspection remains closed until passing an inspection.

If you see a problem and want a place inspected, contact the DBPR. We don’t do the inspections, control who gets inspected nor how strictly the inspector inspects.

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 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 chip baskets of humor.

In alphabetical order...

Estação do Pão Bakery and Restaurant, 23269 State Rd. 7, Boca Raton: Routine inspection, 17 total violations, 11 High Priority violations.

Same number of total violations, but six more High Priority violations compared to July’s failed inspection. Fewer flies, though.

Of the four seen this time, one was landing at the sugar cane machine.

The inspector counted eight dead roaches, two of which were on the bakery floor. As for the six live roaches, the manager killed the one on the kitchen freezer and the one under the walk-in cooler door, but not the one on the bakery area stove.

Stop Sales cascaded for temperature abuse on the two 5-gallon containers of dulce de leches left out overnight at room temperature; and on cooked sausage, cooked beef, cooked potatoes and chicken salad, all of which supposedly got put in the apparently-malfunctioning cooler overnight.

This place failed a re-inspection, then passed a same-day re-re-inspection.

Excell Restaurant, 1041 S. Congress Ave., Delray Beach: Routine inspection, six total violations, two High Priority violations.

Excell excels at inspections about as well as it spells “excel.”

Appearance No. 3 on the Sick and Shut Down List since Summer 2021 almost homaged Appearance Nos. 1 and 2, when the staff trapped the rodents, but didn’t clean their traps before the inspector arrived.

“Observed dead small flying insects in uv light control device in prep room located behind kitchen.”

In addition to three live roaches sashaying into the wall around the water heater, the inspector saw “three live roaches inside of control devices located around water heater in the prep room behind kitchen.”

That same control device contained “10-plus (unable to count) dead roaches)...”

This joint passed re-inspection the next day.

Little Caesar’s, 1449 S. Congress Ave., Delray Beach: Complaint inspection, 12 total violations, four High Priority violations.

There were 15 flies at the floor drain under the three-compartment sink. Pre-made pizzas at the cookline were held at room temperature.

Maybe those pizzas being out and available instead of in something like a refrigerator is why there were 317 pieces of rodent poop around this joint.

That’s right, 317, or, more accurately 317-plus.

Some of the places rodent dung was sprinkled like sausage were “25-plus...on the ground under racks holding flour, pizza sauce, and pizza boxes;” “100-plus rodent droppings inside the storage room holding boxes, unused pizza pans, and unused equipment;” and “100-plus inside of the office on boxes, the desk and ground.”

And maybe that’s why there was a snake in the equipment storage room. “Accumulation of dead or trapped animal (snake) in control devices.”

Roaches, roaches caused “Pizza, Pizza,” to double up on its inspection fails before passing the third inspection.

Rancho Nando Steakhouse, 5200 N. University Dr., Lauderhill: Routine inspection, 21 total violations, four High Priority violations.

“...shelves of reach-in coolers and gaskets with mold like substance.”

Sometimes, inspectors lose their abacus or just get too disgusted to finish counting roaches, flies or rodent dung. This one estimated “75 or more dead roaches throughout kitchen area , prep area, dish machine area, beside the ice machine, mixer, dry storage area, under a shelf, cookline” before ending with “too many to count.”

The light shields above the dry storage area were the morgue for 31 dead flies and roaches.

The coldest Stop Sale ever dropped on a whole lot of ice after the inspector saw, in addition to seeing the usual “accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine/bin,” also “observed three dead roaches in the ice bin machine with ice being served to guests in the kitchen area.”

That ice clearly shouldn’t be served to people. Maybe it could’ve helped the coolers do the job at which they failed, causing enough food to feed a Mississippi family reunion to get tossed for being a possible bacteria gardens. Out went shredded chicken, raw chicken, hot sauce, pre-cooked ribs, meat seasoning, seafood cream mix, raw pork, raw steak and pork sausage.

Back to the roaches, some of the boldest we’ve seen. The inspector counted six, one of which was on a can opener blade; another on a prep table cutting board; one on a door next to a prep shelf; one on a flour container that had flour inside; and two inside to-go cups.

The next two inspections said “Follow up inspection required” but, as of Thursday, no inspection has given the true all clear of “Met inspection standards.”

Taqueria Huetamo, 1499 S. Congress Ave., Delray Beach: Routine inspection, seven total violations, three High Priority violations.

“Objectionable odors in the kitchen area of the establishment.” That’s a failed inspection, right there. One shot to the inspector’s nose, but it’s the restaurant that suffers the first round KO.

The inspector counted 15 live roaches and noticed non-food grade bags were used in direct contact with food.

The taco place was back open after a same-day re-inspection.

Two Drunken Goats, 2509 N. Ocean Dr., Singer Island: Routine inspection, 11 total violations, four High Priority violations.

Want a daiquiri? How about a rum runner? “Frozen beverage dispensers at bar heavily soiled.”

“In-use knife/knives stored in cracks between pieces of equipment.” Our pet peeve. No such thing as a clean crack...anywhere.

A fly landed on the handle of one of those knives, but a bigger problem was five flies on the cookline landing on plates and to-go containers. Six flies zipped about, not landing on food contact surfaces.

As for the roaches, there were five dead ones and five live ones under cookline flip top coolers. The inspector saw 13 live ones elsewhere.

Inspection No. 2, Sept. 30: 10 flies under a prep area can rack and live roaches at he bar, on and under the cookline and dead roaches “on cookline shelving, under cookline equipment, floating in steam table water and on floor throughout.” Floating in steam table water?

Inspection No. 3, Oct. 1: “Observed approximately 20-plus live roaches on the cookline...two live roaches at bar area.”

(This is kind of like watching the Coyote with the catapult in the Road Runner cartoon, huh?)

Inspection No. 4, Monday: Three dead roaches. One live roach “coming out of a floor drain at the bar.” Another five were under a steam table and five were under a four-drawer unit. One live roach did a prep table promenade.

Inspection No. 5, Tuesday: Passed.

That’s all, folks!