Flies near beef force Coral Springs’ BurgerFi to temporarily shut

Some comfort-food-craving pests landed near the ground beef and on top of bags of potatoes and raw onions at BurgerFi in Coral Springs and Wayback Burger in Coconut Creek, two of six local eateries ordered shut last week by state inspectors.

Other restaurants with major violations included Titie Restaurant and Lounge in Fort Lauderdale, Fon Lee Chinese Take-Out in West Palm Beach, The Eat Shop in Boca Raton and Boston Market in Boynton Beach.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel highlights restaurant inspections in Broward and Palm Beach counties from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. We cull through hundreds of restaurant and bar inspections that happen weekly and spotlight places ordered shut for “high-priority violations,” like improper food temperatures or dead cockroaches.

Sun Sentinel readers can browse full Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade county reports on our state inspection map, updated weekly (usually Monday) with fresh data pulled from the Florida DBPR website.

Any restaurant that fails inspections must stay closed until it passes a follow-up state inspection. If you spotted a possible violation and wish to file a complaint, contact Florida DBPR here. (But don’t contact us: The Sun Sentinel doesn’t inspect restaurants.)

Titie Restaurant and Lounge, Fort Lauderdale 300 W. Sunrise Blvd., Suite 6 Ordered shut:

Dec. 2 and Dec. 3, reopened Dec. 3

Why: 20 violations (nine high priority), led by four live flies hovering around the kitchen seating area and landing on kitchen tables as well as four rodent droppings discovered behind the bathroom water heater and beneath the kitchen sink. Inspectors also spotted a “dead rodent behind glass cooler in [the kitchen’s] wait station.” The restaurant also was ordered to stop selling and trash its raw pork, raw sliced goat and cooked sliced goat meat “due to temperature abuse.” One inspector saw an employee forget to wash their hands “before putting on gloves” to handle food. State inspectors kept the Haitian restaurant closed on Dec. 4 after discovering more rodent droppings and small flies, but allowed Titie to reopen the same day after a third inspection revealed minor and zero major issues.

Fon Lee Chinese Take-Out, West Palm Beach

4645 Gun Club Road, #18 Ordered shut: Dec. 2, reopened Dec. 3 Why: The state discovered six violations, but only one was high priority: 10 live cockroaches found crawling “on top of oil container,” “on top of stove,” on a reach-in cooler and in between the gap of a shelf near the kitchen sink and water heater. Inspectors also discovered dead roaches “on the [kitchen] prep table” and on top of soy sauce containers on the kitchen floor. The Chinese restaurant reopened the next day with a single basic issue.

BurgerFi, Coral Springs

2716 University Drive Ordered shut: Dec. 1, reopened Dec. 2 Why: Four violations (two high priority), including an infestation of 36 live flies “landing on food preparation table next to ground beef,” “at dishwashing area landing on clean and dirty utensils” and “landing on bags with raw potatoes” in the dry storage area. Although inspectors found another major violation during their second inspection on Dec. 2, it was not considered serious enough and the hamburger chain was allowed to reopen.

The Eat Shop, Boca Raton

61 SE First Ave.

Ordered shut: Nov. 29, reopened Nov. 30 Why: Nine violations (four high priority), such as 35 live flies landing on “open containers of honey, pancake syrup and corn syrup” in the kitchen, on the kitchen walls and on food storage shelves containing spices. The restaurant was also ordered to toss its pulled pork, raw chicken, coleslaw, sliced roast beef, sliced turkey, cooked potatoes, steak, shredded cheese, shepherd’s pie, chicken pot pie, bean soup, ground beef, shelled eggs, chicken salad, tuna salad and buttermilk - all in the walk-in cooler — “due to temperature abuse.” The state reopened The Eat Shop on Nov. 30 after discovering one minor issue.

Wayback Burgers, Coconut Creek

4690 N. State Road 7 Orderedshut: Nov. 30, has not yet reopened Why: 18 violations (seven high priority), led by many examples of filthiness: An infestation of 30 live flies landing on the wall and atop a bag of raw onions, along with seven live cockroaches “in cabinets underneath Coca-Cola machine in dining room.” Inspectors also spotted 145 rodent droppings “underneath Coca-Cola machine in dining room,” beneath a front counter next to the kitchen and under the kitchen’s “food preparation sink.” Naturally, the restaurant operator was ordered to throw out the raw onions. Inspectors also discovered a worker not wearing a hair restraint while preparing food and a dirty men’s bathroom. Finally, the state found a “mold-like substance build-up” on a head of lettuce inside a flip-top cooler, a “plumbing system in disrepair” and “heavy grease build-up on floor throughout establishment.” One week later, inspectors have yet to reopen the restaurant.

Boston Market, Boynton Beach

9929 S. Military Trail Ordered shut: Nov. 29, reopened Nov. 30 Why: The state discovered nine violations and one high priority: 20 live cockroaches underneath the kitchen oven and “under garbage can at front” of restaurant. Inspectors also dinged the restaurant for “objectionable odors in main prep kitchen,” “broken tiles” in the kitchen and 35 dead cockroaches underneath the countertop in the front of the restaurant. Despite finding a handful of minor problems during their second inspection on Nov. 30, inspectors let Boston Market reopen that day.