5 St. Johns County restaurants 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 St. Johns County restaurant inspections site.

Here's the breakdown for recent health inspections in St. Johns County, Florida, for the week of March 11-17, 2024. Please note that some more recent, follow-up inspections may not be included here.

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 St. Johns County restaurant inspection site.

Which St. Johns County restaurants got perfect scores on their health inspections?

These restaurants met all standards during their March 11-17 inspections and no violations were found.

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

Which St. Johns County restaurants had high-priority violations?

China House

255 Rivertown Shops Dr 103, Saint Johns

Complaint Partial Inspection on March 14

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

1 total violation, with 1 high-priority violation

  • High Priority - Live, small flying insects in kitchen, food preparation area, food storage area and/or bar area. Approximately 15 live flying insects observed around drain at end of cook line, under cook line, around mop sink, and around drain under triple sink. **Warning**

Keke's

450 Durbin Pavilion Dr Ste E106, St. Johns

Routine Inspection on March 11

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

1 total violation, with 1 high-priority violation

  • High Priority - - From initial inspection : High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food, other than whole meat roast, hot held at less than 135 degrees Fahrenheit. hollandaise (119F - Hot Holding) in warm water bath sitting on top of pan in steam table, per employee hollandaise was made approximately 1.75 hours prior, water changed out and pan placed on grill on cook line. **Corrective Action Taken** **Repeat Violation** **Admin Complaint** - From follow-up inspection 2024-03-11: hollandaise (109F - Hot Holding) in bottles warm water bath sitting on counter next to steam table, per employee they have been sitting there for approximately 2 hour, employee put bottles in steam table. **Admin Complaint** **Corrective Action Taken**

Sunset Grille

421 A1a Beach Blvd, Saint Augustine

Complaint Inspection on March 14

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

10 total violations, with 6 high-priority violations

  • High Priority - Container of medicine improperly stored. Observed itch medication stored on speed rack above bread. Person in charge removed medication from food rack. **Corrected On-Site**

  • 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. Observed dishwasher at 0ppm. Person in charge called maintenance. Eco lab arrived during inspection and fixed machine. Retested machine at 100ppm chlorine. **Corrected On-Site** **Repeat Violation** **Admin Complaint**

  • High Priority - Food-contact surfaces not sanitized after cleaning, before use. Do not use equipment/utensils not properly sanitized. Observed three racks of dishes ran through dish machine at 0ppm chlorine. Person in charge set up triple sinks at 200ppm quat and sanitized dishes. **Corrected On-Site**

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Observed cooked chicken wings (45F - Cold Holding) left in open flip-top cooler for less than 3 hours per person in charge. Observed cook line drawers: top; tuna (45F - Cold Holding); grouper (46F - Cold Holding) busy lunch rush and drawers are open and closed frequently. Person in charge placed ice on all products. Products retested 41 and below by end of inspection. **Corrected On-Site** **Repeat Violation** **Admin Complaint**

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food, other than whole meat roast, hot held at less than 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Observed on cook line steam table cooked onions (100F - Hot Holding) person in charge reheated to 165F+ by end of inspection. **Corrected On-Site**

  • High Priority - Toxic substance/chemical improperly stored. Observed sanitizer chemical spray bottle stored above bread on a speed rack near ware washing. Person in charge removed chemical bottle from food rack. **Corrected On-Site** **Repeat Violation** **Admin Complaint**

The Kookaburra

647 A1a Beach Blvd, Saint Augustine

Complaint Inspection on March 14

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

7 total violations, with 1 high-priority violation

  • High Priority - Vacuum breaker missing at hose bibb or on fitting/splitter added to hose bibb. Observed hose Bibb next to mop sink with attached green hose missing vacuum breaker. **Repeat Violation** **Admin Complaint**

Wendy's

153 Capitol Green Dr, Ponte Vedra

Complaint Inspection on March 14

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

5 total violations, with 1 high-priority violation

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food, other than whole meat roast, hot held at less than 135 degrees Fahrenheit. sausage gravy (90F - Hot Holding) on make line with a 5 hour sticker next to pan, next to grill top, per manager the steam table is not working correctly and they have a work order in for the table, employee voluntarily discarded gravy, inspector discussed holding gravy on 4 hour time until unit is repaired. **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 St. Augustine Record: St. Augustine area restaurant and food truck inspections March 11-17