A dead rodent tangled under the kitchen stove, a dead fly inside a bottle of liqueur and live flies on open bags of breading mix and sugar were among the issues that forced state inspectors to temporarily shut four South Florida restaurants last week.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel typically highlights restaurant inspections in Broward and Palm Beach counties from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. We cull through hundreds of restaurant and bar inspections that happen weekly and spotlight places ordered shut for “high-priority violations,” such as improper food temperatures or dead cockroaches.
Sun Sentinel readers can browse full Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade county reports through our state inspection map, updated weekly (usually Mondays) with fresh data pulled from the Florida DBPR website.
Any restaurant that fails a state inspection must stay closed until it passes a follow-up. If you spotted a possible violation and wish to file a complaint, contact Florida DBPR here. (But please don’t contact us: The Sun Sentinel doesn’t inspect restaurants.)
Kasa Champet Restaurant & Lounge, Pembroke Pines
7920 Pines Blvd.
Ordered shut: May 25; reopened May 26
Why: A state inspection reported 32 violations (nine high-priority), including 10 live flies landing “on top of outer lid of to-go sauce container,” “flying over container of raw fish in prep area,” “on top of container where raw fish is being held,” “flying around in bar area” and around the kitchen’s dishwashing area. (The restaurant’s operator killed every bug and sanitized the areas during the inspection.) Inspectors also spotted one “dead fly inside blue curacao” liqueur bottle” and five dead ones “on top shelf in bar,” and ordered the operator to discard the tainted alcohol and clean the shelves. The state also uncovered “raw peppers with mold-like growth” — which the operator threw away — and ordered the restaurant to stop selling and trash its cooked cow feet, cooked pork, cooked bean sauce, butter packets and cooked chicken due to temperature abuse. Finally, inspectors saw the microwave (with its handle missing) and kitchen floor soiled with debris, grease and rust. Despite finding six issues during its follow-up visit on May 26, the state cleared Champet to reopen.
Ivory’s Take Out, Fort Lauderdale
2270 NW Sixth St.
Ordered shut: May 26; twice on May 27; reopened May 28
Why: The state discovered 18 violations (seven high-priority), including three live flies “on an open bag of breading mix” and “on open bag of sugar in storage room” near the kitchen, as well as five live cockroaches crawling in the kitchen’s handwashing sink, “in the kitchen by the stove” and on storage shelves. (The operator later killed the roaches, but not the flies.) Inspectors also found “40 rodent droppings on shelving” near the kitchen’s prep table and fryer, and nine dead roaches behind the kitchen’s ice machine and on storage room shelving. Finally, the restaurant was ordered to stop selling and toss six shelled eggs “with broken shells.” Inspectors shuttered the restaurant again — twice — on May 27 after unearthing more fly and cockroach woes, but finally green-lit Ivory’s reopening on May 28 after finding a small handful of minor issues.
Royal Sandwich Co., West Palm Beach
4211 North Shore Drive, #D
Ordered shut: May 24; reopened May 25
Why: Inspectors reported 13 violations (four high-priority), led by 20 rodent droppings “in food storage area adjacent to the kitchen” and beneath the kitchen “steam table and prep tables area,” which the restaurant’s operator later sanitized. The state also found two dead roaches behind the front-counter register. An inspector spotted one employee’s personal water bottle and soda cup stored next to a food prep table, along with personal items such as keys, T-shirt and wallet, which the operator later removed. Finally, inspectors found ceiling tiles and walls coated with accumulated grease, food debris and/or dust. The restaurant was cleared to reopen May 25 after inspectors on their second visit discovered only a pair of basic issues.
Sang’s Chinese Food and Dim Sum, North Miami Beach
1925 NE 163rd St.
Ordered shut: May 23; reopened May 24
Why: The state uncovered 21 violations (five high-priority), such as seven live cockroaches found “crawling on kitchen floor” and “inside a box located under [the kitchen’s] hand wash sink,” as well as 12 dead roaches on the “dining area floor” and under the kitchen sink and dishwashing machine. Inspectors also spotted at least 10 examples of “roach excrement” beneath the steam table and a “dead rodent present” between the tube connections under the kitchen stove. The restaurant also was ordered to stop selling and trash its shelled eggs, which had been “stored with cracks or broken shells.” Despite a pair of minor issues spotted during inspectors’ second visit the following day, the Chinese eatery was allowed to reopen
