Cockroaches crawled around a kitchen while flies landed on an ice cream machine, ketchup packets and drinking cup lids at four Broward County restaurants temporarily ordered shut last week by state inspectors. Hygiene and sanitation issues involving employees were also cited.
Meanwhile, zero Palm Beach County restaurants were ordered closed during the same time 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 here. (But please don’t contact us: The Sun Sentinel doesn’t inspect restaurants.)
RA Sushi Bar Restaurant, Pembroke Pines
201 SW 145th Terrace
Ordered shut: Aug. 3-4; reopened Aug. 4
Why: 14 violations (seven high-priority), including at least 72 live flies swarming around a steam table, steamed-rice covered pots and the sushi bar, all in the kitchen area, as well as around a prep table where an employee was “portioning raw chicken breast” and a “dishwasher area, outside of kitchen.”
Flies were also seen on wooden spoons, “on soda nozzles, next to ice machines,” and “inside large container of (yellow) onions.” The restaurant was ordered to stop selling and trash 10 yellow onions “due to food not being in a wholesome, sound condition.”
The inspection also caught one employee grabbing a “dirty container to place cut chicken breast” into, before a manager asked that “a clean and sanitized container” be used. It also red-flagged an employee using a personal cellphone then grabbing a “clean teacup to make hot tea for a customer,” and an employee bringing “dirty dishes to dishwasher area” then grabbing a “clean bowl to serve soup for a customer.”
Finally, the report noted a “build-up of grease and soil” throughout the entire kitchen, “two knives and two forks inside dirty container” in the bar area, and “grease, food debris, dirt, slime or dust” on the “outer part of dishwasher in bar area.”
The restaurant was subsequently shut down the next day for fly woes, but it was allowed to reopen that same day after a third inspection yielded zero issues.
Lucky City Restaurant, Margate
5574 W. Sample Road
Ordered shut: Aug. 3; reopened Aug. 4
Why: 11 violations (four high-priority), including five cockroaches seen crawling “under cook line equipment going into gap where metal wall meets floor in kitchen,” as well as one dead roach “on ground outside of walk-in cooler in kitchen.” (The operator removed the dead roach and sanitized the area.)
The state also noted that the restaurant had a “metal screen door open with gap,” with “rain from outside entering establishment/vermin present.”
Finally, the report cited “objectionable odors under cook line equipment” and “two cans of WD-40 stored above food items on shelf outside of walk-in cooler,” which the operator later removed.
After finding a pair of basic violations during the second visit the next day, the state let the restaurant reopen.
Wendy’s, Fort Lauderdale
930 NW 62nd St.
Ordered shut: Aug. 2; reopened Aug. 3
Why: Four violations (two high-priority), including at least 71 live flies swarming around and landing on “plastic to-go Wendy’s beverage cups” at the front register counter, “on ice-cream mixture machine and ice bin” at the drive-thru window, and “inside cabinets and landing on packaged ketchup and soda syrup cartridges” as well as on “single-serve sugar, forks, knives and spoons” in the dining area’s condiment station.
The report also noted flies landing on a dining table and flying “around office door,” “around mop,” “around vacuum cleaner” and “around package breadcrumbs on storage shelf.”
An inspector “observed employees operating registers and returning to service line and fry station (to) prepare ready-to-eat food without washing hands,” as well as one employee who exited the establishment then returned to the kitchen without washing hands.
Finally, the state found the restaurant’s rear-exit door “blocked by empty boxes” and “standing water on the floor” outside the kitchen’s walk-in cooler.
Zero issues were spotted during the fast-food chain’s second inspection the next day, and the state let the restaurant reopen.
PDQ, Oakland Park
3359 N. Federal Highway
Ordered shut: Aug. 1; reopened Aug. 2
Why: Nine violations (four high-priority), including at least 36 flies “flying over sliced tomatoes, cut lettuce and landing on cutting board,” “flying around and landing on ready-to-eat condiments and to-go cup container lids” at the dessert station,” and “flying around and landing on packaged bread and mop sink” near a walk-in cooler in a soda dispenser area.
The restaurant was ordered to stop selling and toss “ready-to-eat condiments and to-go cup container lids” that flies previously touched “due to food not being in a wholesome, sound condition.”
Finally, the state observed an employee’s open beverage on a deep freezer in the kitchen prep area, as well as an employee “eating at drive-thru window,” and another wiping “face with paper towel” then proceeding to “cook food in fryer” without washing hands first.
The state allowed the restaurant to reopen the next day after finding one basic violation during its second inspection.