inspections – Page 22 – West Boca News

Ichi Not Yummy: East Boca Restaurant Inspections

Estia, the restaurant shown in the Facebook post for this article, had a perfect inspection. See below.

Ichiyami Buffet & Sushi had the worst inspection in East Boca in the last few weeks, and one of the worst we’ve ever seen. The inspector on October 27th found 49 total violations – including 14 marked high-priority – and temporarily closed the place.
The worst of it? Both roach and rodent activity was found:

Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found. Approximately 20 live roaches near walk-in cooler area by open containers of flour and chest freezer.
Rodent activity present as evidenced by rodent droppings found. 10 dry and 2 fresh rodent droppings by chest freezer near walk-in cooler and 15 dry and 2 fresh rodent droppings in dry storage room.

But we found something that bothered us even more than that:

Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. All sushi rolls between 63 and 74° F in buffet sushi area. All sushi rolls are made with time marked rice from 11:30 AM. Sushi rolls were not discarded after the 4 hour limit. Sushi rolls were on display even after 4 hours. Also observed sushi rolls that were being discarded having fish removed for later use. This was then corrected by throwing the fish away. See stop sale issued. Observed tempura fried cucumber at 85° F at sushi bar under no temperature control. Raw beef and raw chicken by cooking station in buffet area at 49° F. … Observed employee attempting to save the fish and throwing the rice away on sushimi that should have been discarded.

They reopened the next day and the inspection showed only one violation, but we will not be visiting ~~for a while~~ ever. Ichiyami is on SE Mizner Blvd, south of Palmetto Park Road on the north side of Royal Palm Place. To be fair, their past inspections were much better.
Close by in both location and number of violations, Altanour Meditteranean had 43 violations including 5 high priority in early November. Two of those were picky, having the wrong kind of Raid insect spray in the wrong place, but there were also significant food temperature and storage issues.
Ordinarily 30 violations would “win” our inspection report, but TooJay’s on NW 19th near Town Center only managed third place. Six of the violations were marked high priority, and four involved hand washing. The inspection was this past Friday and was triggered by a consumer complaint.
The Olive Tree on Federal Highway had 26 violations with “small flying insects in the dish washing area” the worst of it. And somehow this is considered high priority:

First aid supplies improperly stored. By tea bags.

Back in Royal Palm Place, Giovanni’s Pizza had 26 violations including food temperature and storage, and mold found on a couple of vegetables.
In Mizner Park, Ruth’s Chris Steak House had 25 violations, with 6 high priority including dry rodent droppings found as well as small flying insects.
The last of those over 20, Taco Prince on Federal Highway had 23 violations, with a couple involving hand washing and food storage.
With “only” 13 violations, Ruby Tuesday’s in Mizner Park made bigger news. They were shut down for a day because:

Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found. Approximately 1 live by prep table, 2 live by warmer, 1 live by prep line, 1 live under prep table at cookline, 2 live by fryers, 1 live above fryers, 1 live at DELFIELD freezer, 5 live by ice cream freezer, 5 live by soda box storage, 1 live by fire extinguisher near cookline, 1 live by kitchen entry doors, 1 live by dishwasher, 1 live on dish table, 3 live under 3 compartment sink, 11 live on dish racks near dishwashing area, 1 live in clean utensil storage container in dishwashing area, 15 live on shelving unit in dishwashing area, 6 live on dry storage shelving, 1 live on rear prep table, 1 live by handwash sink in dishwashing area, 2 live on cookline cold holding drawer.

Our math isn’t great but that seems like a lot of roaches. They reopened the next day with zero violations.

Estia was perfect - Zero violations — Estia was perfect – Zero violations

Turning to the good news, the best of this report was Estia Greek Taverna with a perfect inspection – no violations. They also did well in our May inspection report with only two minor violations then. We’ve been to Estia a couple of times and it’s a nice place with good food, though it’s an awkward location inside Royal Palm Place.
Two licensing inspections were also perfect: The Sinful Sandwich on Federal north of Yamato, and the Subway in Palmetto Park Square (just east of I-95).
Honorable mentions go to Morton’s in Town Center Circle and Souvlaki Fresh on NE 2nd, both with 2 minor violations. Other notables include Seasons 52 (4 violations) and nearby Madison’s (9); Grand Lux Cafe (5); and LaSpada’s Hoagies (8).
Yard House in Mizner Park had 11 violations including one that makes us like them more:

Pet dog permitted in outdoor dining area without local ordinance allowing pet dogs in outdoor dining areas. No permit observed. Doggie bowls present.

