Tag: inspections

Delray: Rodent Droppings at Brooklyn Water Bagel

Image by Google
Image by Google

Dozens of rodent droppings were found in various places at the Military Trail location of Brooklyn Water Bagel in Delray Beach. Overall they were hit with 36 total violations last week, including 10 marked high priority. The worst of the bunch was not just the number of rodent droppings found (well over 100) but the locations of them:

Rodent activity present as evidenced by rodent droppings found. Approximately 10 fresh rodent droppings in a food storage container with open bag of powder sugar, 2 fresh and 3 dry rodent droppings under food storage shelf in kitchen by 3 compartment sink, 2 dry in tea carton, 1 fresh on top of mustard container, 1 dry in powder sugar cup on kitchen shelf, approximately 30 fresh and 10 dry droppings on top soda syrup boxes, in kitchen, approx 100 dry droppings in muffing pan on wire shelf in dishwashing area, approx. 30 dry and 20 fresh droppings on floor in dish wash area, 2 fresh on top of cinnamon container in rear prep area, 15 fresh/moist and 20 dry droppings under prep sink in rear prep area, 15 dry in corner on the floor by the kitchen door to the hallway, approx. 2 fresh and 10 dry droppings under reach in cooler and microwaves on sandwich station, 2 and 3 dry droppings in dough prep area on top of chocolate chip bag, 3 fresh on floor in dough prep area, 3 dry on floor on frontline, approx 30 fresh and 20 dry droppings in dry storage room.

That’s a lot more than a Baker’s dozen. The other 9 high priority were:

  • Employee failed to wash hands beforechanging gloves and/or putting on gloves to work with food. Sandwich prep station. **Corrected On-Site**
  • Evidence of mop/cleaning wastewater dumped onto ground.
  • Food-contact surfaces not sanitized after cleaning, before use. Rodent droppings. Do not use equipment/utensils not properly sanitized.
  • Live, small flying insects in kitchen, food preparation area, or food storage area. In rear prep area near back door.
  • Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter at room temperature in prep area at 72°f, butter was placed in to reach in cooler immediately. Smoked salmon at 48°f and ham at 50°f (both over stacked in containers in flip top cooler. Both items were placed in bottom of reach in cooler). **Corrected On-Site**
  • Raw animal food stored over ready-to-eat food. Raw salmon over egg salad in walk in cooler. **Corrected On-Site**
  • Spray bottle with chemical/toxic substance stored near/on/above food preparation surface or food. Blue liquid cleaner in prep area. **Corrected On-Site**
  • Toxic substance/chemical stored by or with food. Spray bottles with cleaner stored with and over food on shelf by dish wash area.
  • Vacuum breaker missing at hose bibb or on fitting/splitter added to hose bibb. Outside by back door.

The inspection report indicates the restaurant was temporarily closed with “Operations ordered stopped until violations are corrected.” Normally a restaurant when a restaurant reopens we see a follow-up inspection in the data. We don’t see one yet so it may still be closed.

Update – The company advises that they re-opened the next day and had a nearly perfect inspection, though the vacuum breaker still needs to be resolved.

Bagel Week (or maybe no-bagel week) continues as the second worst in the report was Gramercy Bagels, also in Delray (Jog Road), with 17 violations including 5 marked high priority. China Buffet on Hillsboro in Deerfield Beach was a close third with 16 violations (4 high priority).
As for the others, normally 3 violations would be a good inspection, but not for the Einstein Bagels on North Federal Highway in East Boca, which was shut down for a day due to live roaches:

Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found, Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found, 2 live roaches by front counter food storage area, 1 live by garbage can in dining room, 1 live under food / condiments display table in dining room, 1 live by broken base board in the front line food prep area, 3 live on counter next to yogurt case, 1 live on box containing register tape on the front line, 1 live under the food display case in the front line food prep area, 1 live under shelving by ovens in the food prep area, 1 live under reach in cooler on front line food prep area, 2 live under shelving in the food prep area.

