Rodent infestation strikes Boca Raton eateries
1 plaza has 5 restaurants shut down; more shuttered by cockroach, flies
An infestation of rodent droppings forced five neighboring restaurants shut down on the same day in the same strip mall, Winfield Plaza on Northeast 20th Street in Boca Raton.
They weren’t the only ones shuttered last week, though.
The state temporarily closed five other Broward and Palm Beach eateries for issues such as temperature-tainted meatballs, a dead cockroach on a cutting board and live flies on clean pots.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel typically highlights restaurant inspections conducted by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation in Broward and Palm Beach counties. We cull through inspections that happen weekly and spotlight places ordered shut for “high-priority violations,” such as improper food temperatures or dead cockroaches.
Any restaurant that fails a state inspection must stay closed until it passes a follow-up.
If you spotted a possible violation and wish to file a complaint, contact Florida DBPR. (But please don’t contact us: The Sun Sentinel doesn’t inspect restaurants.)
Panaderia Y Pasteleria Ahtziri, Boca Raton
475 NE 20th St. Ordered shut: Feb. 15; reopened
Feb. 16
Why: 10 violations (three high-priority), including “15 rodent droppings on cabinet floor, on aprons and inside bag of single service straws.”
The report noted improper hand-washing by employees, including one who “rubbed hands together for less than 10-15 seconds” at the main kitchen sink and one who “washed hands with no soap.” Other findings include a “soiled wiping cloth on prep table” and a “can opener rusted and soiled with food debris.”
After spotting a single intermediate violation during its next-day inspection, the state let the eatery reopen.
House Of Cheung, Boca Raton
499 NE 20th St. Ordered shut: Feb. 15; reopened
Feb. 16
Why: Six high-priority violations, including 32 rodent droppings throughout the kitchen — “underneath shelvings by the triple sink,” “on the shelf underneath prep table by the triple sink,” “in the bowl” and “in the speed racks by the water heater.”
The restaurant was ordered to stop selling and trash its sweetand-sour chicken “due to temperature abuse,” and to properly separate “raw shrimp stored with raw chicken,” which “touched each other.”
The restaurant was allowed to reopen the next day after inspectors discovered zero violations.
The Pampa Grill, Boca Raton
515 NE 20th St. Ordered shut:
Feb. 15; reopened Feb. 16
Why: Seven violations (three high-priority), including 27 rodent droppings “on store shelf with to-go pizza boxes” and on “plastic bag of single-service lids.”
The inspection also found one dead roach on the main kitchen office floor and one employee storing their personal “thermometer cup in reach-in cooler.”
Despite a pair of high-priority violations the next day, the grill was allowed to reopen.
Midnight Cookies & Cream, Boca Raton 489 NE 20th St. Ordered shut: Feb. 15; reopened
Feb. 16
Why: Nine violations (one high-priority), including seven rodent droppings inside and outside of a bathroom, which at the time of inspection was being “used for the storage of single-service articles and beverages.”
The report also cited the business for having “food stored in a prohibited area.”
The sweet shop racked up two intermediate and basic violations the next day but was cleared to reopen.
Señor Burrito, Boca Raton
513 NE 20th St. Ordered shut: Feb. 15; reopened
Feb. 16
Why: Eight violations (two high-priority), including eight rodent droppings found “underneath front-counter bar wine cooler” and in the same area “underneath bar table on the floor.”
In the “main kitchen dry storage food room” there were 55 live flies swarming “around and landing on bag of onions, bags of rice, clean pots, cases of tortillas, containers of sauce and dry seasoning.”
The next-day inspection found one intermediate violation, and the restaurant was allowed to reopen.
Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza & Wings, Delray Beach
115 NE Sixth Ave. Ordered shut:
Feb. 14; reopened same day
Why: Nine violations (eight high-priority), including nine live flies underneath a dishwashing machine and “in soda dispenser at server station.”
