inspection – Page 20 – West Boca News

The Dirty Near Dozen: Restaurant Inspections

–Update–
Since we originally posted this article we received a response from Terra Fiamma:

At this writing we cannot confirm their claim of a perfect inspection on August 4th. It does not show up on the inspection page:

It appears any inspection on August 4th would be a follow-up inspection. The bad inspection we reported on was from June 1st, and there was a follow-up on June 6th that still required a further follow-up. We do not consider follow-up inspections to be as significant as routine inspections or complaint inspections because the restaurant has more warning and has had a wake-up call. A good restaurant should notice these problems before the inspector does.
With all that said, we like Terra Fiamma. We have eaten there in the past and will do so again.

Nearly a dozen restaurants received 20 or more violations in our latest restaurant inspection report. The worst of the pack in total number were Terra Fiamma in Delray Marketplace and Sergio’s Americas Bakery in Northwest Sandalfoot Plaza. Each had 29 violations.

On the bright side for Sergio’s, there was only one violation marked as high priority. By contrast Terra Fiamma had 8 high priority violations on their June 1st inspection including dozens of live flies:

Chlorine sanitizer not at proper minimum strength for manual warewashing. Do not use equipment/utensils not properly sanitized. 0 ppm chlorine at 3 compartment sink. Corrected to 100 ppm chlorine. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**
Employee ate then engaged in food preparation, handled clean equipment without washing hands. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**
Employee dried hands on soiled towel after washing. Re washed hands. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**
Live, small flying insects in kitchen, food preparation area, or food storage area. Approximately 50 live flies inside restaurant in cookline area/prep area/ server stations/ bar / dining room/ dry storage area. Approximately 100 live flies just outside back door . **Repeat Violation** **Warning**
Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Fresh garlic and oil at 70° F in servers station area near pizza prep area. Time marked. Repeat Violation. Over stacked veil at cookline cooler at 62° F. Over stack removed and placed inside cooler. Milk and creamer at 67° F in servers station. Added ice to food level. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**
Raw animal food stored over ready-to-eat food. Raw chicken over veggies at cookline cooler. Raw veil over dough at walkin cooler. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**
Toxic substance/chemical stored by or with food. Butane in food storage shelving. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**
Wiping cloth sanitizer solution exceeds the maximum concentration allowed. Over 200 ppm chlorine. Corrected to 100 ppm chlorine. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**

We’re changing the way we do inspection reports. We separate our reports into areas – West Boca, East Boca and “Near Boca.” Now we’re combining them into one report hopefully each week.
Others in the dirty near dozen, with 20 or more violations, include:
West Boca
Long Island Bagel (441 near Target)
Bamboo Wok (Glades Road west of Lyons)
Lucky Palace (441 near Target)
El Balcon De Las Americas (441 at Sandalfoot)
Mozart Cafe (west side of Powerline at Camino Real)
East Boca
Canton Garden (Spanish River Blvd)
Near Boca
La Bamba (Delray)
The Palm Grill (Delray)
Mama’s Pizza (Deerfield)
There were also some perfect and almost perfect inspections:
West Boca
Domino’s Pizza (441 Mission Bay)
Yogurt Zone (Somerset Shoppes)
Jet’s Pizza (Somerset Shoppes)
Burger King (441 near Target)
East Boca
Hooters (Glades east of Town Center)
Chef Tai’s (NW 2nd)
McDonald’s (Federal Highway)
La Rosa Nautica (NE 20th)
Five Guys (NW 19th)
Bagel Wit Schmear (Federal Highway)
One other notable lowlight was Sushi Masa on Glades Road in East Boca, which had four inspections in a 9-day period in late July because of continuing problems with food temperatures. Another follow-up inspection is expected.
Our spreadsheets for this report are below:
West Boca
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/westboca-inspections-8-5-2015.xlsx”]
East Boca
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/eastboca-8-5-2015.xlsx”]
Near Boca
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/nearboca-8-5-2015.xlsx”]

Japango or No Go? Two Bad Inspections

Japango in Regency Court (northwest corner of Yamato and Jog) had the worst numbers in our latest restaurant inspection report for West Boca. In early July they had 30 total violations, only 5 weeks after a previous inspection with 27 total violations. Usually we see places clean up their act after a bad inspection but that didn’t happen here.
The four high priority violations on the late May inspection were:

