Inspection upsets cafe owner

Bagels &, west of Lake Worth, cleared the same day; owner blames pest control mishap, warehouse boxes.

Bagels &, at 6556 Hypoluxo Road, west of Lake Worth, was temporarily closed June 27 after a state inspector found evidence of rodent activity and noted live roaches.

The restaurant was cleared the same day and re-opened after the inspector checked again and found no evidence of rodents or roaches.

Nancy Montelbano, the restaurant’s owner, said Monday the restaurant does not have rodents, and the inspection was upsetting. The droppings found were because the shopping center was at one time infested with rodents. Recently, droppings fell from the ceiling after a pest control worker moved tiles to treat the restaurant.

As for the roaches, Montelbano said they come in on boxes delivered from warehouses. The restaurant is now unpacking the boxes outside to solve the problem.

“Small businesses try to do whatever we can to stay clean. Something has to be done with the warehouses. We are trying to do the right thing here, and do whatever we can,” Montelbano said.

The initial Florida Business & Professional Regulation report cited Bagels & for four high-priority violations, four intermediate violations and five basic violations. High-priority violations included milk being held at greater than 41 degrees and raw shell eggs stored above macaroni salad and tuna salad in a reach-in cooler.

The two other high-priority violations were five roaches being found in storage areas and on the wall beneath a dish machine and 10 dry rodent droppings found in the draining tray underneath a cooler used to store dry foods.

Intermediate violations included processed, ready-to-eat food opened and held more than 24 hours without being marked with the date, potatoes not being cooled properly, no hot water at an employee hand-washing sink and food prepared on site such as corned beef held for more than 24 hours but not date-marked.

During a re-inspection on June 27, inspectors cited the restaurant for nine violations, many of them the same, but found no evidence of roaches or rodents, and permitted the restaurant to open. The restaurant was given more time to correct the other violations, such as a mold-like buildup on gaskets in a reach-in cooler.

Montelbano said Monday that all issues cited in the report have been fixed.

The restaurant was also temporarily closed June 8 after an inspector cited it for eight violations including dead roaches and live roaches.

Bagels & is one of about 50 restaurants cited so far this year by state health inspectors because of evidence that rodents were present.

State records show that on average, three Palm Beach County restaurants are cited per day because of insect or animal-related violations.