They reopened the next day with a perfect inspection.
There were only 20 inspections this week, probably due to the holiday. None were in West Boca. The one good inspection went to Fit Food Fresh in East Boca, with just 2 minor violations.
Our spreadsheet for this week’s report is below:
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/allinsp-11-30-2015.pdf”]

Inspections: Tempura House (again), Padrino's and Sushi Ray

Grand Lux Cafe in Town Center, Boca Raton; image by Google
Grand Lux Cafe in Town Center, Boca Raton; image by Google

It was another pretty good week for restaurant inspections. We’ll start with the good news. A few restaurants had perfect inspections with zero violations, most notably Grand Lux Cafe in Town Center. Boston Market in Town Center also had a perfect licensing inspection.
Other perfect inspections include a new restaurant, Jasper’s, on SW 18th in the plaza with Howard’s Market and Rise Sushi; Salad Plus on Federal Highway and Wendy’s on Yamato, both in East Boca; and a Subway on Linton in Delray Beach.
Turning to the “Bad news”, none of the inspections were terrible. We often see inspections with over 20 violations and the worst this week is only 15 which is not that bad. But with that said, the biggest number was for Padrino’s in Mission Bay (441 and Glades Road) with 15 violations. Only two were high priority:

  • Employee failed to wash hands before changing gloves and/or putting on gloves to work with food. – line cooks. – servers. – food prep people. **Repeat Violation** **Warning**
  • Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. REACH IN COOLER – (Cook Line Cold Table -Opposite Garland Ovens) roast pork portions 60° raw beef steaks 38° to 45° chicken 46° AN BIENT [ambient] TEMPERATURE 49°REACH IN COOLER – (Cold Tables Opposite Fryers) scallops 47° shrimp 47° (Undercounter) ham croquettes 46° AMBIENT TEMPERATURE 46° **Repeat Violation** **Warning**

Padrino’s has a history of mostly good inspections. We eat there occasionally and their inspection record doesn’t bother us.
Next worst is a tie between Sal’s Italian on Yamato in East Boca with 14 violations (2 high priority) and Sushi Ray in Boca Center (Military Trail south of Glades) also with 14 (1 high priority).
Other notables with more than 10 violations include Venetian in the Waterway Shoppes on 441 in Parkland (11 violations with 2 high priority), and Tempura House at Clint Moore and 441 (11 violations including 6 high priority).
“>tempura-house
Tempura House had an even worse inspection the previous week that somehow did not get into our data file and was left out of last week’s report. On November 12th they had 19 violations including 7 marked high priority.

  • Employee failed to wash hands beforechanging gloves and/or putting on gloves to work with food. **Repeat Violation**
  • Employee handled soiled equipment or utensils and then engaged in food preparation, handled clean equipment or utensils, or touched unwrapped single-service items without washing hands. -Dishmachine operator. **Repeat Violation**
  • Live, small flying insects in kitchen, food preparation area, or food storage area. – heavy infestation of flys around Dishmachine area and Cook line.
  • Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. REACH IN COOLER – Cookline scallops 46° Chicken 45° **Repeat Violation**
  • Raw animal foods not properly separated from one another based upon minimum required cooking temperature in reach-in cooler. – raw she’ll eggs over scallops in 2 door prep REACH IN COOLER –
  • 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. **Repeat Violation**
  • Vacuum breaker missing at hose bibb or on fitting/splitter added to hose bibb. **Repeat Violation**

That was last week. This week (November 16th) was only slightly better. Here are the 6 high priority violations:

  • Employee failed to wash hands before changing gloves and/or putting on gloves to work with food. **Repeat Violation** – TIME EXTENDED UNTIL 12-08-2015.
  • Employee handled soiled equipment or utensils and then engaged in food preparation, handled clean equipment or utensils, or touched unwrapped single-service items without washing hands. -Dishmachine operator. **Repeat Violation** – TIME EXTENDED UNTIL 12-08-2015.
  • Live, small flying insects in kitchen, food preparation area, or food storage area. – heavy infestation of flies around Dishmachine area and Cook line. – AS OF 11-16-15 NOT COMPLIED – heavy infestation of flies remains outside rear kitchen door at trash area. some infestation remains in kitchen area.
  • Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. REACH IN COOLER – Cookline scallops 46° Chicken 45° **Repeat Violation** AS OF 11-16-2015 NOT COMPLIED – Coolkine scallops 54° Chicken 43°
  • 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. **Repeat Violation** – AS OF 11-16-2015 NOT COMPLIED (EcoLab Corrective Action Takenwith Sanitizer HookUp) – TIME EXTENDED UNTIL 12-08-2015.
  • Vacuum breaker missing at hose bibb or on fitting/splitter added to hose bibb. **Repeat Violation** – TIME EXTENDED UNTIL 12-08-2015.

