Denny’s. Pollo. A country club. Rodent on a grill: Miami to Palm Beach restaurant filth

A country club, four chains, one place that sounds like it’s part of a chain and with that hotfoot rodent ... we’ve got a packed 10-restaurant long Sick and Shut Down List, so let’s get to it.

WE DON’T WRITE THIS PART FOR OUR HEALTH BUT FOR YOU TO READ: What follows comes from Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation restaurant inspections in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties. A restaurant that fails inspection remains closed until passing an inspection.

If you see a problem and want a place inspected, contact the DBPR. We don’t do the inspections, control who gets inspected nor how strictly the inspector inspects.

We don’t include all violations, just the most moving, whether internally or literally moving (because it’s alive or once was alive). Some violations get corrected immediately after the inspector points them out. But in those situations, ask yourself, why did the violations exist in the first place? And, how long would they have remained if not for the inspection?

We report without passion or prejudice, but with a side dish of humor.

In alphabetical order:

Bubbakoo’s Burritos, 3636 W. Hillsboro Blvd., Deerfield Beach: Routine inspection, six total violations, two High Priority violations.

Our first chain had a can opener blade that counted as a “food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime.”

But more problematic were the 10 rodent droppings decorating the walls in the kitchen ware washing area, as well as the 10 live flies on walls there, another 10 on the draining rack in the same area and one on single-service item packaging. Makes you wonder how anybody can work there without waving wax-on, wax-offing their hands at the flies while tap dancing like Gregory Hines to avoid the rodents.

After crashing and being sidelined for the lucrative Friday payday dinner rush, Bubbakoo passed re-inspection on Saturday.

What should you do if food in your fridge or pantry is recalled? You have some choices

Denny’s, 19780 NW 27th Ave., Miami Gardens: Routine inspection, 11 total violations, one High Priority violation.

This week’s Wayne Gretzky Award restaurant for a hat trick of failed inspections presented, “dead flies on a tray that stores bottles of mustard, ketchup, A1 sauce, hot sauce, caramel sauce, and syrup.”

Yet another place that had a “food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime,” this one being the cutting boards.

The ware-washing machine had an “accumulation of food debris.”

The inspector spotted a roach crawling on the wall by the walk-in cooler, one on the wall by the deep freezer cooler, two roaches coming out of the wall by the mop sink and over 10 roaches on the wall by the dishwasher.

There were no dead roaches then, unlike the next day when Denny’s might as well have been the Miami Gardens’ Roach Morgue — 100-plus roach bodies found in the dining room, under the dining room booths, the kitchen and other areas of the restaurant. A front counter prep table had six dead flies and another four dotted a kitchen prep table, which makes us wonder why those working in the area couldn’t just sweep the little dead things into a garbage can.

Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered because the inspector counted over 45 live roaches, including over eight on the kitchen wall and over 10 under the ware-washing machine.

So, for the hat trick, the inspector returned and counted over 30 dead roaches in many of the same places as the previous day, including under dining area booths and the “front dining floor” (good golly, Walmart’s across the street — somebody get a broom and a dustpan).

Imagine, you’re just sitting there, powering your way through a Grand Slam breakfast and suddenly there’s a roach or four crawling out of the booth. Well, you don’t have to imagine it as the inspector saw “four live roaches crawling out of three booths in the dining room.”

The inspector also counted 29 live roaches elsewhere in the house.

This Denny’s took a few days and passed re-re-re-inspection.

Now, let’s hear from Miss Re after another chain restaurant’s inspection fail.

Ernest Deli, 5369 Lyons Rd., Coconut Creek: Routine inspection, 10 total violations, five High Priority violations.

You know it’s not a Sick and Shut Down List without at least one “accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine/bin.”

But Ernest went to timeout on the flies, which numbered about 77 and landed on the dining room walls (15) and the front serving counter walls (25), among other places.

Ernest passed re-inspection the next day.

Jupiter Country Club, 300 Marsala Ct., Jupiter: Routine inspection, 13 total violations, three High Priority violations.

According to Echo Fine Properties, just a Club Membership at Jupiter Country Club costs $5,000 entry fee and $430 per month. For a Full Golf membership, you have to lay out $75,000, then $1,300 per month.

That kind of money doesn’t assure that the restaurant won’t have “approximately 35 flies by the dishwasher area touching clean glasses and plates” or your food fixed on a “food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime,” such as a soiled cookline cutting board.

The wiping cloth that’s supposed to be in a sanitizing solution sat in solution with zero sanitizer.

The bar handwash sink apparently had a way to get your hands wet (running water), but didn’t have a way to actually wash your hands (soap) or a way to dry them. Get some Lava and hand towels in here.

Jupiter Country Club passed the next day’s inspection.

USDA says recalled ‘Miami Burgers’ weren’t inspected and might not be ‘Angus beef’

Kin Asian Street Food, 143 SW Sixth St., Pompano Beach: Routine inspection, five total violations, two High Priority violations.

Take a few minutes and some 409 or even Fabuloso so the inspector doesn’t see “floor soiled/accumulation of debris — throughout the entire perimeter walls, floors of the entire kitchen area and the front counter area.”

Also, “street food” doesn’t mean roaches can run in your restaurant the way they run in the streets, as in “20 live roaches crawling on the floor and walls, under and behind clean utensils, and the dry goods shelf by back door and both reach-in coolers on the cookline.”

Or, “approximately 10 live roaches crawling on the floor by prep table window to front counter,” “10 live roaches crawling on the floor and on top of the dishwasher machine in the kitchen area;” and “approximately 20 live roaches crawling behind the ice machine and the floors on the front counter area.”

Kin got it together for re-inspection the next day.

