2 Indian River County restaurants get perfect scores; 9 fail inspection

Staff reports
·9 min read

You can use the database to search by county or by restaurant name.

Florida's restaurant owners are not required to post restaurant inspection results where guests can see them. So every week, we provide that information for you.

For a complete list of local restaurant inspections, including violations not requiring warnings or administrative action, visit our Indian River County restaurant inspections site.

Here's the breakdown for recent health inspections in Indian River County, Florida, for the week of Oct. 16-22, 2023. Please note that some more recent, follow-up inspections may not be included here.

St. Lucie County: 3 restaurants get perfect scores; 11 fail inspection

Martin County: One restaurant gets perfect score; 2 closed; 25 fail inspection

All things food: New restaurants, reviews, inspections & best bets

Disclaimer: The Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation describes an inspection report as a 'snapshot' of conditions present at the time of the inspection. On any given day, an establishment may have fewer or more violations than noted in their most recent inspection. An inspection conducted on any given day may not be representative of the overall, long-term conditions at the establishment.

For full restaurant inspection details, visit our Indian River County restaurant inspection site.

Which Indian River County restaurants got perfect scores on their health inspections?

These restaurants met all standards during their Oct. 16-22 inspections and no violations were found.

** Restaurants that failed an inspection and aced a follow-up inspection in the same week

Which Indian River County restaurants had high priority violations?

Chef Lin Asian Buffet

1850 Us 1, Vero Beach

Complaint Inspection on Oct. 18

Follow-Up Inspection Required: Violations require further review, but are not an immediate threat to the public.

15 total violations, with 3 high-priority violations

  • High Priority - In-use utensil stored in unclean water at or above 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Spoon used to dispense rice in standing water at 84°. Operator removed. **Corrected On-Site**

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Cooks line cooler; noodles 54° cold holding, cooked pork 51° cold holding, raw chicken 54° cold holding. Manager stated cooler stocked 2 hours ago. Advised to rapid chill. **Corrective Action Taken** **Warning**

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food, other than whole meat roast, hot held at less than 135 degrees Fahrenheit. chicken on a stick (105F - Hot Holding); chicken wings (95F - Hot Holding); breaded chicken (111F - Hot Holding); fried fish (107F - Hot Holding); egg foo young (101F - Hot Holding). Rechecked chicken wings 148° hot holding, fried fish 147 hot holding,chicken on a stick 155° hot holding, egg foo young 155° hot holding **Corrected On-Site** **Repeat Violation** **Warning**

Pepper & Salt BBQ

308 Old Dixie Hwy, Vero Beach

Routine Inspection on Oct. 18

Follow-Up Inspection Required: Violations require further review, but are not an immediate threat to the public.

6 total violations, with 4 high-priority violations

  • High Priority - Cooked/heated time/temperature control for safety food not cooled from 135 degrees Fahrenheit to 41 degrees Fahrenheit within 6 hours. Sausage and pork belly found in reach in cooler in covered plastic bins at 51°-58. **Warning**

  • High Priority - Cooked/heated time/temperature control for safety food not cooled from 135 degrees Fahrenheit to 70 degrees Fahrenheit within two hours and from 135 degrees Fahrenheit to 41 degrees Fahrenheit within six hours. See stop sale.

  • High Priority - Hot time/temperature control for safety food received at less than 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Sausage found at 117° F left over night **Warning**

  • High Priority - Raw animal food stored over/not properly separated from ready-to-eat food. Eggs next to ready to eat foods **Corrected On-Site**

Riverside Cafe

1 Beachland Blvd, Orchid

Routine Inspection on Oct. 16

Follow-Up Inspection Required: Violations require further review, but are not an immediate threat to the public.

17 total violations, with 3 high-priority violations

  • High Priority - Live, small flying insects in kitchen, food preparation area, food storage area and/or bar area. 3 flies observed in kitchen. Per supervisor on duty **Warning**

  • High Priority - Stop Sale issued on time/temperature control for safety food due to temperature abuse. **Warning**

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. breaded shrimp (47f - Cold Holding); cooked pork ( 46F - Cold Holding); cooked chicken wings (55F - Cold Holding) **slaw 46° cold holding Warning** Rechecked chicken wings 51° cold holding,breaded shrimp 45° cold holding, cooked pork 45° cold holding **slaw 45° cold holding Warning** **Warning**

Ruby Tuesday #2373

5820 College Ln, Vero Bch

Routine Inspection on Oct. 20

Follow-Up Inspection Required: Violations require further review, but are not an immediate threat to the public.