This is not the first time Tempura House has had a bad inspection – We featured them in an early October report; and also in our report in June last year. We will not be eating at Tempura House again. Ever.
Our spreadsheet for this week is below:
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/allinsp-11-22-2015.pdf”]

Inspections: Rocco's Tacos, Uncle Tai's, Panera and More

Uncle Tai's in Shops at Boca Center
Uncle Tai’s in Shops at Boca Center

None of the inspections last week (we’re behind) were bad. The worst of the bunch goes to Rocco’s Tacos with thirteen violations including three high priority:

  • Dishmachine not sanitizing properly. Discontinue use of dishmachine for sanitizing and set up manual sanitization until dishmachine is repaired and sanitizing properly. – tested at 0 PPM on two cycles. **Warning**
  • Employee handled soiled equipment or utensils and then engaged in food preparation, handled clean equipment or utensils, or touched unwrapped single-service items without washing hands. – multiple. cooks on line, multiple times gloves put on and/or changed without handwashing. **Warning**
  • Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. WALK IN COOLER – shrimp/scallop mix 52° kimchi 51° garlic cream sauce 46°shredded cheddar 45° goat cheese 46 Avacodo ranch 43° – iced down out of temp foods. **Corrective Action Taken** **Warning**

Looking those over we’re more concerned about the inspector’s misspelling of avocado. Rocco’s is still one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, though a little too far east.
Also near the top was Uncle Tai’s in the same plaza, with nine violations, and also three high priority:

  • Dishmachine not sanitizing properly. Discontinue use of dishmachine for sanitizing and set up manual sanitization until dishmachine is repaired and sanitizing properly. Tested at 0 PPM. **Warning**
  • Employee handled soiled dishes or utensils and then handled clean dishes or utensils without washing hands. – cook handling cellphone to food service without handwashing. **Warning**
  • Raw animal foods not properly separated from one another based upon minimum required cooking temperature in walk-in cooler. – in walk in cooler, raw marinating chicken pieces above raw beef and raw pork **Warning**

Nine violations is usually middle of the pack in our weekly summaries, so this is nothing and would not discourage us from eating there.
On the good side a few Boca restaurants did well. The Panera in the same plaza had only two minor violations. In Town Center, Pummerola had the best result with only one minor violation. And Firehouse Subs in East Boca (NE 5th) had two violations.
As usual our full spreadsheet for this report is below:
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/allinsp-11-15-2015.pdf”]

Inspectors Knock Bamboo Wok

bamboo-wok-west-boca
Bamboo Wok was (and still is) our favorite Chinese restaurant in West Boca. But they’ve had a couple of bad inspections. Last week they got popped for 19 violations including three marked high priority and a stop sale.

  • Employee handled soiled dishes or utensils and then handled clean dishes or utensils without washing hands. Moving product, small wares and utensils while at the same time filling and wrapping egg rolls.
  • Employee touching ready-to-eat food with their bare hands – food was not being heated as a sole ingredient to 145 degrees F or immediately added to other ingredients to be cooked/heated to the minimum required temperature to allow bare hand contact. Establishment has no approved Alternative Operating Procedure. – filling and wrapping g egg rolls with bare hands.
  • Stop Sale issued due to adulteration of food product. – Egg Rolls, Wontons and Green Beans all placed in the covers/lids of corrugated box tops from cases of raw chicken.

They also had 20+ violations in July.
Despite these bad reports, we still like Bamboo Wok. Hopefully this experience will make them be more careful. Keep in mind that they were the most popular Chinese restaurant west of the Turnpike in our 2014 survey.
The worst number in our report goes to Wanfu Chinese in Pompano Beach with 21, and the next-day follow up still had 11 violations.
China Spring on 441 in West Boca, had 12 violations but only one was marked high priority. The sign at that address reads China Spring II.
Another notable inspection goes to Uncle Julio’s in Mizner Park with 9 violations including 5 high priority.

