Swarms of flies and a roach falling out of a paper towel dispenser in front of an inspector are on this week’s list of South Florida restaurants that failed inspection.
Before we get to the details from Broward and Palm Beach restaurants (no Miami-Dade or Florida Keys this week), a reminder: The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation does the inspecting and chooses which places to inspect, sometimes spurred by complaints from the public.
In alphabetical order:
Boca Raton Marriott Hotel, 5150 Town Center Cir., Boca Raton: Routine inspection, seven total violations, two High Priority violations.
The inspector counted 178 flies, 100 of which were in the main kitchen dishwashing area “landing on mops, the dish machine, the wall, clean service trays and clean plastic containers.”
Another 15 were in the dining area bar “flying around a crate near the sink” while 21 were “landing on the wall and cabinets.” At the wait station, eight flies zipped about and landed on pepper shakers.
The flies far outnumbered the two live and one dead roaches, although that one dead roach did mar a clean cutting board.
In the main kitchen storage, the inspector saw platters stored in a way that they were not protected from debris falling from the ceiling.
The inspector came back to the Marriott for a same day re-inspection, which the restaurant passed.
Gabriel’s Cafe & Grille, 12793 Forest Hill Blvd., Wellington: Routine food, nine total violations, six High Priority violations.
A dozen dung pieces from regular rodents dotted Gabriel’s, two of which were under a storage rack for clean pans, another two of which were under a dry storage shelf with “big containers of sugar and flour” and another two of which were “next to Ragu sauce on dry storage shelf with seasonings…”
Restaurants that can’t properly cool their precooked food to under 41 degrees put customers at risk and Gabriel’s got caught with turkey soup, hard boiled eggs and cut watermelon all still too warm from the previous day after a night in the not-good-enough coolers. Stop Sales came down on them.
Between uses, wiping cloths are supposed to be in a sanitizing solution that’s 100 parts per million. Gabriel’s measured 10 ppm.
Gabriel’s could blow their horn again after the next day’s re-inspection.
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Rotelli Pizza & Pasta, 15064 Jog Rd., Delray Beach: Routine inspection, three total violations, two High Priority violations.
Of the 10 dead roaches, eight were under a cookline fryer. Five live roaches were spotted. Management was so disturbed by two live roaches under a two-tier cookline table, they took the table out of the restaurant.
Rotelli passed the next day’s re-inspection.
Wally Caramel Restaurant, 4711 NW 14 St., Lauderhill: Food Licensing Inspection, 13 total violations, five High Priority violations.
This isn’t the way to get your food license.
Stop Sales came down on cooked goat that measured 23 degrees too warm, marinated fish and gravy sauce, each 11 degrees too warm after being in a reach-in cooler overnight.
“Yellow food container lids soiled with grease.”
Then there were the 20 rodent droppings on cooking lids on kitchen dry storage shelves. Another 10 pieces of poop were in an office near the front counter. Seven were elsewhere in the kitchen.
One dead roach was in the kitchen bathroom.
The mop sink was clogged already.
No way to dry your hands at the front counter handwash sink.
Wally’s world was better after the callback inspection the next day.
Zipz’s NY Pizza Co., 836 W Indiantown Rd., Jupiter: Complaint inspection, six total violations, five High Priority violations.
Two roaches were in a paper towel dispenser next to the stove and one fell out of the paper towel dispenser into the hand sink next to the stove. These roaches hung around the food areas. One roach was moving on the floor next to the stove; another on a wood crate in front of the stove. Three of them were under the pizza oven.
An employee’s bottle of Minute Maid was jammed into the ice used for drinks. As the ice will go into glasses for customers, that’s contamination so a Stop Sale crashed down on all the ice.
Stop Sales also hit tomato sauce that was in a walk-in cooler overnight, but should’ve been in something smaller than a 10-gallon covered pot for safe cooling.
During the next day’s re-inspection, the roaches ran on a cookline sandwich cutting board (one), near the wine bottles at the bar (one), under a silverware container (two) among other places. Eight dead roaches were under a cookline cooler, two at the front counter, two under the stove, another two under a cookline handwash sink, one under a flour rack and four others
Zipz’s passed re-re-inspection the next day.
Amanda Smith is a dedicated U.S. correspondent with a passion for uncovering the stories that shape the nation. With a background in political science, she provides in-depth analysis and insightful commentary on domestic affairs, ensuring readers are well-informed about the latest developments across the United States.
