Rodent droppings on a shelf with wrapped utensils and napkins, sewage/wastewater backing up through floor drains and an out-of-order urinal were among the issues that forced the state to shut eight South Florida restaurants last week.
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.
Delicious Latino Restaurant, Hollywood
504 N. State Road 7
Ordered shut: Dec. 15; reopened Dec. 16
Why: Six violations (five high-priority), including 15 rodent droppings — 13 under a chest freezer in the dining area and two under a prep table in the kitchen.
Other violations, according to the report, resulted from storing cooked rice in “nonfood-grade” thank-you bags and placing Ziploc bags with raw beef and chicken above raw shrimp and fries in a freezer.
The report also flagged the restaurant for its wiping cloth solution because it exceeded the maximum concentration allowed and was “stored in a location that could result in the cross-contamination of food, equipment, utensils, linens, single-service or single-use articles.”
The restaurant met all inspections requirements the next day and was allowed to reopen.
Ma-Prao Thai Cuisine, Fort Lauderdale
4838 N. Federal Highway
Ordered shut: Dec. 11, 13 and 14; reopened Dec. 15
Why: 23 violations (seven high-priority), including egg shells stored over ready-to-eat vegetables, “raw pork stored over ready-to-eat vegetable rolls in reach-in freezer” on the cookline, and both hot and cold food items not being stored at proper temperatures.
The restaurant also was cited for having “six live roaches stuck to stick trap on top of reach-in freezer” next to a sink and about 10 dead roaches in a device on top of the reach-in freezer. Some other violations: a dirty magnetic knife rack at the cookline; vegetable rolls and dumplings stored uncovered in a freezer; and an out-of-order urinal in the men’s restroom.
During follow-up visits on Dec. 13 and 14, the inspection noted more live roach activity. The restaurant was allowed to reopen on Dec. 15 with one high-priority (expired license) and two basic violations.
Tee-Jay Thai Sushi, Fort Lauderdale
5975 N. Federal Highway, Suite 115
Ordered shut: Dec. 14; reopened Dec. 15
Why: 13 violations (five high-priority), including sewage/wastewater backing up through floor drains in which “employees have walked through water and spread to kitchen area and cookline.”
The state also found 10 packages of thawed salmon that should have remained frozen until use sitting unopened on the cookline; raw shrimp stored over ready-to-eat vegetables on the cookline; and calamari, tofu, cooked potatoes and raw beef and raw chicken held at unsafe temperatures.
The report also noted that a cook used a prep sink to wash hands and “cold holding equipment not maintained in good repair.”
Despite two basic violations, the restaurant was allowed to reopen the next day.
Yen’s Kitchen, Lake Worth Beach
7364 Lake Worth Road
Ordered shut: Dec. 13 and 14; reopened Dec. 15
Why: 20 violations (five high-priority), including two live roaches found underneath shelving in the kitchen and about 15 rodent droppings underneath shelves in the dry storage room.
Also found: a Windex spray bottle “stored with cleaned pan, pot at kitchen,” a Raid bottle stored on the dry food storage shelf, an unlabeled bottle containing a toxic substance, and a WD-40 container sitting on a dry storage shelf.
About 10 dead roaches were seen underneath shelves in the dry storage room, the report said, and the floor underneath the prep sink was covered in standing water. Additionally, raw beef, sliced chicken, cut cabbage and lettuce, tofu and bean sprouts were stored above temperature.
A next-day inspection found four violations (one high-priority), and the restaurant was cleared to reopen on Dec. 15 with two basic violations.
Setti’s Restaurant & Pizzeria, Lake Worth Beach
7352 Lake Worth Road
Ordered shut: Dec. 13; reopened Dec. 14
Why: 13 violations (three high-priority), including 15 live roaches seen underneath a handwashing sink at the dishwashing area in the kitchen, under floor mats by a sink and pizza dough machine and under a prep table at the pizza station.
The report also flagged the restaurant for approximately 39 dead roaches underneath a dishwashing sink and a “prep table, pizza oven at kitchen” and behind a reach-in cooler at the front line.
No soap was available at the handwash sink in the dishwashing area, and pepperoni and bread were stored on the floor in a walk-in freezer, the report said.
The pizzeria was allowed to reopen the next day with one high-priority violation (expired license) and six intermediate and basic violations.
Tin Roof, Delray Beach
8 E. Atlantic Ave.
Ordered shut: Dec. 13; reopened Dec. 14
Why: Six violations (two high-priority), including at least 44 rodent droppings in areas such as on a shelf “with napkins and single serve wrapped utensils in wait station in kitchen,” on a shelf between the chip warmer and slicer in wait station, on the floor under the shelf with the slicer, and on top of a flour container.
The restaurant also had “no paper towels or mechanical hand-drying device provided at handwash sink at cookline,” a “black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine/bin,” and containers of flour removed from their original packages and not labeled.
Tin Roof was cleared to reopen the next day with one high-priority violation (expired license).
Solo BBQ and Seafood, Delray Beach
1561 S. Congress Ave.
Ordered shut: Dec. 12; reopened Dec. 13
Why: 11 violations (six high-priority), including about 13 live flies seen on a roll of paper towels at kitchen hand sink, on cooked chicken on a prep table, and on a cutting board “on prep table across (from) stove.”
In addition, six live roaches were found on the seal of a vegetable prep cooler, under a bag of onions and in the seal of a chest freezer. One live roach fell from the gasket of a refrigerator when the door was opened, the report said.
Other violations: Cooked chicken was left out on a prep table for more than hour after being removed from cold storage; raw shell eggs were stored over cut vegetables in a reach-in freezer; and no soap was provided at the handwash sink in the kitchen.
The restaurant also was found to be operating with an expired Division of Hotels and Restaurants license.
It was allowed to reopen the next day with one intermediate violation.
Pete’s Place, Greenacres
6774 Forest Hill Blvd.
Ordered shut: Dec. 12; reopened Dec. 12
Why: 15 violations (three high-priority), including live roach activity around the cookline area and more than 20 dead roaches “in white powder next to compressor of two-door cooler on cook line.”
The inspection also found issues such as two unlabeled spray bottles at the server station in the dining room; a handwash sink not accessible for employee use; “accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine/bin,” and a “bag full of shoes stored on top of mayonnaise box in back room.”
An employee was seen cracking raw shell eggs then handling pancakes without washing hands, according to the report.
The restaurant was able to reopen the same day with two intermediate and two basic violations.