11 total violations, with 2 high-priority violations

  • High Priority - Stop Sale issued on time/temperature control for safety food due to temperature abuse. rice (57F - Cold Holding); ranch (57F - Cold Holding); cheddar cheese (58F - Cold Holding); mozzarella cheese (57F - Cold Holding); butter (61F - Cold Holding); blue cheese (58F - Cold Holding); spinach dip (60F - Cold Holding); sour cream (59F - Cold Holding)

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. rice (57F - Cold Holding); ranch (57F - Cold Holding); cheddar cheese (58F - Cold Holding); mozzarella cheese (57F - Cold Holding); butter (61F - Cold Holding); blue cheese (58F - Cold Holding); spinach dip (60F - Cold Holding); sour cream (59F - Cold Holding) **Warning**

The New Indian River Club Inc

800 Carolina Cir Sw, Vero Beach

Routine Inspection on Oct. 19

Follow-Up Inspection Required: Violations require further review, but are not an immediate threat to the public.

8 total violations, with 3 high-priority violations

  • High Priority - Dishmachine chlorine sanitizer not at proper minimum strength. Discontinue use of dishmachine for sanitizing and set up manual sanitization until dishmachine is repaired and sanitizing properly. Reading zero ppm. Establishment does not have correct sanitizer product on site. **Warning**

  • High Priority - Stop Sale issued on time/temperature control for safety food due to temperature abuse.

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Small reach in cooler on cooks line: Homemade Ranch -46 F Blue cheese dressing- 47 F Walk in cooler: Smoked salmon - 47F Raw hamburger- 47F Raw chicken -49 F Raw Beef -46 F Ham - 48 F 1/2 and 1/2- 47 F Milk- 46 F Shredded cheddar - ambient 50 F Turkey breast - 46 F Ground beef- 46 F Flounder- 46 F Sliced Steak - 46 F Pork - 46 F **Warning**

Toojay's Deli

555 21 St, Vero Beach

Routine Inspection on Oct. 18

Follow-Up Inspection Required: Violations require further review, but are not an immediate threat to the public.

9 total violations, with 4 high-priority violations

  • High Priority - Raw animal food stored over/not properly separated from ready-to-eat food. Raw salmon in same pan as dill butter **Corrected On-Site**

  • High Priority - Shell eggs in use or stored with cracks or broken shells. See stop sale. 2 cracked eggs mixed in with others

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. cooked turkey (45F - Cold Holding); sliced ham (46F - Cold Holding); brisket (45F - Cold Holding); cheese blintz (48F - Cold Holding) in cooler overnight

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food, other than whole meat roast, hot held at less than 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Breakfast sausage found at 105°, chef stated cooked 1.5 hours ago. Advised to rapid reheat. Rechecked, now at 155° **Corrected On-Site**

Trattoria Dario

1555 Ocean Drive, Indian River Shores

Routine Inspection on Oct. 17

Follow-Up Inspection Required: Violations require further review, but are not an immediate threat to the public.

7 total violations, with 2 high-priority violations

  • High Priority - Dishmachine chlorine sanitizer not at proper minimum strength. Discontinue use of dishmachine for sanitizing and set up manual sanitization until dishmachine is repaired and sanitizing properly. **Warning**

  • High Priority - Wiping cloth solution exceeding the maximum concentration allowed stored in a location that could result in the cross contamination of food, equipment, utensils, linens, single-service, or single-use articles. Sanitizer bucket reading over 200ppm. Employee remade bucket and now reading 100ppm

Verotown LLC

3901 26 St, Vero Beach

Routine Inspection on Oct. 17

Follow-Up Inspection Required: Violations require further review, but are not an immediate threat to the public.

7 total violations, with 2 high-priority violations

  • High Priority - Dishmachine chlorine sanitizer not at proper minimum strength. Discontinue use of dishmachine for sanitizing and set up manual sanitization until dishmachine is repaired and sanitizing properly. Reading "0". No primer switch available **Warning**

  • High Priority - Raw animal food stored over/not properly separated from ready-to-eat food. Raw shell eggs over bottled drinks **Corrected On-Site**

What agency inspects restaurants in Florida?

Routine regulation and inspection of restaurants is conducted by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The Department of Health is responsible for investigation and control of food-borne illness outbreaks associated with all food establishments.

How do I report a dirty restaurant in Florida?

If you see abuses of state standards, report them and the Department of Business and Professional Regulation will send inspectors. Call the Florida DBPR at 850-487-1395 or report a restaurant for health violations online.

Get the whole story at our restaurant inspection database.

What does all that terminology in Florida restaurant inspections mean?

Basic violations are those considered against best practices.

A warning is issued after an inspector documents violations that must be corrected by a certain date or within a specified number of days from receipt of the inspection report.

An administrative complaint is a form of legal action taken by the division. Insufficient compliance after a warning, a pattern of repeat violations or existence of serious conditions that warrant immediate action may result in the division initiating an administrative complaint against the establishment. Says the division website: "Correcting the violations is important, but penalties may still result from violations corrected after the warning time was over."

An emergency order — when a restaurant is closed by the inspector — is based on an immediate threat to the public. Here, the Division of Hotels and Restaurants director has determined that the establishment must stop doing business and any division license is suspended to protect health, safety or welfare of the public.

A 24-hour call-back inspection will be performed after an emergency closure or suspension of license.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Vero Beach area restaurant and food truck inspections Oct. 16-22: Restaurant inspection: 2 Indian River are perfect; 9 fail