A roach sharing space with tea bags. Lots of rodents. Miami metro area restaurant yuck
Rodents, roaches and bad handling of fish abound on this week’s Sick and Shut Down List of restaurants that failed state inspection.
So, let’s get to it.
FIRST, YOU READ: 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 inspection remains closed until passing an inspection.
If you see a problem and want a place inspected, contact the DBPR. We don’t do the inspections, 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). Some violations get corrected immediately after the inspector points them out. But in those situations, ask yourself, why did the violations exist in the first place? And, how long would they have remained if not for the inspection?
We report without passion or prejudice, but with a salad plate of humor (and, possibly, indignation).
In alphabetical order...
Bellas Pizza & Pasta which does business as Antonino’s Pizza & Pasta, 7218 Taft St., Hollywood: Routine inspection, 17 total violations, two High Priority violations.
Apparently, the inside of the microwave on the cookline looked like the inside of someone’s mouth, mid-cookout, with an “accumulation of black substance/grease/food debris.”
Similarly, the floor inside the walk-in cooler had a “substantial amount of food debris, soil and black like substance.”
“In-use tongs stored on equipment door handle between uses.” Yes, it’s not just putting food handling tools between appliances or between appliances and the wall that’ll get you dinged.
The bottom left of the backdoor frame had a gap, leaving it open to the outside. A violation that leads to...
“...approximately 20 rodent droppings on the floor behind the storage rack of clean utensils in kitchen area...approximately 5 rodent drops on floor by back entrance door of kitchen.”
Bella passed re-inspection the next day.
Creams & Crackers, 8000 W. Broward Blvd., Plantation: Routine inspection, four total violations, four High Priority violations.
That the Creamy ones lacked an up-to-date state license didn’t bother the walking or flying pests.
In addition to the 10 flies at the front counter hand wash station, another 20 collected at the fabric cart standing in the kitchen.
Three live roaches were on a kitchen wall, one of which got killed in front of the inspector. One more live roach was on the floor.
This joint passed re-inspection the next day.
READ MORE: What was in a chocolate cake sold at IKEA wasn’t edible. A recall was issued
Kings Point Diner, 7134 N. Nob Hill Rd., Tamarac: Complaint inspection, 12 total violations, two High Priority violations.
Get some candles or at least some Glade. “Objectionable odors in bathroom or other areas of the establishment.”
There was a buildup of something — food debris, slime or mold-like substance — on a kitchen mixer spout.
Of the 19 dead roaches, which was more jarring? The 10 under the three-compartment sink or the one “in a container with Lipton tea bags?”
The inspector watched one roach crawl from the coffee machine hose to the shelf and another on a floor next to a prep table with potatoes that were cooked and, most importantly, uncovered. Two live roaches under the bread oven eyed the open bread bags beside the oven or the toast in the oven.
The diner was pouring coffee again after passing re-inspection the next day.
Sabor Latino, 1500 Gateway Blvd., Boynton Beach: Routine inspection, 12 total violations, six High Priority violations.
There was a problem with the sea bass.
“Commercially processed reduced oxygen packaged fish bearing a label indicating that it is to remain frozen until time of use no longer frozen and not removed from reduced oxygen package.”
The dishwasher’s sanitizing strength in parts per million matched the Dolphins’ playoff wins in the last 20 years: zero.
Three flies buzzed and landed on a kitchen prep table. Three live roaches were on drawers under a cookline grill. Another one was on a wall. One was on a dishmachine hose and another was on top of the dishmachine.
Sabor passed one of those Broward Friday same-day re-inspections that gives a place the chance to get back open to feed off the weekend traffic beast.
Thai Me Up, 2389 Wilton Dr., Wilton Manors: Routine inspection, 16 total violations, five High Priority violations.
The dishwasher’s sanitizing strength in parts per million matched the number of Public Enemy tunes on Ron DeSantis’ Spotify playlist: zero.
Not nice to scoop ice when the scoop has been “stored on a soiled surface between uses.”
Cooked chicken was stored on floor in walk in cooler, where you don’t want it when there’s also five rodent droppings on a bag-in-box rack and eight in a pan on the floor.
They’ve since passed re-inspection.
Tin Cup at the Cooper Colony Golf and Country Club, 5050 SW 90th Ave., Cooper City: Routine inspection, 18 total violations, six High Priority violations.
Cooper Colony’s more akin to the Miami-Dade County-run Country Club of Miami than the pricey private pseudo-Bushwoods whose restaurants previously made this list.
More bad fish handling with “commercially processed reduced oxygen packaged fish bearing a label indicating that it is to remain frozen until time of use no longer frozen and not removed from reduced oxygen package.”
The cookline wall fan was “soiled with accumulated dust.”
A container of hot dogs in a cooler was marked Jan. 4. The manager insisted they were put in there the night before, Jan. 16. “Operator relabeled container with the correct date.” Yeeeahhh.....
The inspector spotted “approximately 25 rodent droppings on a shelf in the alcohol storage room where unopened bottles of vodka, wine and whiskey are stored.”
This place didn’t have a probe thermometer for measuring food temperature to make sure they cooked the salmonella or E. coli out of foods.
Tin Cup passed a same day re-inspection. The rodents must have gone home to figure out how to get into the liquor.
TK Oriental Fine Foods, 6572 Pembroke Rd., Miramar: Routine inspection, 13 total violations, three High Priority violations.
A bag of meat and shrimp were thawing on a prep table. That’s supposed to happen in a refrigerator or cooler if you don’t want your diners barfing at 2 a.m.
Why was a bucket of sauce stored on the floor in the kitchen and next to the splashiness of the handwashing sink?
Why is anything stored on the floor when you’ve got rodents leaving 115 pieces of their regularity around the restaurant? There were 35 under a storage shelf, 50 in a foil try under a storage shelf and 30 in a try with cans of beans on a storage shelf.
TK got off by passing inspection the next day.