  • Cooked potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food not cooled from 135 degrees Fahrenheit to 70 degrees Fahrenheit within 2 hours. Chicken stock 140° cooled to 120° after 1.5 hours. Operator placed chicken stock in freezer. **Corrective Action Taken** **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. Beans stored in walk in cooler overnight 55°-57°. Operator discarded. **Warning**
  • Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) hot held at less than 135 degrees Fahrenheit or above. House made salsa 91°. Operator provided paperwork from 1994 stating that salsa has a pH level of 4.22. Operator must use time/temperature control for salsa. **Warning**
  • Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety), food in the process of reheating for hot holding for more than 2 hours has not maintained 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Cubed chicken at steam table on cookline at 125°. Operator reheated chicken to 165°. **Corrective Action Taken** **Warning**
  • Raw animal food stored over cooked food. Raw shell eggs stored over ready to eat chicken stock and beans in walk in cooler. Operator repositioned eggs to lowest shelf. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**

The next-day follow-up for Uncle Julio’s was a perfect inspection.
We also see a new restaurant, Oishii Bento, on St. Andrews near Town Center. They were reported with five violations including one marked high priority. That’s not great for a licensing inspection, but still not terrible. We’re a little skeptical about this place. It has a “pan-Asian” menu. For some reason the Korean Bul Go Gi is cooked in a wok rather than on a grill. That’s just wrong. But we’re still going to try the place out.
Good inspections were reported for:
Renzo’s of Boca, on Federal Highway – Two minor violations on a licensing inspection. We’re told they have a new chef and the ownership may have changed.
Nearby Hotdog-Opolis also had two minor violations on a routine inspection.
Our weekly spreadsheet is below.
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/allinsp11-8-2015.pdf”]

More Problems for Golden Corral; Sushi Masa

Golden Corral in Margate; image by Google
Golden Corral in Margate; image by Google

Two weeks ago we reported on a bad inspection at the Golden Corral in Margate on October 15th. A day later they had improved somewhat to 10 violations.
In our latest report they’re still having problems. On October 30th inspectors found 12 violations, and on the 31st they still found 8. Golden Corral in Margate has had 7 unimpressive inspections in just a two-month period.
This is odd in our experience. Most restaurants seem to recover quickly after a bad inspection and the follow-up inspections are often perfect or near-perfect.
Sushi Masa in Boca Raton; image by Google
Sushi Masa in Boca Raton; image by Google

Sushi Masa was the worst of Boca in this inspection report but really not that bad. They got hit with 12 violations, but by our count 4 of those 12 were for the same problem, a cooler that was just a few degrees warmer than the required temperature:

Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit, bamboo shoots 45°, cooked chicken 46°, baby corn 45°, bean sprouts 46°, cut tomatoes 45°, cut cabbage 46°, reach in cooler on cookline. Operator iced down, TCS food in cooler less than 4 hrs. **Corrective Action Taken** **Repeat Violation** **Admin Complaint**
Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) hot held at less than 135 degrees Fahrenheit or above, batter 75° on cookline. Owner time marked and will discard at 7 pm. **Corrective Action Taken** **Warning**

The comparison with Golden Corral shows what we said above. Sushi Masa has had six inspections since July and three of those were perfect or near-perfect. In this particular incident on October 29th they were inspected again later the same day and everything was corrected – zero violations.
After seeing these reports we would not hesitate to eat at Sushi Masa, but we wouldn’t eat at Golden Corral if it was free.
Other relatively bad inspections with more than 10 violations were reported for:

  • Wok N roll on Military Trail in Deerfield Beach
  • Duffy’s on Hillsboro and Lily Garden Chinese on 441 in Coconut Creek
  • Bagel Brothers on 441 in West Boca, a licensing inspection for what was previously known as Long Island Bagel near Target.
  • And Boca Kosher Bagel in Boca Grove.

Subway in Lakeside Centre at 8220 Glades Road; image by Google
Subway in Lakeside Centre at 8220 Glades Road; image by Google

The best inspection in West Boca for this report goes to Subway at 8220 Glades, which had only one minor violation. Others with good inspections include:

  • Fresh Harvest on NW 40th in Coconut Creek
  • Papa Johns on Atlantic in Delray
  • Chuck E Cheese’s on 441 in West Boca
  • Black Rose Irish Pub on Federal Highway
  • Original Pancake House in Somerset Shoppes (and we just ate there)