One Leon County restaurant gets perfect score; 11 fail inspection

Staff reports
·7 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.

Italian sandwich.
Italian sandwich.

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

Here's the breakdown for recent health inspections in Leon County, Florida, for the week of Feb. 5-11, 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 Leon County restaurant inspection site.

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

These restaurants met all standards during their Feb. 5-11 inspections and no violations were found.

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

Which Leon County restaurants had high priority violations?

Dairy Queen Grill and Chill

1319 Capital Circle Se, Tallahassee

Routine Inspection on Feb. 8

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 - Single-use gloves not changed as needed after changing tasks or when damaged or soiled. Observed employee drop basket in fryer, sweep, clean cutting board, finish sweeping and retrieve food from the fryer, no glove change or hand wash.

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Observed sliced cheese 56F, sliced tomatoes 49F, cut lettuce 54F in expo cooler. **Warning**

Dreamland BBQ

2415 N Monroe St Suite 508, Tallahassee

Complaint Inspection on Feb. 8

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

3 total violations, with 1 high-priority violation

  • High Priority - Rodent activity present as evidenced by rodent droppings found. Observed approximately 5 rodent droppings in the following locations: 2 droppings in storage area outside of walk in cooler and 3 droppings under storage in front of hallway. Employee cleaned and sanitized locations during inspection. **Corrected On-Site** **Admin Complaint**

Earley's Dor

2450 Shumard Oak Blvd Blgd 2, Tallahassee

Routine Inspection on Feb. 6

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

7 total violations, with 3 high-priority violations

  • High Priority - Raw animal food stored over/not properly separated from ready-to-eat food. Raw ground beef and raw shell eggs stored over 1000 island dressing, pickles, and milk in 2 door storage cooler. Raw fish over hash browns in chest freezer.

  • High Priority - Ready-to-eat, time/temperature control for safety food marked with a date that exceeds 7 days after opening/preparation. Self serve turkey sandwiches made 2-6-24 marked with a use by date of 2-13-24, 8 days. Use by date changed to 2-12-24. **Corrected On-Site**

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. American cheese in make table 56F, per manager less than 1 hour. Moved to colder unit at time of inspection. **Corrective Action Taken** **Repeat Violation**

Friendly Shores Seafood and Grill LLC

460 W Tennessee St, Tallahassee

Routine Inspection on Feb. 9

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

3 total violations, with 1 high-priority violation

  • High Priority - - From initial inspection : High Priority - Operating with an expired Division of Hotels and Restaurants license.6/1/23. **Admin Complaint** - From follow-up inspection 2024-02-09: **Admin Complaint**

Hobbit American Grill

5032 Capital Circle Sw, Ste 13, Tallahassee

Complaint Inspection on Feb. 9

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

9 total violations, with 2 high-priority violations

  • High Priority - Stop Sale issued on time/temperature control for safety food due to temperature abuse. Observed sliced tomatoes 46F, sliced ham 46F, and sliced cheddar 45F in make table at cook line.

  • High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Observed multiple items held above 41F: Make table at cook line: sliced tomatoes 49F, sliced ham 50F, sliced cheddar 49F, provolone 51F, sautéed mushrooms 52F, and pepper jack 52F at 1:35. Per manager items held since 10:30. Observed ice build-up in back of make table preventing proper ventilation of cold air into make table and make table lid frequently held open. Manager iced bottom and top of food items during inspection. Per manager will clear out ice build-up after lunch rush. New temperature at 3:00: sliced tomatoes 46F, sliced ham 46F, sliced cheddar 45F, see stop sale. Provolone cheese 40F, sautéed mushrooms 41F, and pepper jack cheese 41F. Observed raw chicken tenders 41F, 45F in some spots at 1:30 held on ice in make table at kitchen area. Per manager held since 12:30. Manager refilled ice to properly cold hold chicken tenders. New temperature at 3:00: raw chicken tenders 39F, 49F in all areas. Reach in cooler next to fryers: chicken wings 42F, 45F in some spots held on ice at 1:30. Per manager held since 1:15 and is typically used within four hours. Manager time marked chicken wings during inspection and will start to use time as a public health control for chicken wings. New temperatures at 3:00: 39F, 40F in all areas. Provided Time as a Public Health Control form during inspection. **Repeat Violation** **Warning**

Mr. B'S Bar-B-Que

Mobile food dispensing vehicle

Routine Inspection on Feb. 9

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

6 total violations, with 1 high-priority violation

  • High Priority - Operating with an expired Division of Hotels and Restaurants license. Observed 6/1/23. **Admin Complaint**

Subway #27583

5025 Crawfordville Rd #6, Tallahassee

Routine Inspection on Feb. 8

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

2 total violations, with 1 high-priority violation

  • High Priority - - From initial inspection : High Priority - Operating with an expired Division of Hotels and Restaurants license. Observed license expired 6/1/23. **Admin Complaint** - From follow-up inspection 2024-02-08: **Admin Complaint**

Zaxby's

2889 Apalachee Pkwy, Tallahassee

Complaint Partial Inspection on Feb. 7

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

9 total violations, with 2 high-priority violations

  • High Priority - Employee failed to wash hands before putting on gloves to initiate a task working with food. Observed employee clean expo, then change gloves, no hand wash.

  • High Priority - Employee used tobacco, ate, or drank then engaged in food preparation, handled clean equipment or utensils, or touched unwrapped single-service items without washing hands. Observed employee drink from cup and then put on gloves no hand wash.

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 Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee area restaurant and food truck inspections Feb. 5-11