A look at South Florida food eateries that have failed inspection.
Roaches, a festival of food suffering temperature abuse and food service employees who are either unclear or don’t care about handwashing mark this week’s list of Miami metropolitan area restaurants failing inspection.
This week’s Sick and Shut Down list from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties also includes a few familiar chain names and a place that’s becoming familiar because it’s been closed by inspection three times since October.
We don’t decide who gets inspected nor do we do the inspecting. That’s the job of the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation. If you want to file a complaint about a restaurant, contact the agency.
Restaurants closed by inspection can reopen after passing a re-inspection. The first re-inspection usually occurs the day after a failed inspection.
In alphabetical order:
Basilic Vietnamese Grill, 218 E. Commercial Blvd., Lauderhill-by-the-Sea
Routine inspection, 14 total violations, five High Priority violations
Four live roaches were spotted, three of them on top of a reach-in freezer and one on an empty bucket.
A cook wearing single-use gloves “touched a visibly-soiled lower flip top cover then began preparing raw beef.”
As the cook changed his gloves, he neglected to wash his hands between the old gloves and new gloves, but began cutting potatoes.
Then again, the cookline handwash sink struck out — no soap (strike one), no paper towels (strike two), no hand-drying blower (strike three).
All the cold units had a “buildup of food debris/soil residue on equipment door handles and gaskets.”
The wiping cloth sanitizing solution was just water — zero parts per million chlorine sanitizer.
In a flip-top cooler with a left door that didn’t close properly, tofu measured 54 to 55 degrees and cooked potato wedges measured 55 to 56 degrees. Cream in another reach-in cooler measured 46 degrees. All the food, which had been prepared the day before, needed to be at or under 41 degrees for safe keeping. Stop Sales came down on them, sending them into the garbage.
READ MORE: Day-old food on equipment among a Miami supermarket’s inspection issues
Cali Aji, 4251 N. Federal Hwy., Boca Raton
Routine inspection, 18 total violations, three High Priority violations
There was an “accumulation of lime scale on the inside of the dishmachine,” but also an accumulation of 25 rodent droppings under a rack in the kitchen’s dry storage area.
Not as disgusting on a cookline storage shelf, but still a violation: soiled cardboard.
The wall behind a cleaned kitchen utensil rack was “soiled with accumulated grease, food debris, and/or dust.”
The water from a kitchen handwash sink wasn’t hot, and neither the handwash sink water nor the three-compartment sink water could get up to 85 degrees.
“No hot water in the facility.”
Dunkin’ Donuts, 4607 N. Australian Ave., Mangonia Park
Complaint inspection, five total violations, five High Priority violations
The town of Mangonia Park — incorporated 1947, population in the 2020 U.S. Census, 2,142 — was under a boil water notice when the inspector came by on Feb. 19.
The water wasn’t being treated or properly boiled before being used for drink ice, handwashing, brewing coffee or tea, so that led to a stream of Stop Sales: two under the counter bins and one machine of drink ice, three urns of coffee and three urns of tea.
“Operator did not set up means to properly wash hands under a boil water notice, and the employees continued preparing food/drinks for customers.”
Sliced cheese also got hit with a Stop Sale for not being properly cooled to at least 41 degrees.
Inti Sandwich, 2800 N. Military Trail, Unincorporated Palm Beach County
Routine inspection, three total violations, one High Priority violation
Three live roaches were hanging out behind a cookline cooler and two live roaches under the three-compartment sink.
Inside the back of that cooler, where the compressor lives: 50 roach corpses. Another three were under the three-compartment sink.
The cookline microwave was “soiled with food debris.”
Los Catrachos, 4663 Lake Worth Rd., Greenacres
Routine inspection, 18 total violations, 15 High Priority violations
Even Gen Z inspectors wouldn’t need GPS to find Los Catrachos, which showed up on the Sick and Shut Down List in October and December with too many roaches and too much food slapped with Stop Sales for temperature abuse both times.
At least Los Catrachos can claim consistency. Three dead roaches in a dry storage area. Two dead roaches at a prep table on a bucket and single serve items. Six live roaches ran below the prep table and two roaches made their way to the tortilla station.
“Tortillas were in direct contact with a rag.”
Stop Sales slammed cooked pork that had been fixed on Jan. 30 and overstayed its seven-day lease by 11 days; a dented can of tomato sauce; and that previous favorite, temperature abuse — cooked beans, cheese, coleslaw, milk and pico de gallo, none of which were cooled to 41 degrees or under.
“Employee entered building then began working” without washing hands.
“Employee cracked raw shell eggs then touched a clean plate” without washing hands.
Moe’s Southwest Grill, 6230 Coral Ridge Dr., Coral Springs
Complaint inspection, three total violations, one High Priority violation
The inspector saw four roach bodies “behind a notice board in the dishwashing area” and another five under the dressing cooler in the dining room.
Five live roaches were behind the dishwasher notice board. One roach was living under a prep station rice cooker.
The Original Pancake House, 11510 SW 72nd St., Kendall
Routine inspection, 46 total violations, 19 High Priority violations
Earlier this week, we told you about the swarm of ants and handwashing problems at The Original Pancake House.
READ MORE: Over 60 ants on food; also unsafe food, unwashed hands at Miami pancake place
Palm Beach Bagel, 1200 Yamato Rd., Boca Raton
Complaint inspection, seven total violations, five High Priority violations
As five flies landed on “assorted flat bagels on top of the display case,” they brought Stop Sales with them.
About 20 flies were on the wall behind the front counter over a flip-top cooler and food prep area. Ten flies were flying around a flip-top cooler lid. Another five flies were on kitchen walls.
A “visibly soiled dry wiping cloth was in use on a cookline cutting board.”
Someone “touched a visibly soiled wiping cloth, touched a garbage can, then handled clean equipment, clean utensils, clean plates and prepared food for customers without washing hands. “
An apparently ineffective cooler held cooked peppers, boiled eggs and cut lettuce at 63 degrees. That’s over the 41-degree limit. Stop Sale, Stop Sale, Stop Sale.
The first callback inspection lasted only as long as it took the inspector to count the five flies in the front counter bagel display unit and the five flying around the front counter landing on shelves and bags.
The second callback inspection got the bagel folks back in business.
Redland Ice Cream & Bakery, 24810 SW 177 Ave., Redland
Routine inspection, 10 total violations, four High Priority violations
Six roaches died under the three-compartment sink. Two died in a cabinet over the triple sink.
As for the living, two roaches strolled on top of an in-use oven and on the side of an oven door in a back prep area. Six roaches scaled the wall near the dishwasher and triple sink. Three roaches were on “clean containers” inside the cabinet over the triple sink. Three roaches crawled on the floor elsewhere.
These roaches left “100-plus roach droppings inside cabinets and on holes inside the wall above the triple sink.”
A wooden cutting board had deep cut marks in the back prep area, too deep to allow proper cleaning.
In the walk-in cooler, bread sat in a non-food grade bag.
No paper towels graced the dishwasher area handwash sink.
Miami Herald
Since 1989, David J. Neal’s domain at the Miami Herald has expanded to include writing about Panthers (NHL and FIU), Dolphins, old school animation, food safety, fraud, naughty lawyers, bad doctors and all manner of breaking news. He drinks coladas whole. He does not work Indianapolis 500 Race Day.