There were also 11 rodent droppings “in cabinet at server station” and “by the floor drain inside cabinet at server station.”
The restaurant was ordered to stop selling and toss its chicken wings, meatballs and marinara sauce “due to temperature abuse.” It also received a violation for improperly storing a disinfectant spray bottle of ant/roach killer by the “espresso machine at server station.”
The restaurant was allowed to reopen the same day after the state logged zero violations during a reinspection. The restaurant chain’s Boca Raton location was previously ordered shut in August 2021.
JoJo’s Raw Bar & Grill, Wellington
13889 Wellington Trace, Suite A-20
Ordered shut: three times on Feb. 14-16; reopened Feb. 16
Why: 17 violations (eight high-priority), including 23 live flies seen around “dessert prep area” and “bar area close to office and between ice machines.”
The report red-flagged nine live cockroaches crawling “at low boy reach-in cooler,” “at triple sink at bar area” and “at the side of cooler that stores glasses,” as well as 69 dead roaches found “under and beside ice machine,” “under and behind storage shelf with rice, sugar,” “under storage shelf on the floor where oil is stored,” and “in back storage area under low boy cooler with dressings and sauces,” among other areas.
The restaurant was ordered to stop selling and toss two dented cans of baked beans and shredded sauerkraut; “commercially processed reduced oxygen packaged tuna” due to food “not being in a wholesome sound condition”; and vegetable soup, potato soup, sliced Swiss cheese, sliced cheddar cheese and clam chowder “due to temperature abuse.”
Additionally, there was a “spray bottle of Pine-Sol stored on bar counter above beverages,” and the interior of an ice machine was “heavily soiled with black/green mold-like substance.”
The restaurant was ordered shut again on Feb. 15 and Feb. 16. The state greenlit JoJo’s reopening after another inspection on Feb. 16 yielded zero violations.
Jack’s Pizza & Italian Restaurant, Delray Beach
14856 S. Military Trail Ordered shut: Feb. 12; reopened Feb. 14
Why: Three violations (two high-priority), including at least 26 cockroaches found in the kitchen, crawling “in wheel of six-burner stove on cook line,” “on ground under cook line equipment,” “on wall behind ware washing machine” and “inside of broken floor tiles under steam table.”
Also in the kitchen were at least 43 dead cockroaches, spotted in areas such as “inside of control panel on top of dish machine,” “on cutting board on cook line” and “inside of right-side oven on cook line.”
The pizzeria was cleared to reopen on Feb. 14 after the state spotted zero violations.
China One, Davie
15711 Sheridan St. Ordered shut: Feb. 14; reopened
Feb. 15
Why: 13 violations (one high-priority), including nine cockroaches seen crawling around the cook line area — “on floor, under stove,” “under hand wash sink” and “on wall behind frame of manager certificate,” among others.
The inspection also found 15 dead roaches “under prep table next to stove,” “on floor, under fryers” and “next to storage of granulated sugar bags, next to back entrance door.”
Other violations included “accumulation of debris in three compartment sink” and “floor soiled/has accumulation of debris” under cook link equipment and flip-tops and “under triple sink” in the storage area.
Despite racking up six basic and intermediate violations, inspectors let the eatery reopen the next day.
The restaurant was previously ordered shut in June 2021.
Island Palace Restaurant, Lauderdale Lakes 4170 N. State Road 7 Ordered shut: Feb. 12; reopened
Feb. 13
Why: 16 violations (five high-priority), including five live cockroaches “on the gaskets of Frigidaire reach-in at cook line.”
The restaurant was also dinged for issues such as a “buildup of food debris/soil residue on equipment door handles on walk-in cooler and freezer,” “box of plantains stored on floor,” “freezer shelves with rust that has pitted the surface,” and a toxic can of “gaps and crack filler” stored atop a reach-in cooler.
The restaurant logged one basic violation the next day and was cleared to reopen.