A local ordinance is required to allow pet dogs in outdoor dining areas? And the city of Boca Raton doesn’t have such an ordinance? It’s a dumb requirement and also dumb that the city hasn’t dealt with this.
Our spreadsheet for this report is below:
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/eastboca-november-16.xls”]

Roaches at Saltimbocca in Delray – Twice

The worst of our latest “Near Boca” restaurant inspection report goes to Saltimbocca in Delray Beach. It was not a Happy Halloween when the inspector on October 31st found:

Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found…..one live roaches underneath 3 compartment sink and 4 live roaches along wall underneath Dishmachine

Usually when we see something like this, the follow-up inspection is clean but that’s not what happened on November 1st:

Dead roaches on premises…..2 dead roaches in underneath 3 compartment sink. You would imagine they would take it upon themselves to research pest control companies by now. **Warning** Call back: 6 dead roaches underneath Dishmachine, 8 dead roaches underneath 3 compartment sink, 6 dead roaches in cook line .
Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found…..one live roaches underneath 3 compartment sink and 4 live roaches along wall underneath Dishmachine. **Warning** Call back: approximately 10 alive roaches dishwashing area, 6 dead roaches underneath Dishmachine, 8 dead roaches underneath 3 compartment sink, 6 dead roaches in cook line.

Earlier in October they had 15 violations including 3 rated high priority:

Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit……eggplant fry, chicken breast 45°, lasagna , cheese 50° in flip top reach in cooler cross from fryer in kitchen . Food being held less than 4 hours ice down on food. Corrective action taken. **Repeat Violation** **Warning**
Raw animal food stored over cooked food…..raw burger above cooked lasagna and ready to eat cheese in reach in cooler in kitchen. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**
Raw animal foods not properly separated from one another based upon minimum required cooking temperature in walk-in freezer – all products not commercially packaged. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**

Saltimbocca Italian Bistro is on Military Trail just south of Atlantic. We’ve never been there and we’re not likely to try it.
Other less than stellar inspections:

Peppertree Bagel on Sample near 441 in Margate, with 22 total violations. High priority violations involving hand washing and food storage were the most serious.
Duffy’s Sports Grill on Hillsboro at Lyons, with 19 violations including small flying insects in the kitchen and bar area.
Rotelli’s in the same plaza with Duffy’s had 15 violations, four high priority, such as hand washing, food temperatures and food storage. A follow-up will be required related to paperwork.
Lucky Dragon Chinese on 441 north of Hillsboro (near Starbuck’s and BJ’s) had 12 violations with live flying insects and food storage issues.

The Good News

The best of this report goes to Sub Zero Ice Cream in Parkland, with a perfect zero violations. It’s on University Drive and would be a short drive from the end of Palmetto Park if we built that bridge (never gonna happen).

Honorable mentions go to the near-perfect Bluefin Sushi and Hidden Tea Secrets, both in Parkland on Parkside Drive. Each had two minor violations. We’ve been to Bluefin and like it, and we’ve been inside the tea place. It looks nice but we haven’t tried it.

Other inspections worth noting:

Jersey Mike’s on 441 north of Hillsboro had a good inspection with only 2 violations, though one was high priority related to food storage.
Bamboo Wok in Coconut Creek (Hillsboro at Lyons, near the Rotelli’s and Duffy’s) did pretty well with 6 violations, all minor. It’s part of the same chain as the one on Glades west of Lyons, which was voted best Chinese west of the Turnpike in our survey.
Japango in Riverstone Shoppes (441 just south of Lox Road) had 8 violations, but all were minor.

Our spreadsheet for this report is below. The two most recent Saltimbocca inspections were not in the data set, but were on the state website when we were looking into the earlier inspection.
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/nearboca-inspections.xls”]

26 Violations for West Boca Pizza Joint

This is our restaurant inspection report for West Boca (generally west of Military Trail). You can also see our most recent reports for East Boca and Near Boca, as well as our previous West Boca inspection report.

