Two South Florida restaurants last week were found by state inspectors to have found improper storage of food, employees handling food with damaged gloves and about 25 cockroaches in the kitchen cooler. The store was temporarily closed after discovering some violations.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel typically covers restaurant inspections conducted by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation in Broward and Palm Beach counties. We are selective in our weekly inspections and focus on locations ordered to close due to “high priority violations” such as improper food temperatures or dead cockroaches.
Restaurants that fail state inspections must close until they pass a follow-up. If you discover a possible violation and would like to file a complaint, please contact Florida DBPR. (But please don't contact us. The Sun Sentinel does not inspect restaurants.)
dragon city, hollywood
6706 Sterling Road
Ordered to close: March 4th. Reopening on March 5th
why: 9 violations (2 high priority). These include “on the table next to the rice cooker,” “underneath an unused slicer on the shelf under the prep table,” and “next to an airtight container with a bowl in it” around the kitchen. Contains four cockroaches that were found crawling on the ground. It's under the prep table. ”
The report also found three dead cockroaches in the kitchen “on the floor behind the microwave” and “under the countertop.”
Bottled water opened by an employee was seen “stored on top of sauce in a dry storage room.” Other issues include “Dirty ice maker reflector in dishwashing area,” “Dirty floor/debris build-up behind chest freezer in storage room,” and “Food filter in cooking line.” are contaminated with oil buildup.”
In addition, some of the ceiling tiles in the dry storage room were damaged or deteriorated.
The restaurant had two basic violations in a follow-up inspection, but the state allowed it to reopen the next day.
Porto Bella Italian Restaurant (Boynton Beach)
9770 S. Military Trail
Ordered to close: March 7th. Reopening on March 8th
why: There were 10 violations (four with the highest priority), including “25 live cockroaches in the door frame of the flip-top cooler in the left cooking line in the kitchen” and “25 live cockroaches in the door frame of the flip-top cooler in the left cooking line in the kitchen” Contains 1 dead cockroach on the ground.
Employees were seen “handling food with damaged gloves,” and “raw animal products” (chicken cutlets) were “stored on top of unwashed onions in a walk-in cooler.”
Other violations: dirty “metal stem thermometer”, “accumulation of black material/grease/food debris” in oven/microwave, “accumulation of soil residue” inside/shelf of reach-in cooler.
The state found two intermediate and basic violations during a March 8 inspection and allowed the restaurant to reopen. Portobela was ordered to close four times in January.
