07-02-2025
Fly on tofu, live rodent on trap — how 8 South Florida restaurants failed inspection
Wayward wet wiping cloths and rodents and roaches hither and yon helped put eight restaurants on this week's Sick and Shut Down List.
For the third consecutive week, no Miami-Dade restaurants failed inspection. Don't blame us. We don't choose who gets inspected and we don't do the inspecting. You can help do the former here.
In alphabetical order:
Basilic Vietnamese Grill, 218 E. Commercial Blvd., Lauderdale-by-the-Sea: Routine inspection, 27 total violations, eight High Priority violations.
The inspector saw a roach on a kitchen prep table, another on a flip top cookline cooler and two more promenading about the kitchen floor.
They were the survivors. About 10 who didn't make it lay in the kitchen of the front counter bar area. Five were legs up on the kitchen floor. Two were in a kitchen corner.
A worker 'portioned raw shrimp in a container with gloves, then proceeded to grab a bowl of ready-to-eat cabbage with the same gloves, without washing hands and changing gloves first.'
Another employee 'put gloves on without washing hands' before portioning ready-to-eat bean sprouts.
Proper thawing occurs in a refrigerator, not in standing water. But that's where the restaurant crew had prepped shrimp and raw beef in a bucket.
In the walk-in cooler, cooked pork, pork egg rolls and raw chicken weren't covered.
And about 10 wet wiping cloths weren't kept in sanitizing solution..
MORE: Unsafe milk, tequeños and cheeseburgers among a Miami 7-Eleven's inspection problems
Bon Gou Cuisine, 7459 S. Military Tr., Unincorporated Palm Beach County: Routine inspection, eight total violations, six High Priority violations.
Inspectors don't like to see managers on a wild roach hunt like The Coyote (Eatibus Anythingus) trying to catch the Road Runner (Velocitus Maximus). They'd rather you do the killing, cleaning and sanitizing when they're away.
But when you've got eight live roaches walking on your floor, you have to do something. Two more roaches strolled on a wall while two others played before meeting their final doom in a mop sink.
In the kitchen, someone handled raw turkeys, and without washing hands handled clean mixing spoons to stir marinade on a table.
Someone rinsed a pot, filled it with water and beans and didn't take the sanitizing step.
The reach-in cooler measures about as cool as your Dad driving the speed limit in a beige Chrysler. That led to hot dogs, cooked rice and chicken broth being tossed for being too warm.
The Cooper, 4610 PGA Blvd., Palm Beach Gardens: Routine inspection, four total violations, one High Priority violation.
The website says The Cooper is 'a farm-to-table eatery,' but the inspector found it more fly-to-counter-wall-clean dishes eatery.
'Approximately 15 small flying insects were landing on single service containers and clean dishes above the prep counters and the food.'
In the dining room, five flies were landing on the walls. Another five at the bar area kept landing on the counter and alcohol bottles. A different quintet demonstrated different tastes, landing on the wall and the shelves with the hot sauce in a hallway. Three flies got on the coffee machine and on the wall above that area.
Also, there were 'single service items' stored in the dumpster area.
Dominic's, 9834 W. Glades Blvd., Westwinds of Boca shopping mall, Unincorporated Palm Beach County: Complaint inspection, five total violations, one High Priority violation.
'Live rodent present on a sticky trap placed underneath dry storage near the walk-in cooler door.'
The inspector also saw 'wet wiping cloths were not stored in sanitizing solution between uses throughout the kitchen and pizza prep areas.'
Fuddruckers, 14532 SW Fifth St., Pembroke Pines: Complaint inspection, 11 total violations, two High Priority violations.
We previously told you about the standing water, sanitation failures and the roach sashaying across the prep table at the last Broward location of the once ubiquitous hamburger chain.
MORE: At Broward's last Fuddruckers, a roach on a prep table, loose garbage, ice machine mold
Lucille's American Cafe, 2250 Weston Rd., Weston: Routine inspection, seven total violations, five High Priority violations.
Not four beetles or Beatles, but a not-so-fabulous four roaches, live, on the kitchen prep table next to the grill.
Seven flies kept landing on a kitchen shelf.
Stop Sale issued on time/temperature control for safety. Food in a reach-in cooler was stored higher than 41 degrees, including diced tomatoes, diced boiled eggs, blue cheese and feta cheese.
Guess where the wet wiping cloth was when it wasn't being used? That's right, NOT in the sanitizing solution where it was supposed to be.
The inspector observed two small flying insects landing on a prep table and shelf in the kitchen, and a roach on a prep table next to the grill.
Lucille's passed the re-re-inspection.
Tacos Al Carbon Bar and Grill, 2161 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd., West Palm Beach: Routine inspection, two total violations, two High Priority violations.
To help you keep Tacos straight, the one in Greenacres and its prep table spider made this list in November. This location did so in August.
'An employee handled broom/dust pan while cleaning and then handle clean utensils and bottles without washing hands.'
That was a problem in August. So was this:
About 20 rodent pellets in a kitchen electrical closet, another 10 in a kitchen dry storage area, five next to dry storage shelves on the cookline and five in the dishwasher area.
Wing Wah Express, 115 N. Congress Ave., Boynton Beach: Routine inspection, 11 total violations, three High Priority violations.
'Dirty cardboard used to line food-contact shelves under the prep table on cookline.'
Apparently, along with the egg crisis, there's a Saran Wrap-and-generic-knockoff crisis because 'stored fried shrimp and spring rolls not covered in a reach-in freezer...'
That won't bother the flies, one of which landed on tofu in a cookline reach-in cooler. Stop Sale on the tofu. The fly went off to be one of 15 on the lid of the soy sauce bucket next to the cookline. Another four hung out on the outside wall of the walk-in cooler.
'Floor soiled/has accumulation of debris around the drain' under the three-compartment sink.