There have been some changes at the Mama’s NYC Pizza in Loggers’ Run Plaza. We had heard there was an ownership change and that’s reflected in a state corporate Sunbiz filing (tiff file) from July. We’ve also heard from readers that the quality changed, though some told us it was better and others said it had gotten worse.
Apparently the restaurant inspector thinks it’s gotten worse. Mama’s NYC was hit with 26 total violations in their October 1 inspection. On the bright side only two of the violations were marked “high priority,” and those aren’t the worst we’ve seen.

Employee failed to wash hands before putting on gloves to work with food.
Raw meat/poultry cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Veal 52°-56°, raw chicken 53°, chicken wings 52°, egg plant 55° corrective action taken wa[s] to put all items in walk-in cooler

The other violations were minor and some involved paperwork. By comparison the inspection in January under the previous owner had only nine minor violations.
The runner-up for worst inspection was Hong Kong Palace, on Powerline south of Palmetto Park Road (the plaza behind Olive Garden). They had 22 violations including three high priority related to food storage and temperatures.
For the good news portion of this report, twelve places had perfect inspections and three were near-perfect with only one minor violation each. Most notable to us were Bruce’s of Great Neck on the west side of 441; Sybarite Pig in Shadowood Square; and the Sandalfoot Bagel restaurant (1 minor violation).

Perfect Inspections:
Bruce’s
Sybarite Pig
Zoey’s Hot Dog (cart and truck)
Brendy’s (Polo Club)
Aunt Adele Empanada’s (new food truck)
Subway (inside the YMCA)
The Oaks Bistro (clubhouse for The Oaks)
Boca Pointe Country Club
And three places inside Woodfield Country Club
Near-Perfect
Sandalfoot Bagel
Coconut Cove Waterpark
and the Shadowood 16 Theaters
The Subway in Loggers’ Run Plaza did well with only three minor violations (we actually got sandwiches there yesterday). Brendy’s on Clint Moore at Jog had 3 violations with one marked high priority, though it doesn’t seem that bad to us:

Displayed food not properly protected from contamination no overhead protection from uncovered and not inverted ice cream cones.

Mozart Cafe at the west end of Camino Real had 11 violations but all were minor.
In the Polo Club Shoppes, Kagura Sushi had 8 violations with 2 high priority related to food temperatures, and Josef’s Table had 12 violations with 3 high priority related to hand washing and food storage.

53 Violations? – Restaurant Inspections in "Near Boca"

We’ve changed how we break down restaurant inspections geographically into three areas: West Boca, East Boca, and what we call “Near Boca.” We covered East Boca inspections about a week ago, and West Boca Inspections a week before that. For Near Boca we include parts of Delray Beach, Parkland, Coconut Creek, Pompano Beach, Margate, Coral Springs, and Deerfield Beach.
This report’s worst is an easy call. CJ’s Drafthouse in Deerfield Beach got clobbered by inspectors with a whopping 53 violations.

It was so bad that it got covered by a local TV station’s “Dirty Dining” segment:

They were closed for a day, and had the same thing happen to them in June. They have a long history of inspections that were bad enough to require follow-up inspections. Here’s the full list of “high-priority” violations from this inspection, including live flies, roaches and rodents:

Dishmachine chlorine sanitizer not at proper minimum strength. Discontinue use of dishmachine for sanitizing and set up manual sanitization until dishmachine is repaired and sanitizing properly-0 ppm when tested.
Grease interceptor/trap overflowing onto floor/ground.
Numerous live flies in kitchen.
Pesticide-emitting strip present in food prep area.
Pesticide/insecticide labeled for household use only present in establishment, Raid and hot shot insect sprays on shelves in kitchen, 5 cans of raid on shelf in front of reachin cooler.
Raw meat/poultry cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit in reachin cooler by cookline. Note: Operator said they are working, took corrective action by placing ice on products.
Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found, 6 next to dish machine, 4 in imperial oven by cookline, 1 on clipboard on wall across from cookline, 3 with eggs intact on hand wash sink infront of cookline.
Rodent activity present as evidenced by rodent droppings found, approximately 10 moist on shelf next to hand wash sink in front of three compartments sink, approximately 20 moist on pot cover on shelf in storage area, approximately 20 moist behind reachin freezer, approximately 40 moist behind dish machine, approximately 60 moist under shelf by dish machine, approximately 4 moist on bag with sugar on shelf in front of walkin cooler, 2 moist on top of cream Saran wrapped container with bread on shelf in front of walkin cooler, 3 moist on wall next to rear door, approximately 25 on top of reachin cooler next to ice machine, 2 moist on top of hot water heater, 3 moist on floor on the west side of the bar, 6 moist on wall in dining room.
Stop Sale issued due to food not being in a wholesome, sound condition, flour bag with evidence of rodent bites, and bag with sugar with evidence of moist rodent droppings.
Toxic substance/chemical stored in food preparation area with potential to cause cross contamination, raid.

