Cocoa Mexican eatery leads restaurant inspection violations for the week

Rob Landers, Florida Today
·6 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 Brevard County restaurant inspections site.

Here's the breakdown for recent health inspections in Brevard County, Florida, for the week of Jan. 22-28, 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 Brevard County restaurant inspection site.

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

These restaurants met all standards during their Jan. 22-28 inspections and no violations were found.

Note: The ** indicates restaurants that failed an inspection and aced a follow-up inspection in the same week

Which Brevard County restaurants had high priority violations?

Brunos Merritt Island

117 E. Merritt Ave. Unit A-12, Merritt Island

Routine Inspection on Jan. 22

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

10 total violations, with two high-priority violations

  • High Priority - Stop Sale issued on time/temperature control for safety food due to temperature abuse. In flip top of reach in cooler on make line diced ham (48F - Cold Holding); provolone (53F - Cold Holding). Operator stated that product has been in reach in cooler since Saturday

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. In flip top of reach in cooler on make line diced ham (48F - Cold Holding); provolone (53F - Cold Holding)

Friendly's #7695

1011 E. Eau Gallie Blvd., Indian Harbour Beach

Routine Inspection on Jan. 22

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

Eight total violations, with one high-priority violation

  • High Priority - Dishmachine not sanitizing properly. Discontinue use of dishmachine for sanitizing and set up manual sanitization until dishmachine is repaired and sanitizing properly. Tested 2x and tried priming machine. Still tested 0ppm. **Warning**

Ihop

3830 N. Atlantic Ave., Cocoa Beach

Routine Inspection on Jan. 22

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

Three total violations, with two high-priority violation

  • High Priority - Live, small flying insects in kitchen, food preparation area, food storage area and/or bar area. 23 live flying insects in dry storage room and hallway. Operator killed all but 2. **Warning**

  • High Priority - Sanitizer solution other than chlorine, quat or iodine not at the proper minimum strength listed in the manufacturer's instructions. Do not use equipment/utensils not properly sanitized. 1130+ppm DDBSA. Operator diluted **Corrected On-Site**

Osuki

924 E. New Haven Ave. Suite 105-106, Melbourne

Routine Inspection on Jan. 24

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

11 total violations, with two high-priority violations

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Raw pork in walk in cooler 51F. Manager states it was put in there 1 hour ago, suggest rapid chill.

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food, other than whole meat roast, hot held at less than 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Fried tempura shrimp 112F, manager states it was fried 30 min ago. Provided time plan for manager.

Poke Poke

66 S. Orlando Ave., Cocoa Beach

Routine Inspection on Jan. 26

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

Three total violations, with one high-priority violation

  • High Priority - Ready-to-eat, time/temperature control for safety food marked with a date that exceeds 7 days after opening/preparation. Milk in reach in cooler marked with open date of 12/30.

Tequila Veintiuno Cafe and Paleteria

2311 State Road 524, Suite 106, Cocoa

Complaint Inspection on Jan. 26

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

23 total violations, with two high-priority violations

  • High Priority - Employee rubbed hands together for less than 10-15 seconds while washing hands. Observed employee on cooks line washing hands for less then 5 seconds due to no cold water to mix with hot making it too hot to water hands properly. **Warning**

  • High Priority - Raw animal food stored over/not properly separated from ready-to-eat food. Raw ground beef stored over ready to eat shredded lettuce in walk in cooler, corrected. **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 Florida Today: Brevard County restaurant and food truck inspections Jan. 22-28