35 rodent droppings in a dining room among Broward and Palm Beach restaurant problems
Flies on salad, rodents in the dining room and The Sick and Shut Down List is back after a week away.
A reminder that this list of Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe restaurants that got closed after failing inspection is completely reactive. Nobody at the Miami Herald or Miami.com chooses who gets inspected or how strictly they get inspected. We just bring you the results or, the worst of them, anyway.
And, we do it with a little judgment and a little more humor.
In alphabetical order:
The Breakfast Shack, 3469 W. Boynton Beach Blvd., Boynton Beach: Routine inspection, three total violations, one High Priority violation.
The Shack is back for list appearance No. 3 in 2024. As you might expect, there’s more protein in insect form, both dead and on the move.
The electrical boxes were the Woodlawn Cemetary for roaches at The Shack, with 20 in the box in the kitchen next to a flip top cooler and another three in the box next to the toaster.
As for the live roaches, 10 gathered on the underside of a cookline flip top cooler.
Also, the can opener was “soiled with food debris.”
The Shack got back open after re-inspection.
The Club at Emerald Hills, 4100 N. Hills Dr., Hollywood: Routine inspection, 11 total violations, three High Priority violations.
Earlier this week, we told you about the 110 pieces of rodent poop that closed the restaurant at this Hollywood golf facility.
READ MORE: 60 rodent droppings here, another 50 there closed a Broward golf club’s restaurant
A Saturday inspection got the restaurant back open for weekend club swingers.
Dragon City, 6708 Stirling Rd., Davie: Routine inspection, nine total violations, two High Priority violations.
The Sick and Shut Down List took a break last week because Dragon City was the only restaurant in Broward or Miami-Dade to be closed by inspection. But, we don’t give out breaks for stinking solo, so let’s take a look.
Three dead roaches in the kitchen, two under a prep table and one on the floor behind a microwave.
Four live roaches, one of which was moseying next to the rice warmer.
“Right side hood filters soiled with an accumulation of grease on the cook line.”
But, nothing on the inspection might make you afraid to enter the Dragon like what WPLG-Channel 10’s Jeff Weinsier saw behind the restaurant when he swung by for his Dirty Dining segment last week. Not only did a pot in a mop sink contain some form of meat thawing in water outside in South Florida heat — thawing even at room temperature invites the barfy bacteria — but the water came from a garden hose stored on a grimy wall.
Dragon City passed a re-inspection on March 5, but an inspector returned on March 12 for a Complaint inspection. Dragon City passed that, too, but the inspector did note a High Priority violation of the “threaded faucet with attached hose at the outside mop sink is missing a vacuum breaker.”
“The plumbing system shall be installed to preclude backflow of a solid, liquid, or gas contaminant into the water supply system at each point of use at the food establishment.” The hose pouring water into the bucket of meat didn’t have that protection.
Le Bon Gout Restaurant, 1230 S. Dixie Hwy., Lake Worth Beach: Routine inspection, 16 total violations, eight High Priority violations.
We’ll get to the rodents, the poop and the rub marks in a minute.
“Food contaminated by live flying insects and operator continued to serve food.” So, a salad mix that measured 70 degrees when food safety law says it needs to be at 41 or under got turned into a landing zone by two of the local flies. A Stop Sale hit the salad.
Another Stop Sale got 35 bottles of Vieski lemonade thrown in the trash for “originating from an unapproved source.”
The basura train continued with 92-degree hard boiled eggs and 114-degree boiled plantains, each of which needed to be at 135 degrees for safe hot holding. Management didn’t want for a Stop Sale and tossed them both.
A table fan guard was “soiled with dust in the kitchen.” A dry food storage shelf was “soiled.”
Now to the rodents, who dumped 11 poop pellets in the restaurant, seven of which were behind a cooler in the dining room.
The inspector also spotted “rodent rub marks on the cabinet door and door frame of the cabinet at the front counter cashier area” as well as “clothes stuffed in holes inside the cabinet.”
The unisex employee rest room lacked soap and paper towels, so if somebody went No. 2, ew. No soap at the front counter handwash sink, either.
This joint somehow passed inspection the very next day.
Matchbox Sawgrass Mills, 1860 Sawgrass Mills Cir., Sunrise: Routine inspection, 10 total violations, four High Priority violations.
Stored ice cream was uncovered in a reach-in cooler. This isn’t Baskin-Robbins. Put a lid on that.
Among the 15 flies in the restaurant, one landed on a previously clean plate, three zipped about the pizza station and another three lighted on the pizza station counter.
Stop Sales crashed down on Gouda and fresh mozzarella cheeses, both of of which were kept above 41 degrees..
Matchbox rolled again after the next day’s re-inspection.
Paul’s Fresh Bakery, 1800 Sawgrass Mills Cir., Sunrise: Routine inspection, eight total violations, four High Priority violations.
One of Matchbox’s neighbors also had a fly problem with the inspector counting 19. Six of them landed on a front counter display unit. Another one landing “on grease paper holding bread at the display area.” One landed on a crossaint in the front counter display unit. Stop Sale on the croissant.
Paul’s got back open with a “Follow-up Inspection Required” the next day.
Piman, 1560 NE Fourth Ave., Fort Lauderdale: Routine inspection, five total violations, two High Priority violations.
Another recidivist restaurant, we last checked in with Piman in June, when flies used a prep table as a landing strip.
This time, the three live roaches didn’t affect Piman’s inspection as much as “No dishwashing facilities of any kind provided. Establishment removed the three-compartment sink. No other means of ware washing was available.”
Their renovation plans have to be submitted and approved by the state of Florida by May 12. They submitted a plan for review already, but “plans were denied.”
After a same-day re-inspection, Piman reopened with “Follow-Up Inspection Required.”
Sidewalkchef, 6500 NW 12th Ave., Fort Lauderdale: Routine inspection, seven total violations, three High Priority violations.
Stored sliced turkey sat uncovered in the walk-in cooler, leaving it quite vulnerable to whatever little critters left 132 rodent droppings.
With that many, you don’t want to see the biggest count by in the dining room, as it was here with 35. Next most were the 30 “under a wire rack in the kitchen” followed by “20 droppings on the floor, under and behind” a kitchen prep table.
Sidewalkchef cooked again after the next day’s re-inspection.
Silverspoon Takeout, 81 SW 31st Ave., Fort Lauderdale: Routine inspection, four total violations, three High Priority violations.
“Nonfood-grade bags used in direct contact with food,” as in dough in Thank You bags.
There were 10 roaches moving on the wall over the kitchen warewash area’s handwash sink.
The ‘Spoon’s restaurant license expired.
The takeout was back in play after callback inspection the next day.