CJ’s Drafthouse is at the intersection of Hillsboro and Military Trail.

Other restaurants that stood out to us this week include:
Also in Deerfield Beach, the Paragon theater had only 5 violations. The worst of it was paperwork issues.
In Coconut Creek’s Promenade, Saito’s Steakhouse had 12 violations, but they were mostly minor ones and did not require a follow-up inspection or any other warnings. Salad Creations there had 11 mostly minor violations, and La Via Ristorante had only 3 violations, all minor.
Butterfly World (Lyons Road & Sample in Coconut Creek) had the best performance in this report with two separate inspections on October 1st. One inspection had a perfect zero violations and the other had only one minor violation. Just north of the Sawgrass on Lyons, The WOW Factory had six violations, all minor.
On Sample Road in Margate, La Bamba had 10 violations with one marked high priority, and Golden Corral had 7 minor violations.
On the west side of Sample in Coral Springs, the results were pretty good. Uncle JC Chinese was the worst with 7 mostly minor violations. A paperwork issue will require a follow-up inspection. Pita Pit had 3 violations, all minor. Tobo Japanese had only 2 minor violations.
Closer to West Boca, we see only one place in Parkland on the list. Yogurt Craze on 441 had only one minor violation.
North of Boca we didn’t see any restaurants in Delray Beach that we recognize. The worst number was “Florida Meals, Inc.” on Linton with 14 violations including 3 high priority and a warning. Nearby Poppies had 9 violations with 3 high priority, a warning and a stop sale:

Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit……..chicken, gravy, tomato sauce, dill sauce , beans, fat, holandale sauce 49° to 51° in 3 door reach in cooler by the walk in cooler . Canadian bacon, ham, cheeses, 51° in daily back up reach in cooler cross from conventional oven in way to kitchen. Food being held more than 4 hours . Stop sale issue. Butter, cream cheese 61° no under control temperature in bar counter . Operator discarded food. Butter cream cheese, 45° in flip top reach in cooler in server station and tuna salad, chicken salad, egg sala, pasta, 45° to 46° in daily display cooler in front line. Operator stated door was not closed perfectly . Advised closed door all the time. Corrective action taken. **Warning**
Raw animal food stored over cooked food…….raw shell eggs above hot dog in reach in cooler in cook line . **Corrected On-Site** **Repeat Violation** **Warning**
Stop Sale issued on potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food due to temperature abuse……see stop sale report. **Warning**

Excell on Congress had a poor inspection with 9 violations including 5 high-priority:

Chlorine sanitizer not at proper strength for manual warewashing. Do not use equipment/utensils not properly sanitized. ………200+. **Corrected On-Site**
0Clams/mussels/oysters cold held at a temperature greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. …..beef, turkey , ox tail, beans, goat , rice 51° to 54° in 2 door reach in cooler in kitchen. Food being held more than 4 hours. Stop sale issue.
Equipment and utensils rinsed after the application of the sanitizer solution. **Corrected On-Site**
Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit…….beef, turkey, rice, ox tail,beans 51° to 54°,meat vegetable 45° in 2 door reach in cooler in kitchen . Stop sale issue. **Repeat Violation**
Stop Sale issued on potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food due to temperature abuse…..see stop sale report. **Admin Complaint** **Repeat Violation**

The best result in Delray Beach was the Subway on Congress south of Atlantic, which had only one minor violation. Hunan Garden on Linton had a perfect zero violations, but it was a callback inspection which means they had a problem on their previous inspection that required a follow-up.
Our spreadsheet for this report is below.
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/nearboca.xls”]

Ninja Nightmare: Restaurant Inspection Report

East Boca’s Ninja Spinning Sushi got hit with one of the worst set of inspections we’ve seen since we started doing our inspection reports. It started on August 29th with a whopping 36 violations including 10 considered “high priority” including “mold-like growth” on egg noodles and a stop-sale from food subjected to “temperature abuse.”
Here are the high priority ones:

