4 Martin County restaurants get perfect scores; 4 fail inspection

Staff reports
·6 min read

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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 Martin County restaurant inspections site.

Here's the breakdown for recent health inspections in Martin County, Florida, for the week of Feb. 26-March 3, 2024. Please note that some more recent, follow-up inspections may not be included here.

St. Lucie County: 3 restaurants get perfect scores; 6 fail inspection

Indian River County: One restaurant gets perfect score; 6 fail inspection

All things food: Roundup of new and best restaurants, reviews and inspections

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 Martin County restaurant inspection site.

Which Martin County restaurants got perfect scores on their health inspections?

These restaurants met all standards during their Feb. 26-March 3 inspections and no violations were found.

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

Which Martin County restaurants had high priority violations?

Crabby's

4110 SE Salerno Rd, Stuart

Routine Inspection on Feb. 28

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 - Operating with an expired Division of Hotels and Restaurants license. License expired 12/1/2023

  • High Priority - Raw animal food stored over or with ready-to-eat food in a freezer - not all products commercially packaged. Observed raw Ground beef not in commercial packaging over French fries at reach in freezer in kitchen. Operator stored properly. **Corrected On-Site** **Repeat Violation** **Admin Complaint**

  • High Priority - Raw animal foods not properly separated from each other in holding unit based upon minimum required cooking temperature. Observed raw Ground beef and raw bacon stored in same container at reach in cooler in kitchen. Operator stored properly. **Corrected On-Site**

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food, other than whole meat roast, hot held at less than 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Crock pot: butter sauce (97F - Hot Holding); steam table: conch chowder (130F - Hot Holding) Per operator, out of temperature for approximately 20 minutes. Advised operator to return to stove to reheat to 165+F **Repeat Violation** **Admin Complaint**

Downtown Bennys Pizza

2230 NE Dixie Hwy, Jensen Beach

Routine Inspection on Feb. 27

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 - Dented/rusted cans present. See stop sale. Observed 1 each Canned peppers dented to seam of can. Operator removed canned peppers from circulation. **Corrective Action Taken**

  • High Priority - Raw animal food stored over or with ready-to-eat food in a freezer - not all products commercially packaged. Reach in freezer: Observed Raw ground beef over French fries, both products opened from commercial packaging. Advised operator to put ground beef on bottom of freezer.

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. garlic butter (56F - Cold Holding); pizza sauce (ingredients added) (56F - Cold Holding) Per operator, not prepared or portioned today. Per operator, out of temperature for approximately 15 minutes. Operator placed back in cooler. **Corrective Action Taken** **Repeat Violation** **Admin Complaint**

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food prepared from/mixed with ingredient(s) at ambient temperature not cooled to 41 degrees Fahrenheit within 4 hours. pizza sauce (ingredients added) (70F - Cooling) at 11:55 since 11:25 - 70F at 12:15 At current rate of cooling product will not reach 41F within 4 hours. Advised operator to split pizza sauce into two batches and place in freezer to quick chill.

Shrimpers Grill & Raw Bar

4903 SE Dixie Hwy, Stuart

Routine Inspection on Feb. 28

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

8 total violations, with 2 high-priority violations

  • High Priority - Raw animal foods not properly separated from one another based upon minimum required cooking temperature when stored in a freezer - not all products commercially packaged. Observed Raw chicken over raw conch opened from commercial packaging at walk in freezer. Educated operator on proper storage. **Repeat Violation** **Admin Complaint**

  • High Priority - Wiping cloth sanitizer solution exceeds the maximum concentration allowed. Sanitizer Bucket (Chlorine 200+ppm) Operator corrected to 100ppm. **Corrected On-Site**

Taqueria El Mariachi LLC

4119 SE Salerno Rd, Stuart

Routine Inspection on Feb. 28

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

4 total violations, with 2 high-priority violations

  • High Priority - Nonfood-grade containers used for food storage - direct contact with food. Observed cooked beef stored in direct contact with thank you to go bag in reach in freezer. Operator stored in food safe bag. **Corrected On-Site** **Repeat Violation** **Admin Complaint**

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. cooked tomato salsa (76F - Cold Holding) Observed sitting on counter in kitchen. Per operator, not prepared or portioned today. Per operator, out of temperature for approximately 30 minutes. Advised operator to use time control. Operator placed time mark for salsa. Time control procedure sent to operator. **Corrective Action Taken** **Repeat Violation** **Admin Complaint**

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: Stuart area restaurant and food truck inspections Feb. 26-March 3: Restaurant inspection: 4 Martin are perfect; 4 fail