Flies on pastelitos among restaurant filth in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, the Keys
Diversity, equity and inclusion aren’t dead on this week’s list of restaurant inspections, showing diversity of cuisines and equitable inclusion of all South Florida counties.
So, let’s get to this week’s “Sick and Shut Down List” of restaurants closed by state inspection failures. Unless noted, the restaurants reopened after passing a callback inspection. We don’t choose which restaurants get inspected nor do we do the inspecting.
In alphabetical order:
El Mio, 12362 Quail Roost Dr., South Miami-Dade: Routine inspection, 24 total violations, seven High Priority violations.
“An employee began working with food, handling clean equipment or utensils, or touching unwrapped single-service items without first washing hands.”
About 40 flies were “flying in the air and landing on a clean cooking pot near the three-compartment sink next to the fryer in the kitchen area.” Another five were “landing on unwashed tomatoes on the preparation table.”
The can opener was “soiled with old food debris.” Cutting boards under the prep table had stains.
The restaurant didn’t have a probe thermometer to measure food temperature, a basic of restaurant food safety.
“Single service cups and containers were stored on the floor in back of kitchen near exit door ... a clean pot was stored on the floor near the three-compartment sink.”
Throughout the kitchen, the wall was “soiled with old food debris and grease...”
A Stop Sale crashed down on a container of milk that had no date mark.
As of Thursday night, Dec. 26, there was no online record that El Mio passed inspection or should be open.
Fat Freddy’s, 221 E. Prospect Rd., Fort Lauderdale: Routine inspection, seven total violations, four High Priority violations.
Worse than the inspector seeing “operator talking on the cell phone than engaging in food preparation without washing hands” was what the inspector didn’t see: potable water.
“No potable water at the handwashing sink, the bathroom and the three-compartment sink. The entire establishment has no potable water.”
Just on that, Freddy’s was dead (that’s what I said), but the inspector also noticed no soap at one handwash sink and no way to get hands from damp to dry at the restroom or front counter handwash sinks.
La Calenita, 1931 Pembroke Rd., Hollywood: Complaint inspection, 13 total violations, five High Priority violations.
At the front counter display case, about eight flies came down on glass shelves and the borders of the display case. In that display case, were “approximately five live small flying insects landing on guava pastries and apple turnovers.”
Stop Sales on the pastelitos and apple turnovers. Also, tilapia packaged in reduced oxygen should stay frozen until it’s about to be cooked, but this fish sat “fully thawed in a walk-in cooler.”
Cardboard lined food contact shelves on a cookline prep table.
A cookline flip top’s cutting board “has cut marks and is no longer cleanable.”
The path to handwash sinks should be more open than a Dolphin player’s January calendar. Instead, the kitchen handwash sink was “blocked by the table with a rice cooker.”
A same day re-inspection quickly got La Calenita back in business.
Salty’s Bar and Grill, 103900 Overseas Hwy., Key Largo: Routine inspection, 15 total violations, six High Priority violations.
We told you last week about breadcrumbs and bowel movements at this Keys restaurant that also wasn’t sanitizing its dishes properly.
READ MORE: An inspector found poop in the panko and poor sanitizing at a Florida Keys restaurant
Strathmore Bagel & Deli, 4095 S. State Rd. 7, Unincorporated Palm Beach County: Complaint inspection, 10 total violations, six High Priority violations.
A dead roach lay legs up “on shelves with clean plates.” Two roaches died inside drawers of a flat top cooler that stored commercially packaged cheese.”
The cook whipped out a “visibly soiled wiping cloth” from his back pocket, wiped his hands on it, “then handled ready to eat food by putting it on a plate without washing his hands.”
Similarly, a “waitress handled soiled plates while removing them from a table, then handled clean plates of food from the serving window to take to a customer’s table without washing her hands.”
Dirty dishes sat in the kitchen handwash sink, a no-no. The soap dispenser next to the dishwashing area didn’t work.
Speaking of the dishwashing area, the water never got to sanitizing temperature (160 degrees).
That’s not what you want when about 30 flies “landed on clean plates, packaged bread and cutting boards used to prepare food.” About 50 flies in the kitchen bagel prep area hung out “on walls by the bagel roller and speed racks.” About 100 flies swarmed the kitchen dry storage area.
Strathmore failed the callback inspection with 15 flies in the kitchen dry storage area and another 10 in the bagel prep area.
It took a third inspection for Strathmore to pass.
This story was originally published December 27, 2024 at 6:19 AM with the headline "Flies on pastelitos among restaurant filth in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, the Keys."