Employee washed hands with gloves on. **Corrected On-Site**
Food with mold-like growth. See stop sale. Egg noodles.
No sanitizer of any kind available for warewashing. Only use single-service items to serve food to customers until sanitizer is available for warewashing.
Nonfood-grade containers used for food storage – direct contact with food. Sanitizer bucket used to store edamame.
Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. (Reach in cooler- on cook line) pasta 46° tofu 46° cooked chicken 46° raw chicken 48° batter 54° dumplings 54° egg rolls 47° soybean paste 45° raw shrimp 58° soft shell crab 50° eggs 63°
Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) hot held at less than 135 degrees Fahrenheit or above. Rice 79°, 87° and tempura batter 83°.
Raw animal food stored over ready-to-eat food. Raw beef over chicken stock in WIC. Raw chicken over onions in WIC. Eggs over avocados in WIC.
Raw animal foods not properly separated from each other in holding unit. Raw beef and chicken in same bus tub-walk in cooler.
Stop Sale issued on potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food due to temperature abuse.
Vacuum breaker missing at hose bibb. Outside mop sink.

An inspector came back the next day and still found 16 violations, though only one was still high priority. About five days later the inspector came back again and they had gotten it down to two minor violations.
This inspection was based on a complaint. Back in April their last routine inspection resulted in 20 violations, though only 2 were considered high priority.

Nearby a new Japanese restaurant – Yoko-San – had its licensing inspection and it was a rough start. The inspector reported a total of 28 violations including 5 rated high priority involving a dishmachine, food temperatures and food storage.
On the bright side the inspector came back five days later and found zero violations.
Also in East Boca, HotDog-Opolis was hit with 11 total violations including some troubling ones:

Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit…….turkey, hot dog, cheese burger 52°, cut tomato 49° in flip top reach in cooler in grill station. Food being held more than 4 hours. Stop sale issue. Salsa, kimchi 58° in flip top cooler in sandwich station cross from EMBER GLO. food being held less than 4 hours. Food moved to another acceptable cooler. Corrective action taken. **Repeat Violation**
Ready-to-eat, potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food not consumed/sold within 7 days after opening/preparation. Soup date marked was 8/20/14. Operator discarded it. **Corrected On-Site**
Stop Sale issued on potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food due to temperature abuse…..turkey, burger, cheese, hot dog, tomato, cheese.

We’re a little bummed by that one. We wanted to try the place and this might stop us. A follow-up inspection will be required but it hasn’t happened yet.
The somewhat similar House of Dog on Powerline had 7 mostly minor violations, though they did get a warning over not having proper paperwork.

The best inspections in this report go to Tutti Frutti in Shadowood and the Boca Dunes Golf & Country Club. They had a perfect zero violations on a routine inspection.
Some other West Boca places did well. In Boca Grove on Powerline, Bonefish Grill had only 2 minor violations. Domino’s Pizza in the same plaza had only 1 violation. Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt on Palmetto near Powerline also had only one violation.
Off Kimberly between 441 and Lyons, Mama’s Pizza & Pasta had only 3 minor violations. We’re not sure what “Hollywood at the Hamptons” is, but they also had only 3 violations.
Some other notables to report:
Davinci’s at Town Center had only 4 violations.
La Ferme in Yamato Village Center passed their licensing inspection, also with only 4 violations.
Maggiano’s on St. Andrews had five minor violations.
Brickyard on Palmetto near Powerline had six minor violations. We’ve been meaning to try that place.
El Jefe Luchador in Town Center had 7 violations with 4 as “high priority.”
Tempura House on Clint Moore had a much-improved 7 mostly minor violations. Palm Beach Bagel in the same plaza had 11 violations with 3 high priority.
China Spring on 441 near Sandalfoot had 8 mostly minor violations.
J. Alexander near Whole Foods also had 8 violations, with two marked “High Priority.” Packy’s in Loggers’ Run, Padrino’s in Mission Bay, and Restaurante Brasil in Sandalfoot Square also had eight each, with two high priority.
China House on Kimberly had 9 violations, all minor.
Toojay’s in the Polo Club Shoppes had 9 violations with 2 high priority. D D Flats in that plaza had 17 violations with 4 high priority, but did not require a follow-up inspection.
Here is the data, in Excel and as a PDF:
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/restaurants-9-2014.xls”]
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/inspections-9-2014.pdf”]