Pollo Tropical, 3085 45th St., West Palm Beach: Complaint inspection, five total violations, four High Priority violations.

Sewage and Tropichop ingredients that can make you sick put this Pollo on the list.

Taking the second part first, the inspector fired Stop Sales at cheese, shredded cheese, corn and coleslaw, each of which were in the cold hold well at the front station, but measuring at 50 or 51 degrees. They need to be at 41 or below to keep from being edible petri dishes.

As for what went down with the sewage, it came back up.

“Sewage/wastewater backing up through floor drains at the dishwashing area, by the walk-in cooler, prep station and throughout the kitchen area” as well as through the mop sinks.

Pollo passed a same-day re-inspection.

Shepherd’s pie recalled in Florida, California, Texas, Georgia might have copper wire

Taqueria Guerrero, 628 Belvedere Rd., West Palm Beach: Routine inspection, 20 total violations, seven High Priority violations.

“Nonfood-contact surface soiled with grease, food debris, dirt, slime or dust” as well as no paper towels or mechanical hand drying device at the kitchen handwash sink would seem to indicate there’s not a whole lotta handwashing going on.

Apparently, that handwash sink had appropriately hot water, unlike the employee handwash sink at the front service counter.

Another place with the “food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime” violation, a soiled cutting board and can opener earning the violation here.

They need to check the walk-in cooler. Raw pork put in the night before still measured way too warm, 48 degrees, and got zapped with a Stop Sale.

“Six live flies in tortilla prep area of kitchen.” Don’t tell us they wound up in — “Flies did not land on anything.” Phew.

Passed re-inspection the next day like Roberto Guerrero at speed.

Victoria Bakery Restaurant, 1130 W. Flagler St., Miami: Complaint inspection, 32 total violations, eight High Priority violations.

This is NOT part of the Vicky Bakery chain (and you better believe that family lit the “Thank You” candles about that...)

“Customers enter establishment through kitchen. At the time of the inspection observed customers walking through establishment’s back door, ordering food and exiting through establishments back door.”

Back door service is extremely frowned upon at the Sick and Shut Down List for a number of health and historical reasons.

“Ceiling vents soiled with accumulated food debris, grease, dust, or mold-like substance. Observed throughout front service kitchen.”

The inspector noted the cooler used to store tortillas was cracked and “soiled.” Also spotted were “gaskets at the reach-in cooler soiled with mold like substance;” the “reach-in cooler shelves soiled with old food debris;” the “fan cover in the reach-in cooler soiled; and an “accumulation of grease and old food debris at the grill and stove in front kitchen area.”

Some food contact surfaces weren’t sanitized after cleaning (utensils, food storage containers). Some food contact surfaces were — say it with me, folks — “soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime...interior of microwave soiled...interior of oven soiled...interior of reach-in cooler heavily soiled...interior of reach-in freezer heavily soiled with old food debris.”

None of this bothered the rodents, who left 50 pieces of regularity in the front dining area and another 20 in the cove molding in the dining area. They also left rub marks “throughout the walls in the dining area.”

So, with these little buggers running around, surely they wouldn’t leave anything uncovered, but “container full of rice stored uncovered under prep table across from cook line...gallons of juices in front reach-in cooler stored uncovered.”

No soap or way to dry hands at the handwash sink.

The Victoria folks managed to have both standing water at the bottom of the reach-in cooler and the “ reach-in cooler draining into a bucket in the front service area.”

Raw chicken, fish and beef liver were thawing at room temperature. You can’t always cook out the bad organisms that’ll start squatting in the food while that happens.

“Non food grade bags used to store cooked beef and cooked chicken.”

At the next day’s re-inspection, there was still no soap provided at the handwash sink. But, there was “one live rodent walking on the grill at the cookline.”

Monday’s inspection was passed to the point of “Follow up Inspection required” but not “Met Inspection Standards.”

Wally Jean’s Paradise Restaurant, 2467 N. State Rd. 7, Lauderhill: Routine inspection, 23 total violations, eight High Priority violations.

Flies brought Wally Jean’s to the Sick and Shut Down List last year and the restaurant came to the list on the backs of running roaches in 2020. So, welcome back to this Gretzky Award, Career Division recipient. A goat was on your return ticket.

“Nonfood-grade bags used in direct contact with food...goat head in reach-in freezer in direct contact with plastic to-go bag.”

There were five dead roaches at the front counter and another five roach bodies inside a bathroom cabinet.

Not sure if it’s the same restroom, but restroom next to the front counter didn’t have soap at the handwash sink. The kitchen handwash sink didn’t have any, nor did it have any way to dry hands. Add it up and even the fist bump isn’t safe in this joint.

What kitchen doesn’t have a trash can? Apparently, the same one where folks cook turkey, then leave it uncovered in the walk-in cooler.

Cooked fish in hot storage needed to be kept above 135 degrees. Food thermometer SAYS...88 degrees. Basura. Stop Sale.

Food debris on the floor at the front counter and on the kitchen floor. Also on the floor at the front counter in the dining room were 10 rodent droppings. Only one rodent dropping was in the bathroom. Who raised these rodents?

Wally Jean’s somehow passed re-inspection the next day.

Wingstop, 4570 Lyons Rd., Coconut Creek: Routine inspection, two total violations, two High Priority violations.

Our last stop is at a Wingstop or Wings-on-a-fly-Stop.

The inspector counted 10 flies at a kitchen mop sink, eight on boxes in dry storage, another 10 on dining room walls and 20 hanging out on walls over the front counter register.

The other violation was a missing vacuum breaker at the mop sink. Vacuum breakers prevents backflow and contamination from backflow.

Wingstop flew again after the next day’s re-inspection.