Food stored in ice used for drinks. See stop sale. Lemon wedges for drinks
Live, small flying insects in kitchen, food preparation area, or food storage area.
Raw animal food stored over ready-to-eat food in reach-in cooler. Raw shelled eggs over ready to eat **Corrected On-Site**
Raw animal foods not properly separated from one another based upon minimum required cooking temperature in walk-in cooler. Raw chicken above raw beef and sea food

The more recent July 2nd inspection also had four marked high priority:

Nonexempt fish offered raw or undercooked has not undergone proper parasite destruction. Fish must be fully cooked or discarded. … Fresh Scottish Salmon is being used for sushi.
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. … Sushi rice no time control
Raw animal food stored over ready-to-eat food. … Cook Line Undercounter Cooler, raw she’ll eggs over ready to eat uncovered sauces. **Corrected On-Site**
Vacuum breaker missing at hose bibb or on fitting/splitter added to hose bibb. … Rear exterior of building AND at interior mop sink.

Incidentally we’ve never understood why a vacuum breaker is a high priority violation, while other violations rated “intermediate” seem more disturbing, such as these:

Accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine.
Certified Food Manager or person in charge lacks knowledge of foodborne illnesses and symptoms of illness that would prevent an employee from working with food, clean equipment and utensils, and single-service items.

But now that we looked it up, we understand why a vacuum breaker might be important:

[A vacuum breaker] prevent[s] potentially contaminated water from flowing back up a hose, faucet, pre-rinse, or toilet fixture and into the potable water system in your restaurant. Waste and sewage water is rich with microorganisms that can quickly infect an entire water supply, and that’s why these plumbing valves like this brass ball valve that allow for the complete shut off of flow, are so important.

Next worst in this report goes to Sandalfoot Bagel with 27 violations on July 7th. The high priority violations didn’t look so good:

Employee failed to wash hands before changing gloves and/or putting on gloves to work with food. … Cook changed gloves multiple times, all without hand washing. **Repeat Violation** **Repeat Violation** **Repeat Violation** **Repeat Violation** **Warning**
No proof of parasite destruction or aquaculture documentation for cold smoked salmon served raw or undercooked. Fish must be fully cooked or discarded. … **Repeat Violation** **Warning**
Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. … REACH IN COOLER… (3 Door Jordan) soup 48° pooled eggs 50° corned beef hash 54° AMBIENT TEMPERATURE 48° **Repeat Violation** **Warning**

Two others with 20 or more violations were:
China Spring on 441 (25 violations including 4 high priority)
Boca Pita Express on Beracasa Way (20 violations with 1 high priority)
Between 10 and 17 violations:
On/Near Palmetto Park
New Golden China Inc
Sushi Yama Japanese Restaurant
Sal’s Italian Restaurant
Hong Kong Palace
Mama’s NY Pizza Inc
Sandalfoot
China Wok
Pizza Thick And Thin
On/Near Glades
Brooklyn Boys Pizza
Einstein Bros Bagel #845
Duffy’s Sports Grill
Dominic’s
441
China Ming
Tempura House
On the positive side the licensing inspection for the new Chen’s Yokohama (replacing Yokohama Sushi) in Boca Lyons Plaza was perfect. Other perfect inspections included Yogurt Zone in Somerset Shoppes, Hurricane Grill in Mission Bay, and Moon’s Tavern in Boca Greens. Moon’s also had a perfect inspection last year.
Near-perfect inspections included Vinny’s All Day Cafe, Outback Steakhouse and La Ferme.
Our spreadsheet for this report is below:
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/westboca-inspections-july-19.pdf”]

48 Violations at Romano's: East Boca Inspections

Romano's Macaroni Grill in Boca Raton; image by Google — Romano’s Macaroni Grill in Boca Raton; image by Google

Romano’s Macaroni Grill was hit with 48 violations in an early July inspection and the restaurant was temporarily closed. Seven of the violations were “high priority” and included insects and rodents:

