A South Florida taco spot was forced to temporarily shut after an inspection revealed flies landing on raw onions and soda syrup boxes — and on the inspector — among other violations.
It was the only Broward County restaurant that faced an emergency closure order from the state last week. There were no Palm Beach County restaurants shut 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 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 spot a possible violation and wish to file a complaint, visit myfloridalicense.com. (But please don’t contact us: The Sun Sentinel doesn’t inspect restaurants.)
Broward County
Tacocraft Taqueria & Tequila Bar
301 N. University Drive, Plantation
Ordered shut: May 11
Why: 10 violations (four high-priority), including:
• About 18 live roaches in areas such as “on the ground under the grills,” “by the reach-in freezer on the floor” and “under the lowboy/handwashing sink in the kitchen crawling on the floors and walls.”
• About 43 live flies “near the soda dispensers landing on the boxes with soda syrup and walls,” “by mop sink area landing on walls, floors and cleaning equipment,” “landing on raw onions by the walk-in cooler,” “landing on inspector while writing up the report” and “in the produce prep area landing on clean surfaces.”
• “Raw tuna stored over ready-to-eat potatoes in the walk-in cooler.”
• “Handwashing sink blocked with a table with a rice cooker on it.”
• “Insect control device installed over food preparation area near the walk-in cooler.”
Status: Reopened May 12 after a follow-up inspection found one basic violation.