4 restaurants shut down for violations have all reopened
St ate inspec tors temporarily shut down four Palm Beach Count y restaurants last week after they recorded violations ranging from roach and rodent activity to food not being hot or cold enough. All have reopened.
Nick’s Tomatoe Pie in Jupiter and Suzy’s Caribbean Restaurant in Boynton Beach were cited for rodent activity.
Kangaroo House Subs and More in Lake Park and Eagle Grill & Oyster Bar in Greenacres were cited for roach activity.
Nick’s Tomatoe Pie, at 1697 W. Indiantown Road in Jupiter, was closed May 24 after being cited for 12 violations including rodent activity. The Department of Business and Professional Regulation report states 12 dry rodent droppings were found on a bucket containing rinse additive for a dish machine and one dry dropping and three wet droppings were found on the floor.
Nick Chiantese, owner of Nick’s Tomatoe Pie, said Tuesday that the restaurant was cleared and re-opened the next day.
In response to the rodent issue, Chiantese said, “We have it under control. It happens. In 26 years, I have never had this problem.”
Chiantese said the inspector told him they are seeing a rash of rodent problems that could be related to the drought as rodents search for water.
Chiantese said he just had new kitchen doors installed. The report cited the restaurant for a basic violation because of a gap in the threshold of the kitchen doors that open to the outside.
Nick’s also had seven other basic violations, such as a buildup of grease on the walls and a hole in the ceiling. Two intermediate violations included clam/mussel/ oyster tags not marked with the last date served and a lack of hot water at three employee handwashing sinks.
Kangaroo House Subs and More, 1400 10th St., Lake Park, was closed May 24 after being cited for 12 violations. The report noted a basic violation because of 17 dead roaches and a high-priority violation of 14 live roaches, including five under the microwave stand, eight under the steam table and one under the mop sink.
Calls from The Post on Tuesday to the Kangaroo House went unanswered.
Other high-priority violations at Kangaroo were moldlike growth on refrigerated collards and sweet potato pies. A stop sale order was issued for sweet potato pies being held at 68 degrees rather than the required 41 degrees or below, the report states.
Eagle Grill & Oyster Bar, 4636 Jog Road, Greenacres, was closed May 22 after being cited for eight violations. Inspectors issued a high-priorit y violation for live roaches after observing 25 roaches under the dish machine, three roaches under a prep table, three roaches in the dry storage area, two roaches inside the women’s restroom, three roaches in the men’s restroom and one crawling on the bar counter.
A man who identified himself as the restaurant owner and said his name was Peter Smith, said everything was fixed, and the restaurant re-opened the next morning. State licensing records list the Eagle’s owners as Peter and Sandy Buggeln. The owner said he was too busy to discuss the inspection results any further.
Three high-priority violations at Eagle were related to food temperatures. Egg batter was held at 50 to 60 degrees and various cold-cooked foods were being held at greater than 41 degrees in a walk-in cooler. A stop sale order was issued for soup, crabcakes, ribs and roast beef.
Inspectors also issued three basic violations to Eagle for 15 d e a d r o a c h e s , a n e mpl oye e preparing food without a hair restraint and a buildup of grease under the fryers and behind the stove. Eagle received an intermediate violation for not labeling two spray bottles containing a toxic substance.
Suzy’s Caribbean Restaurant, 1600 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach, was shut down May 23 after inspectors found eight violations. Owner Brisley Vireus said Tuesday that everything is fixed.
Suz y ’s was cited for rodent activit y as evidenced by eight fresh droppings found on the premises.
Three high-priority violations included cold foods such as fish, cole slaw, noodles and sauce not being kept at 41 degrees or below. A stop sale order was issued.
Suzy’s received an intermediate violation for not properly tracking and marking the number of days refrigerated food was being held.