Chick-fil-A flies, a deli’s 101 rodent poo pieces, South Florida restaurant filth
We welcome the new here at the Sick and Shut Down List, so hello to “Home Depot construction buckets used to store beef broth in walk in cooler.”
There are also some familiar places and violations in this week’s list of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach county restaurants that made state inspectors go, “Ew.”
How the list is done: What follows comes from Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation restaurant inspections in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties. A restaurant that fails state inspection remains closed until passing re-inspection. If you see a problem and want a place inspected, contact the DBPR, not us.
We don’t control who gets inspected nor how strictly the inspector inspects. We don’t include all violations, just the most moving, whether internally or literally moving (because it’s alive or once was alive). We report without passion or prejudice but with two side dishes of humor.
In alphabetical order...
Chick-fil-A, 1262 N. Lake Blvd., Lake Park: Of the 47 flies, including 19 in the cookline area, one probably did more to close this Chick-fil-A like it was a Sunday than all the others combined.
“One fly landed on inspector’s arm twice while at the dining room table.”
Well, there were also the “three flies in the front counter area landing in containers of sauces.”
An air conditioning pipe leaked onto the floor in the not-that-dry storage area near food preparation sinks in the front line. There was standing water there and in the dishwashing area.
This Chick-Fil-A was serving tenders again after passing Wednesday’s re-inspection.
Hialeah family arrested after a post-MMA match brawl with bullets and chairs flying
La Reyna Authentic Mexican Cuisine, 5822 S. Flamingo Rd., Cooper City: “Authentic Mexican Cuisine” meant authentic tortillas and tortilla chips being used as landing pads on the cookline and in a glass case. Stop Sales sent the food to the trash.
Other fly playgrounds were “clean and sanitized dishes and utensils on the cookline” and clean utensils in the dishwashing area.
The inspector saw “an uncovered container with salt stored underneath food preparation table.”
“Observed sausage thawing at room temperature by the three-compartment sink.” If that makes it into a dish, bet on it coming back out of somebody’s stomach.
La Reyna passed re-inspection on Wednesday.
A Sedano’s, and flies on a bakery chain’s pastelitos among South Florida’s Gross Grocers
Lombardi’s, 401 Biscayne Blvd., Miami: “Two live roaches crawling on food preparation table at the back kitchen area” were the most unsettling of the over 21 roaches counted.
“Four-plus” flies darted around the front of the dining area and the servers’ station.
Wash your cookware, people. “Accumulation of encrusted food debris on/around a mixer head.”
“Encrusted material on a can opener blade.”
The shelf under a prep table was “soiled with food debris.”
Lombardi’s ran to daylight on Thursday’s re-inspection.
Strathmore Bagel & Deli, at the Marketplace at Wycliffe, 4095 State Rd. 7, Unincorporated Palm Beach County near Wellington: Let’s check the location breakdown of most of the 101 pieces of rodent poo, shall we?
There were five “on top of a lid in a cinnamon container.” Another two on a shelf near a grinder. About 20 by the walk-in cooler/mop sink room “on the floor, crates and on top of boxes of drinks.”
And 71 on dishwashing area shelves and “inside containers with clean utensils inside.”
Stop Sales rained on stuffed peppers, potato latkes, cooked vegetables and a potato knish all at least a day old and seven to 25 degrees above the 41 degrees maximum temperature for cold storage.
The bug stoppers apparently worked. They just weren’t well placed.
“Insect control device installed over food preparation area” for a bug catcher “over food storage shelving” and “Fly sticky tape” hung over the dishwashing area and three-compartment sink, which the inspector counted as “food/food preparation area/food-contact equipment.”
Passed re-inspection Friday (because we’re sure all those extremely regular rodents took their business elsewhere...)
Talkin’ Tacos, 3456 Red Rd., Miramar: “Observed several Home Depot construction buckets used to store beef broth in the walk-in cooler.”
Not sure if that’s the same beef broth as in the “open container with beef broth stored in the walk-in cooler,” but that’s still not speaking of good management. It really isn’t that hard to find proper food storage materials. Hit a Dollar Tree or something.
As for the flies, they were “landing on a clean in-use cutting board and a food preparation table in the kitchen,” “on a makeshift table at the front line” and “on clean utensils in dishwashing area.”
About 20 flies played tag “on a dining table at the outside corridor.”
There was no soap at the handwashing sinks in the kitchen and dishwashing area..
“Several employees engaging in food preparation with no hair restraint.” Hope they use Head & Shoulders and not the store brand H&S ripoffs. Or Pantene.
Talkin’ Tacos was back in the eating out conversation after Thursday’s re-inspection.
