Six South Florida restaurants were ordered shut last week by state inspectors on account of issues including one dead fly in a customer’s beverage, cockroaches crawling on a Boba tea station, and rodent droppings found under a prep table.
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.)
JoJo’s Take-Out Restaurant, West Palm Beach
1700 45th St., Suite 1745
Ordered shut: Aug. 10, Aug. 11 and Aug. 12; reopened Aug. 13
Why: State inspectors reported 13 violations (five high-priority), such as “one [live] roach on the floor” of the kitchen (which the operator killed), as well as 90 rodent droppings discovered in the kitchen “around the water heater,” “underneath prep table,” “on containers and shelf” and “between two walk-in coolers used for storage.” The restaurant also was ordered to stop selling and trash its rice and cooked pork “due to temperature abuse.” Finally, inspectors spotted several instances of disrepair, including missing ceiling tiles, kitchen wall damage and “sewage/wastewater backing up through floor drains” in the kitchen. More rodent droppings plagued the restaurant during follow-up inspections on Aug. 11 and Aug. 12, and JoJo’s was ordered shut twice more, but the state finally cleared the restaurant to reopen on Aug. 13.
Villa Rosano, Boca Raton
9858 Clint Moore Road
Ordered shut: Aug. 11; reopened Aug. 12
Why: Seven violations (four high-priority) were led by 12 live cockroaches found crawling in the kitchen “under pot storage shelf over clean side of dish washer station” and on the floor in the same area. The restaurant was ordered to stop selling and toss its tomato sauce and chicken stock “due to temperature abuse.” The restaurant reopened the following day after the reinspection found a single basic violation. (The restaurant was previously ordered shut June 10 for similar roach issues.)
Chili Crab, Boca Raton
1198 N. Dixie Highway
Ordered shut: Aug. 10, reopened Aug. 11
Why: The state noted three violations (one high-priority) at this 5-month-old restaurant, including the presence of 50 live flies in the kitchen landing on the “soda dispenser box rack,” on the “wall over dry storage containers” and on a “pot storage rack in rear hallway” — with some “landing on containers and bags of food.” The restaurant reopened on Aug. 11 without a single follow-up incident.
Burger King, Davie
1255 S. Nob Hill Road
Ordered shut: Aug. 9, reopened Aug. 10
Why: Of 10 violations reported at this Davie Burger King, one was high-priority: An infestation of more than 200 live flies on a kitchen “sink shelf with clean sanitized pans,” flying near the “exterior drive-thru window,” landing where racks of bread are stored, “flying around mop sink area,” “landing on to-go lids for cups” as well as to-go-bags and ice-cream cones, and around the “front drive-thru area where cooked egg croissants are held.” Meanwhile, the state also found 10 dead flies on the gaskets of an open cooler where “vanilla and chocolate syrup” are stored, and several unsanitary issues, including a “black/green mold-like” substance in the ice machine, as well as walls and point-of-sale equipment covered in grease and food residue build-up. The fast-food chain was cleared to reopen the next day when a reinspection yielded one basic violation.
Dragon Pho, Davie
7740 Nova Drive, Suite B1
Ordered shut: Aug. 9; remains closed pending reinspection
Why: The state report included 40 violations (11 high-priority), such as 16 live flies found “flying around and landing on tables, wall” — and even on one of the inspectors — in the dining room. Flies also landed on “containers both clean and dirty in dishwashing area,” on the prep table and “clean plates” by the cook line, and on storage containers and blenders in Boba smoothie station. There was “1 dead fly in customer’s drink,” and the customer returned the drink to the operator. Meanwhile, live roaches crawled across a dining-room table while the inspector was writing the report, as well as on the dining-room floor while a customer was nearby, “on floor in hallway toward rear door,” “on floor under mat by cook line” and “on prep table by Boba smoothie station.” The state red-flagged several unsanitary practices, such as “garbage bags used to store cooked noodles” (the operator removed them). One employee was cutting green peppers without washing hands or changing gloves, while another touched food with artificial press-on nails and polish. Finally, the restaurant was ordered to stop selling and throw away cooked pork and 2 pounds of cooked noodles “due to temperature abuse.” The restaurant is awaiting reinspection and has not reopened.
Souvlaki Fresh, Boca Raton
122 NE Second St.
Ordered shut: Aug. 9, reopened the same day
Why: Inspectors cited four violations (two high-priority), including the presence of 13 live cockroaches crawling “under double-door reach-in cooler” in the kitchen’s prep area, and on the floor “around water heater near rear door.” The restaurant was also red-flagged for improperly storing raw meat skewers over french fries and for missing kitchen tiles. A reinspection later the same day found a single basic issue, and the state cleared Souvlaki’s reopening.