Employee failed to wash hands before changing gloves and/or putting on gloves to work with food. **Corrected On-Site**
Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cooked/heated yesterday/on a previous day not cooled from 135 degrees Fahrenheit to 41 degrees Fahrenheit within a total of 6 hours. Food has been cooling overnight. Cooked potatoes cooling overnight between 47° F and 50° F at walkin cooler. See stop sale. Food discarded. **Corrected On-Site**
Presence of insects, rodents, or other pests. Ants in rear prep area by slicer and flour bin and in frontline area by dessert storage cooler.
Raw animal food stored in top portion of make table over ready-to-eat food in bottom portion of make table _ no complete physical barrier between top and bottom. Raw scallops over sauces at make table top where drippings from scallops may contaminate sauces. **Corrected On-Site**
Rodent activity present as evidenced by rodent droppings found. Observed approximately 15 fresh and 5 dry rodent droppings in rear prep/ dishwashing area and 3 fresh and 2 dry rodent droppings on table tops in dining room area.
Small flying insects in dishwashing area.
Stop Sale issued on potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food due to temperature abuse. Cooked potatoes cooling overnight between 47° F and 50° F at walkin cooler. Food discarded. **Corrected On-Site**

On the bright side they had a near-perfect inspection the next day and reopened. They also had an additional inspection two weeks later which was also good with only five minor violations.
The next worst in this report is Chinese restaurant Sieng House, which is south of Camino Real just west of Dixie Highway. They had 19 total violations (4 high priority) and there were three more inspections within ten days. It looks like there was a persistent problem with food temperatures but their final inspection was perfect.
High numbers were also reported for four restaurants in and near Royal Palm Plaza. Ichiyami Buffet, Gluttonous Goat, Yakitori Sake House and Biergarten each had 16 violations from late May through early June.
The best inspections in this report go to Seasons 52 (near Town Center) and The Wick Theatre which were both perfect. The Wick’s dining service is now headed by our favorite local chef, William Walden, formerly of Bistro Gastronomie.

Villagio in Mizner Park shows up in our spreadsheet (below) but we already covered that inspection as an update to our May inspection report for East Boca.
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/eastboca-july-2015.pdf”]

Cabo Fail – Restaurant Inspections Near Boca

Four restaurants near West Boca had over 20 restaurant inspection violations in the last four weeks. Cabo Flats in Delray Marketplace had the worst in number with 25 violations including a stop sale on salsa for temperature abuse, dozens of small flying insects in the kitchen, and a total of 10 violations marked high priority:

Employee failed to wash hands before changing gloves to handle clean utensils. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**
Employee washed hands with no soap. **Warning**
Live, small flying insects in kitchen, food preparation area, or food storage area. Approximately between 50-75 flies observed in food prep area/dishwashing area / servers station and bar**Warning** **Repeat Violation** **Warning**
Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Guacamole 48° F at servers station cooler. Discarded. Corrected on site. Butter 54° F overstocked at cookline cooler. Removed over stock. Corrective action taken. Salsa at 52° F in bar area. **Warning**
Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cooked/heated yesterday/on a previous day not cooled from 135 degrees Fahrenheit to 41 degrees Fahrenheit within a total of 6 hours. Food has been cooling overnight. See stop sale. Salsa cooling over night at walkin cooler at 48° F. Discarded. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**
Raw animal food stored in top portion of make table over ready-to-eat food in bottom portion of make table – no complete physical barrier between top and bottom. Raw fish over veggies on top of make table at cookline cooler. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**
Small flying insects in bar area. **Repeat Violation** **Warning**
Spray bottle with chemical/toxic substance stored near/on/above food preparation surface or food. Soap over soda boxes and cleaners by drinks in bar area. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**
Stop Sale issued on potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food due to temperature abuse. Salsa cooling overnight at walkin cooler at 48° F. **Warning**
Thermotape failed to turn black to indicate the sanitization temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit was achieved on the dish surface. Discontinue use of dishmachine for sanitizing and set up manual sanitization until dishmachine is repaired. **Warning**
Toxic substance/chemical stored by or with food. Propane over food in dry storage shelving by cookline. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**

Cabo Flats also had 18 violations in our March report on restaurant inspections in “Near Boca” (West Delray, Coconut Creek and Parkland).
Others with bad numbers include:

Shanghai Chinese on Atlantic (24 violations, 7 high priority)
Odyssey Diner (stop sale for temperature abuse on cooked potatoes, 24 violations, 6 high priority, plus a dead roach found in a storage area)
Ho Ho Chinese (closed twice, two days in a row, for roaches, 21 violations, 5 high priority)
Ruvens (closed for roaches on May 6th, stop sale on milk, butter and cream cheese for temperature abuse, 21 violations, 6 high priority)

