‘1 dead fly in drink,’ sewage backing up temporarily shut six restaurants
One dead fly spiked a customer’s beverage, cockroaches crawled on a Boba tea station and rodents left droppings under the prep table at six South Florida restaurants ordered shut last week by state inspectors.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel typically 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,” such as improper food temperatures or dead cockroaches.
Sun Sentinel readers can browse full Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade county reports through our state inspection map, updated weekly (usually Mondays) with fresh data pulled from the Florida DBPR website.
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.)
Jojo’s Take-Out, West Palm Beach
1700 45th St., Suite 1745 Ordered shut: Aug. 10, Aug. 11 and Aug. 12, reopened Aug. 13
Why: State inspectors uncovered 13 violations (five high-priority), such as “one [live] roach on the floor” of the kitchen (which the operator killed), as well as 90 rodent droppings discovered in the kitchen “around the water heater,” “underneath prep table,” “on containers and shelf ” and “between two walk-in coolers used for storage.” The restaurant also was ordered to stop selling and trash its rice and cooked pork “due to temperature abuse.” Finally, inspectors spotted several instances of disrepair, including missing ceiling tiles, kitchen wall damage and “sewage/wastewater backing up through floor drains” in the kitchen. More rodent droppings plagued the restaurant during follow-up inspections on Aug. 11 and Aug. 12, and Jojo’s was ordered shut twice more, but the state finally cleared the restaurant to reopen Aug. 13. (The restaurant was previously ordered shut in July 2020 after a discovery of roach activity.)
Villa Rosano in Boca Raton
9858 Clint Moore Road Ordered shut: Aug. 11, reopened Aug. 12 Why: Seven violations (four of them high-priority), led by 12 live cockroaches found crawling in the kitchen “under pot storage shelf over clean side of dishwashing station” and on the floor in the same area. The restaurant also was ordered to stop selling and toss its tomato sauce and chicken stock “due to temperature abuse.” The restaurant reopened the following day after the reinspection found a single basic issue. (The restaurant was previously ordered shut June 10 for similar roach infestations.)
Chili Crab, Boca Raton
1198 N. Dixie Highway Ordered shut: Aug. 10, reopened Aug. 11 Why: The state spotted three violations (one high-priority) at this 5-monthold restaurant, such as 50 live flies in the kitchen landing on the “soda dispenser box rack,” on the “wall over dry storage containers” and on “pot storage rack in rear hallway” - with some “landing on containers and bags of food.” The restaurant reopened Aug. 11 without a single follow-up incident.
Burger King, Davie
1255 S. Nob Hill Road Ordered shut: Aug. 9, reopened Aug. 10 Why: Inspectors saw 10 violations, but one of them was high-priority: An infestation of 225 live flies landing on a kitchen “sink shelf with clean sanitized pans,” flying near the “exterior drive-thru window,” landing where racks of bread are stored, “flying around mop sink area,” “landing on to-go lids for cups” and “to-go-bags for ice-cream cones,” and around the “front drive-thru area where cooked egg croissants are held.” Meanwhile, the state also spotted 10 dead flies on the gaskets of an open cooler where “vanilla and chocolate syrup” are stored. The state also spotted several unsanitary areas, including a “black/green mold-like” substance in the ice machine, as well as walls and point-of-sale equipment covered in “grease and food residue build-up.” The fast-food chain was cleared to reopen the next day when its reinspection yielded a single basic issue.
Dragon Pho, Davie
7740 Nova Drive, Suite B1 Ordered shut: Aug. 9; remains closed pending reinspection
Why: 40 violations (11 high-priority), such as 16 live flies found “flying around and landing on tables, wall” — and even one of the inspectors — in the dining room. Flies also landed on “containers both clean and dirty in dishwashing area,” landed on the prep table and “clean plates” by the cook line, and landed on storage containers, blenders in Boba smoothie station.” There was also “1 dead fly in customer’s drink,” and the customer returned the drink to the operator. Meanwhile, 36 live roaches crawled across a dining-room table while the inspector was writing their report, crawled on the dining-room floor while a customer was nearby, “on floor in hallway toward rear door,” “on floor under mat by cook line” and “on prep table by Boba smoothie station.” The state red-flagged several unsanitary practices, like “garbage bags used to store cooked noodles” (the operator removed them). One employee was cutting green peppers without washing hands or changing gloves, while another touched food with artificial press-on nails and polish. Finally, the restaurant was ordered to stop selling and throw away cooked pork and two pounds of cooked noodles “due to temperature abuse.” The restaurant is still awaiting reinspection and has not reopened.
Souvlaki Fresh, Boca Raton
122 NE Second St.
Ordered shut: Aug. 9, reopened the same day
Why: Inspectors unearthed four violations (two high-priority), including 13 live cockroaches spotted crawling “under double-door reach-in cooler” in the kitchen’s prep area, and on the floor “around water heater near rear door.” The restaurant was also red-flagged for improperly storing raw meat skewers over french fries and for missing kitchen tiles. A reinspection later the same day found a single basic issue, and the state cleared Souvlaki’s reopening.