Inspectors Close Steak & Shake Twice: Restaurant Inspections

ByWarren Redlich


State inspectors closed the Coral Springs Steak & Shake (441 south of Wiles) two days in a row. As of this writing we think it is still closed.
The current issues started with a complaint-prompted inspection on August 23rd which showed 9 total violations including 3 marked high priority. We’re not sure but we think the main problem is a ceiling leak that is allowing water to splash onto food items, if the restaurant or an employee was to look into what to do when a pipe bursts in your ceiling these repeated violations could have possibly been avoided.

Stop Sale issued due to adulteration of food product. Water splashes from ceiling onto clean stacked pans on shelves next to dish machine and splashes onto buns, water droplets observed on plastic packaging containing buns. Stop sale issued on 2 packages of buns, about 60 buns. Manager discarded buns at time of inspection. **Repeat Violation**

The closure orders were on the 25th and 26th. Inspections also noted small flying insects in the kitchen. Other than that the reports and numbers don’t seem that bad.
The worst local inspection in West Boca was for Dominic’s in Westwinds (near Home Depot) with 20 violations. On the bright side only three were high priority:

  • Food-contact surfaces not sanitized after cleaning, before use. Do not use equipment/utensils not properly sanitized. – pot washer unaware of appropriate manual ware-washing procedures. Manual washing taking place for all pots and pans without a sanitizer step
  • Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. WALK IN COOLER – red sauce 88° Red Sauce cooked yesterday 8/22 and placed in walk n cooler. See Stop Sale
  • Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food heated to a temperature above 135 degrees Fahrenheit not cooled from 135 degrees Fahrenheit to 41 degrees Fahrenheit within a total of 6 hours. WALK IN COOLER – red sauce 88° Red Sauce cooked yesterday 8/22 and placed in walk n cooler. See Stop Sale

Hashi Sushi Thai in Shadowood also had big numbers with 18 violations, 4 high priority:

  • Food-contact surfaces not sanitized after cleaning, before use. Do not use equipment/utensils not properly sanitized. – food prep top areas have built up soil and food residue.
  • Nonexempt fish offered raw or undercooked has not undergone proper parasite destruction. Fish must be fully cooked or discarded. – operator has verification for salmon only. Verification letter needed from vendor supplying talapia and snapper.
  • Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food identified in the written procedure as a food held using time as a public health control has no time marking and the time removed from temperature control cannot be determined. See stop sale.
  • Vacuum breaker missing at hose bibb or on fitting/splitter added to hose bibb. – at rear sterile mopsink.

The worst overall numbers for this report were for La Bamba in Margate with 18 violations. A whopping 9 marked high priority and some are pretty disturbing.

  • Employee switched from working with raw food to ready-to-eat food without washing hands. Observed in cookline, cooks are handling raw beef and chicken and then wiping hands with gloves, on aprons, and then handling clean plates and ready to eat foods without handwashing.
  • Employee touched soiled surface and then engaged in food preparation, handled clean equipment or utensils, or touched unwrapped single-service items without washing hands. Observed cook handle raw tenderized beef with gloves on and then handled a clean plate to put food on for an order without washing hands.
  • Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Observed in Open top cooler:; cut lettuce (54-55°F – Cold Holding); sliced tomatoes (55-60°F – Cold Holding); pico de gallo (53°F – Cold Holding), employees put foods on ice as instructed to reduce temperature. Operator has multiple cold holding units. **Corrective Action Taken**
  • Quaternary ammonium sanitizer not at proper minimum strength for manual warewashing. Do not use equipment/utensils not properly sanitized. Observed it at 100ppm ,employee began to fill sanitization compartment again. **Corrective Action Taken** **Corrective Action Taken**
  • Raw animal food stored over cooked food. Observed in 2 door cooler in cookline: raw beef in container stored above precooked chicken and potato fries. Operator stored it properly. **Corrected On-Site**
  • Raw animal foods not properly separated from one another based upon minimum required cooking temperature in walk-in cooler. Observed raw chicken in container stored above raw fish, operator properly stored foods. **Corrected On-Site**
  • Ready-to-eat, potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food marked with a date that exceeds 7 days after opening/preparation. Observed with cooked mole sauce, 10lbs, with cooked peppers in large walk in cooler, it is dated 08/15/17 and today is 08/22/17. Operator instructed to discard it.
  • Ready-to-eat, potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food not consumed/sold within 7 days after opening/preparation. See stop sale. Observed with cooked mole sauce, 10lbs, with cooked peppers in large walk in cooler, it is dated 08/15/17 and today is 08/22/17. Operator instructed to discard it.
  • Stop Sale issued due to adulteration of food product. Raw fruits not washed prior to preparation. Observed with whole tomatoes that were diced in kitchen prep area, 2cups of diced tomatoes, employee did not wash them before dicing, he discarded them as instructed and washed other tomatoes before dicing. Tomatoes ready to eat.

The Yacht Club Restaurant in East Boca’s Royal Palm Yacht Club also got hit with 18 violations, 8 of them high priority.

For good news, Jon Smith’s Subs in Mission Bay registered a perfect inspection with zero violations. Other perfect reports include Hollywood at the Hamptons on Kimberly, the Boca city golf course (north side of Glades west of the Turnpike), Tomasso’s Pizzeria on Palmetto just east of I-95 (our favorite pizza and sandwiches in East Boca), and Fit Food Fresh in East Boca.

In Somerset Shoppes, both Original Pancake House and Yogurt Zone registered near perfect inspections one minor violation each.
Domino’s Pizza in Mission Bay and the new Little Brazil on Glades near the Turnpike both did well with just two violations each.
Other notables include:
Tutti Frutti in Shadowood (3 minor violations)
Dunkin Donuts on Glades near the International Jewelers Exchange (3 violations, 1 high priority)
Subway in Boca Greens (3, 1)
Shinju Buffet on Glades at the Turnpike entrance (3, 1)
Pei Wei at 441 south of Glades (4, 1)
Subway on Glades across from the Jewelers Exchange (4, 1)
Casa Tequila next to that Subway (6, 2)
Boon’s in Boca Greens (6, 2)
Boca Grill in Somerset Shoppes (6, 1)
Gary Woo Express on Yamato near 441 (7, 2)
Pho Boca on Glades west of Lyons (8, 0)
Dunkin Donuts on Lyons at Kimberly (8, 0)
Sinbad on Lyons at Kimberly (10, 0)
Our spreadsheet for this report is below:
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/allinsp-8-27-2017.pdf”]