An employee washing their hands without soap, a tainted package of mahi and live flies swarming around a bar were among the issues that forced state inspectors to temporarily shut five Palm Beach County restaurants last week.
No Broward County restaurants were ordered shut over 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. (But please don’t contact us: The Sun Sentinel doesn’t inspect restaurants.)
Bagel Tree Restaurant, Delray Beach
6580 W. Atlantic Ave.
Ordered shut: Jan. 25; reopened Jan. 26
Why: Six violations (two high-priority), including 15 live cockroaches spotted “on ground under oven on left side cook line directly next to triple sink in kitchen,” as well as next to and behind a fire extinguisher, “on ground under cook line equipment,” “on ground in front of triple sink,” “in front of flat top on cook line” and on the ceiling “above ware-washing machine.”
The inspection also found at least 22 dead roaches in the kitchen — “on ground under oven on left side cook line directly next to triple sink,” “under cook line flat top” and “behind sign on wall at triple sink.”
The state caught an employee cracking raw eggs before handling “ready-to-eat food and/or clean equipment or utensils without washing hands” first.
The restaurant was allowed to reopen the next day after the state discovered zero violations.
Hacienda Mexican Restaurant, Delray Beach
14820 S. Military Trail
Ordered shut: Jan. 25; reopened Jan. 26
Why: Seven violations (three high-priority), including at least 42 live cockroaches seen in the kitchen — in areas including the “underside of not-in-use steam table on cook line,” “behind sign on wall in left corner of cook line,” “on sign at handwashing sink,” “on top of floor drain behind cook line flip-top cooler,” and “inside of control panel on top of ware-washing machine.”
Meanwhile, at least eight dead roaches were counted, also in the kitchen, “on ground under cook line flip-top coolers,” “inside of not-in-use steam table on cook line” and “at ware-washing machine.”
Finally, the report noted improper storage of roach spray “on cook line” and an “accumulation of black/green mold-like substance” inside the bar’s ice machine.
After receiving a single basic violation during its second inspection on Jan. 26, the state let the restaurant reopen.
Pier 8 Seafood Bar & Grill, West Palm Beach
4449 Okeechobee Blvd.
Ordered shut: Jan. 23 and Jan. 24; reopened Jan. 25
Why: 12 violations (six high-priority), including 20 live flies “at inside bar, flying around/behind bar,” as well as 33 cockroaches found “crawling across floor on cook line,” “on wall behind cook line” and “in kitchen on shelf under single-burner cook top.”
The restaurant was ordered to stop selling and trash its “commercially processed reduced oxygen packaged mahi” due to “food not being in a wholesome, sound condition.”
Finally, the report also noted an “accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior” of both of its ice machines.
The restaurant was again ordered shut the next day, but inspectors let it reopen on Jan. 25 after spotting just one intermediate violation.
Jacob’s Restaurant & Delicatessen, Boynton Beach
3861 Woolbright Road
Ordered shut: Jan. 23 and Jan. 24; reopened Jan. 24
Why: Eight violations (four high-priority), including 18 live cockroaches spotted in the kitchen, crawling “on top of water pipe leading into ware-washing machine directly next to cook line,” “going into control panel on top of ware-washing machine” and “on ground under ware-washing machine.”
There were also 11 dead roaches in the kitchen, “behind sign on wall next to ware-washing machine” as well as underneath the machine, and “under vent fans behind oven on cook line.” The report also noted that one employee working on the cook line was seen washing hands “with no soap.”
Unresolved live and dead roach issues forced the state to shut down the restaurant-deli a second time on Jan. 24, but it was able to reopen later that day with one intermediate violation.
Porto Bella Italian Restaurant, Boynton Beach
9770 S. Military Trail
Ordered shut: Once on Jan. 22; three times on Jan. 23; reopened Jan. 24
Why: Seven violations (three high-priority), including at least 39 live cockroaches found “on wall and rack hold clean wares in ware-washing area directly next to prep table,” inside a reach-in freezer on cook line, “inside of wheel of middle cook line flip-top cooler,” “on wall above prep table” and inside of pest-control devices “located throughout kitchen.”
The inspection also found 10 dead roaches inside of pest-control devices “throughout kitchen” and improperly stored medicine.
The presence of live and dead roaches forced the restaurant shut three more times on Jan. 23, but no new issues were discovered by Jan. 24, and the state let the eatery reopen.