A routine inspection of Ruvens only two weeks later on May 21st found 13 violations including three high priority. They also had 34 violations at Ruvens in late April. Odyssey Diner had 58 violations in our March report.
Japango in Delray Marketplace had 13 violations including three high priority.
South of the border in Coconut Creek and Margate, Lemon Tree Cafe on Lyons Road had 16 violations including 2 marked high priority, while Golden Corral on Sample Road had 15 violations, all minor.
The best result in this report goes to the new Papalani Gelato which had a perfect licensing inspection. We’ll be doing a story on them shortly. A Burger King on Atlantic in Delray and NYC Sandwich Company on Powerline in Coconut Creek were next best with two minor violations each.
As usual our full spreadsheet for this report is below. Readers can check any restaurant at the Florida Licensing Portal.
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/nearboca-6-3-2015.pdf”]

Tastee Troubles in West Boca Inspections

The Tastee Express hot dog vendors have had a lot of inspection troubles in the last month or so. Usually the inspection reports from these “mobile” vendors are near perfect so a string of bad reports stands out. We typically don’t report them because we only know they’re based in West Boca but we don’t know where they are.
From state records there appear to be six of the Tastee Express units based out of the industrial/warehouse units at 10058 Spanish Isles Blvd, with a “main address” nearby in Boca Gardens. The owners also have a residence address in Century Village.

Tastee Express #8 had emergency orders against it on both April 6th, 7th and April 27th with temporary closures each time. In total violations the worst inspection was May 13th with 20 including 4 marked high priority.

Displayed food not properly protected from contamination. Hot dogs and sausages hot holding on grill uncovered. **Repeat Violation** **Warning**
Employee failed to wash hands beforechanging gloves and/or putting on gloves to work with food. **Repeat Violation** **Admin Complaint**
Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Not enough ice – hot dogs range in temperature from 39-64°. **Repeat Violation** **Warning**
Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) hot held at less than 135 degrees Fahrenheit or above. Polish kielbasa and Italian sausage hot holding at 117-120°, peppers and onions at 130°. **Repeat Violation** **Warning**

Another one, Tastee Express #10, was also temporarily closed on May 14th and may not have reopened. It’s possible this is the vendor in front of Lowe’s which we noticed maybe a week or two ago.
Unfortunately we can’t know where these mobile food operations are located so it’s hard to advise our readers which ones to avoid. As we said earlier, most mobile vendors have very good inspection reports. Based on this we’re going to avoid any Tastee Express vendors until this gets cleared up.
On the bright side Tastee Express 9 had a perfect inspection in late April.

The worst of the regular restaurants in this report goes to Mama’s NYC in Logger’s Run Plaza, which had 16 violations in late March including 7 high priority and some items removed in “stop-sale” orders. The main problem appears to have been food temperatures.

Deli meats cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Ham 59°, mortadella 55°, cheese 42°, tomato 53°
Employee failed to wash hands before putting on new set of gloves to work with food.
Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Oil and garlic 55°, cheese 56°, lettuce 56°, corrective action taken, moved all items to walk in cooler
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. **Corrected On-Site**
Raw animal food stored over ready-to-eat food in walk-in cooler. Raw chicken over cooked lasagna **Corrected On-Site**
Refrigerated potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food received at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Pasta 51°, spaghetti 52°, ziti 51°, moved all items yo walk in cooler. Corrective action taken.
Stop Sale issued on potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food due to temperature abuse. Ham 59°, mortadella 55°, cheese 42°, tomato 53°

Next worst was Packy’s in the same plaza, which had 10 violations in late April. Only two were marked high priority and there were no stop sales or other problems.
Mozart Cafe off Powerline and Josef’s Table in Polo Club Shoppes also had 10 violations with only one marked high priority each.
Winners in this month’s report include the recently remodeled Wendy’s in Logger’s Run Plaza and the new Rafina Greek restaurant in Wharfside Village (replacing Euro Fusion), which had perfect inspections. Brooklyn Water Bagel on Powerline and the McDonald’s on Clint Moore both came close with only one minor violation.
The new Lemon Grass Hotpot in Boca Grove had only three violations. We hope to try both that and Rafina soon.
Our full spreadsheet is below.
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/westboca-5-2015.pdf”]