News

Jun 29, 2023

150

Live flies landed on open liquor bottles and near a buffet line, while roaches crawled into an electrical box at four South Florida restaurants temporarily ordered shut last week by state inspectors.

Live flies landed on open liquor bottles and near a buffet line, while roaches crawled into an electrical box at four South Florida restaurants temporarily ordered shut last week by state inspectors.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel typically highlights restaurant inspections conducted by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation in Broward and Palm Beach counties. We cull through inspections that happen weekly and spotlight places ordered shut for “high-priority violations,” such as improper food temperatures or dead cockroaches.

Any restaurant that fails a state inspection must stay closed until it passes a follow-up. If you spotted a possible violation and wish to file a complaint, contact Florida DBPR here. (But please don’t contact us: The Sun Sentinel doesn’t inspect restaurants.

1688 N. Federal Highway

Ordered shut: Twice, on July 27 and July 28, reopened July 28

Why: State inspectors discovered four violations (two of them high-priority), led by at least 153 live flies found swarming around and landing on “the wood slats partition between the bar and first booth in the dining room.“

Many were spotted landing “on the hanging glass rack at the bar in the dining room,” as well as “on the wall” and “on the liquor bottle shelves,” “on the clean shaker cups” and “on bottles of alcohol” in the same area. Others were found “on the shelf over the hand sink in the wait station in the hallway towards the restrooms” and “on the shelf containing to-go containers in the wait station.”

Inspectors also saw flies “on bags of dried corn in the dry storage room in the kitchen” and “on boxes of dry goods stored next to the dish machine in the kitchen.”

Finally, in the walk-in cooler, the state found raw pork “not properly separated from” raw sweet potatoes, and the operator moved the pork to a lower shelf.

The restaurant was ordered shut a second time on July 28 for 30 more live flies in the dining room, but was allowed to reopen after a third inspection later that day revealed just one intermediate issue. The restaurant was previously ordered shut twice in December 2021 for similar live fly woes.

100 E. Palmetto Park Road

Ordered shut: July 25, reopened the same day

Why: The state unearthed a single high-priority incident: At least 65 live flies swarming around and landing “on clean and dry food storage containers and utensils in the dishwashing area of the kitchen,” as well as “on the walls of the coffee station portion of the buffet line” and “on the walls of the main buffet line room.”

The hotel’s buffet bar was allowed to reopen later that day after a follow-up inspection yielded no new issues.

851 S. Federal Highway, Suite A-1

Ordered shut: July 26, reopened July 27

Why: Two violations (both of them high-priority), led by six live cockroaches crawling “in the electrical box at the back door in the kitchen,” as well as “on the wall next to the back door.” The operator managed to kill them during the inspector’s visit, then “cleaned and sanitized” the area.

The pizzeria was allowed to reopen the following day after the state’s second inspection found zero new issues.

2000 N. University Drive

Ordered shut: July 25, reopened July 26

Why: Inspectors unearthed 11 violations (one high-priority): At least 38 live flies found swarming “around trash bin” in the storage room and its “trash can and ice bin” at the bar, and “landing on open liquor bottles and Vitamix and clean glasses for service.”

Inspectors also spotted 14 dead cockroaches in the “main kitchen single-service storage room at exit door” and “inside cabinet underneath handwashing sink” at “beverage area at left side of bar.”

The state also red-flagged sanitation issues such as “floor soiled throughout main kitchen” and “worn, torn and/or soiled floors/carpeting” in the beverage area.

Finally, an inspector caught one employee’s personal “cell phone on prep table at walk-in cooler,” and saw one employee “with no hair restraint while engaging in food preparation.” The employee later donned a hair restraint in front of the inspector.

Despite a pair of intermediate issues found during the state’s inspection the next day, the chain eatery was cleared to reopen.