Roaches plagued a pair of Broward County restaurants temporarily ordered shut by state inspectors ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday last week.
They were seen inside boxes of cling wrap and gloves — and even left behind a roach egg — at a Plantation restaurant, as well as crawling around the wok and soup stations at a Coral Springs eatery.
No Palm Beach County restaurants were ordered shut during the same period.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel typically highlights restaurant inspections conducted by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation in Broward and Palm Beach counties. We cull through inspections that happen weekly and spotlight places ordered shut for “high-priority violations,” such as improper food temperatures or dead cockroaches.
Any restaurant that fails a state inspection must stay closed until it passes a follow-up. If you spotted a possible violation and wish to file a complaint, contact Florida DBPR. (But please don’t contact us: The Sun Sentinel doesn’t inspect restaurants.)
Pokeman, Plantation
1949 N. Pine Island Road
Ordered shut: Nov. 20 and Nov. 21; reopened Nov. 21
Why: Nine violations (three high-priority), including approximately 11 live cockroaches “in cling film box across from reach-in cooler in kitchen” and “on service bags at front counter prep area.”
The state also discovered a box with gloves at front counter containing a dead roach and a roach egg. There were also 13 dead roaches “under chill unit at front counter prep area,” under a smoothie machine in the same area, “on glue trap under smoothie machine,” “in cling film box on prep table across from walk-in cooler,” and under the kitchen’s triple sink.
Other issues included a “bucket of beverage stored on floor” and “ice machine at front counter with an accumulation of black mold-like debris.”
The restaurant was ordered shut again the next day for unresolved live roaches, including two seen “crawling from front counter onto glass food protector at front counter.” The poke restaurant was allowed to reopen later that day when a third inspection yielded one basic and one intermediate violation.
Pokeman was previously ordered shut on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 for similar live and dead cockroach issues.
Red Ginger Asian Bistro, Coral Springs
9710 W. Sample Road
Ordered shut: Nov. 20; reopened Nov. 21
Why: Four violations (one high-priority), including about 15 live cockroaches spotted in the kitchen — “under the wok station on the cook line” and “on the floor behind the soup station.”
The reported also documented multiple issues, such as “accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine,” “floor covered with standing water … throughout the kitchen” and “accumulation of food debris under and between tables and equipment in the kitchen.”
The state let the Asian restaurant reopen the following day after discovering zero new issues.