Roaches at a Jersey Mike’s and other Miami-Fort Lauderdale restaurant inspections fails

A week after flies dominated The Sick and Shut Down List, roaches roared back, dead and alive, dotting the South Florida restaurants on this week’s list. An inspector found roach excrement in one place, just as another inspector found rodent excrement in another place.

Enough introduction. Let’s get to the meat of this digital dish about dirt at local eateries.

BUT, FIRST, THE RULES: What follows comes from Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation restaurant inspections of restaurants in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties. 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 side dishes of humor, indignation and exasperation.

In alphabetical order...

Brooklyn Water Bagels, 2877 Sterling Rd., Hollywood: Complaint inspection, 10 total violations, two High Priority violations.

“Ceiling/ceiling tiles/vents soiled with accumulated dust in sandwich line at front counter.”

Over at the bagel prep area, “Wall soiled with accumulated food debris” and “food debris under mixer bowl.”

With that food debris were eight of the 89 flies the inspector counted. The bagel prep area overall had the largest swarm, 21, although the inspector did take care to note that “no foods were being prepared at the time of the inspection of the bagel station.

Another 20 flies were on a wall above the coffee station in the dining room next to the front counter. Sounds like customers had to order while doing repeated wax-on, wax-off swats.

Brooklyn Water was back in action after passing inspection the next day.

READ MORE: What happened to a Miami area moving company man who stole from and extorted customers

Burgers & Beers, 2031 D. Wilton Ave., Wilton Manors: Routine inspection, nine total violations, one High Priority violation.

The cookline cutting board and a white cutting board on a storage shelf earned Burgers & Beers a violation for each being a “food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime.”

Next to the front counter handwash sink, containers of potatoes and onions sat “exposed to splash.”

There were 21 rodent droppings in front counter cabinets with plastic forks, knives and spoons and sugar packets.

There was a hole in the wall in one of those cabinets. There was one next to the water heater, too. Either Pixie or Dixie marked territory there, too.

B&B passed re-inspection the next day.

Hook & Reel, 7841 Pines Blvd., Pembroke Pines: Complaint inspection, 11 total violations, one High Priority violation.

Again, with the dust. “Hood filters above fryers soiled with an accumulation of dust on the cook line.”

Now, to the roaches. 25 little (and not so little — this is Florida) corpses were sprinkled about the restaurant. Five were under a table in the ware washing area. Another five were under a cookline handwashing sink, which makes us question employees’ observational skills (didn’t see them while washing hands), work ethic (saw them, but too lazy to bend over and wipe them up) or their handwashing (didn’t go near the sink).

As for those still running, the inspector counted 16, some of which the manager killed during the inspection. Four were under a prep table shelf, two on a prep station wall. Two were in a ware washing area handwashing sink.

Five dead roaches and one live one in the dining room and 15 dead roaches behind a reach-in cooler and about 25 in kitchen and ware washing area light shields ruined the re-inspection.

The re-re-inspection went better for Hook & Reel.

Jersey Mike’s Subs, 4230 N. State Rd. 7, Coral Springs: Routine inspection, eight total violations, two High Priority violations.

“Food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime.” The inspector wasn’t specific about which foul substance was involved, but seeing as how the surfaces involved were “soda nozzles and the area around soda nozzles at the service drink station in dining room,” slime’s the favorite.

The water didn’t get hot enough at an employee handwash sink. The front line handwash sink must have been low flow — and we don’t like the sound of that — because it lacked enough pressure for proper hand washing.

Now, to the dead roaches, more than 10 of which were behind a back cookline reach-in cooler and another 10-plus were on a “control device” in a cookline cabinet with gloves. The gloves food staff dons before fussing with your food. Ew.

Four live roaches were in the “control device” in the cabinet with the gloves, one live roach smart enough to resist the lure of the local roach No-Tell Motel. Another 10 live roaches were behind the aforementioned reach-in cooler.

There were other roaches and they marked their area with an “accumulation of roach excrement inside the vent area of the two-door reach-in cooler and on the ground under the unit.”

Tough as Broward inspectors are, they will give a same-day re-inspection on Friday to give the place the chance to mitigate any weekend business losses. Realistically, the vermin won’t be gone but at least maybe they’ll stay hidden long enough for the place to pass.

Nyet.

Five dead roaches in a reach-in cooler’s drip pan. One live roach on a wall behind a dining room Pepsi cooker. Five live roaches elsewhere.

Yeah, the inspector had a problem with that. Not until Saturday’s second re-inspection did Jersey Mike’s start slinging sandwiches again.

JMN Deli inside Price Choice Foodmarket, 1851 NE Second Ave., Miami: Complaint inspection, 18 total violations, nine High Priority violations.

A cooler unit with a broken door probably doesn’t cool very well.

Eggs got hit with a Stop Sale for not being kept cool enough in a working reach-in cooler. This was the sandwich prep reach-in cooler, a different reach-in than the aforementioned one.

The bottom of that reach-in got criticized as “soiled” and the cutting board on the prep counter nearby was “stained.” Another cutting board was too lacerated to clean. Inexcusable in a store that probably sells cutting boards or, if it doesn’t, is two blocks from a Publix that does.

A handwash sink behind the front counter had no way to dry hands. Can’t even flap because you might get customers wet.

They left the back kitchen doors open. The inspector noted that “plastic curtains are installed but are not effectively protecting establishment against environmental cross contamination or the entrance of pests/flies.”

And there were over 10 live fruit flies on a shelf with bags of beans, lentils, sugar and flour, another eight or more fruit flies on a box of aluminum pans, more than 15 on bags of onions and boxes of mangoes in the Price Choice section of the kitchen and more than 15 fruit flies on an employee backpack (that’s like a weird scene from “To Catch a Smuggler”).

JMN Deli passed re-inspection the next day.

Toreros Mexican Restaurant II, 6588 N. State Road 7, Coconut Creek: Complaint inspection, 13 total violations, two High Priority violations.

“Objectionable odors in ware washing area of the establishment.”

You see any mention of malodorous airs on an inspection, you’ve already failed. Everything else is just making it official and running up the score.

Beans in a freezer, taquitos and peeled onions in a walk-in cooler weren’t covered, not protected from the co-worker who sprays when he speaks or the one who doesn’t cover her nose when she sneezes.

“Can opener blade soiled.”

Salsa verde in the cooler was dated July 29. It should’ve been tossed Aug. 5. This inspection took place Aug. 9.

Of the nine dead roaches, five were inside a filter door on drawers in a cookline unit. Two were inside a “control device” at the three-compartment sink.

The live roaches liked their funky terrain. One was in “the crumb catcher of the front booth in the dining room.” Another was inside a bowl at the ware washing area. Four others scurried about the restaurant.

Toreros was back in business on Blue Star after passing re-inspection the next day.