7 Polk County restaurants fall short of inspection standards. 16 pass with zero violations
Seven Polk County restaurants fell short of inspection standards in the week from Jan. 29 to Feb. 4, according to state inspection reports.
Of 86 inspections during the period, 79 food vendors met standards and no one had violations related to insects or rodents. Sixteen restaurants had perfect initial inspections. (An initial inspection is just one that wasn’t a follow-up mandated by violations in a previous inspection.)
The seven restaurants that fell short had a wide variety of violations, not all of which would seem egregious to the common diner. They ran the gamut from issues with licensing or employee training, to dishes or utensils stored against “best practice,” damaged or soiled equipment or structures, and bona-fide food-safety problems, such as food stored at dangerous temperatures or in an improper manner.
View for yourself: Take a look at inspection reports for any restaurant in Polk County
In our restaurant inspections report each week, The Ledger details the all violations received by these restaurants so readers can decide.
Restaurants that fell short
Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill, 3901 U.S. 98 N., Lakeland: On Jan. 29, the restaurant had five violations, two of which were high priority. Both high-priority violations were for pork and garlic sauce that was held overnight above 41 degrees. A stop-sale was ordered. The restaurant had one intermediate violation for the handwash sink being out of soap. And it had two basic violations: one for a soiled drain cover in the bar area and another for a damaged wall, also in the bar area. A follow-up was required, and during a callback the next day, the restaurant passed with zero violations.
Palace Italian Restaurant, 6120 U.S. 98 N., Lakeland: On Jan. 31, the restaurant had just two violations, one high priority and one basic. For the high-priority violation, the inspector found the chlorine sanitizer solution in the dish machine wasn’t at the proper minimum strength. The restaurant was ordered to stop using the dish machine until it was fixed. The basic violation was for a container of shredded cheese stored on the floor in the walk-in cooler. An employee removed the container from the floor.
Old Man Frank's Shore Saloon, 1005 S. Lake Howard Drive, Winter Haven: On Jan. 31, the restaurant had one violation, for making renovations without first submitting plans for approval. The violation first appeared in its Dec. 1 inspection, and hadn’t been remedied as of Jan. 31. The report did not specify what renovations were being made.
Hooters Of South Lakeland, 3437 S. Florida Ave., Lakeland: On Feb. 1, the restaurant had one high priority violation, for a dish machine that wasn’t mixing chlorine sanitizer to the proper strength. A three-compartment sink was set up as a dish-washing station until the dish machine could be fixed.
Fish City Grill, 1485 Town Center Drive, Lakeland: On Feb. 1, the restaurant had nine violations, including two high priority and two intermediate. One high-priority violation was for raw salmon stored over cheese slices in the reach-in drawers on the cook line. The cheese was relocated to the back of the drawer. The other high-priority violation was for operating with an expired license.
Jan. 22-28: One Polk County restaurant closed temporarily for roaches. 9 others warned, 10 perfect
One of the intermediate violations was for doing a special process, such as conducting reduced-oxygen packaging or operating a shellfish tank, without a plan approved by the Division of Hotels and Restaurants. The other was for not having a currently certified food manager on duty at the time of the inspection.
Along with those, there were five basic violations: pans wet-nesting on a shelf in the dishwasher area, an exterior door with a gap at the threshold, standing water on the floor of the walk-in cooler, missing floor tiles, and a container of yellowtail snapper stored on the floor in front of the three-compartment sink. The fish was removed from off the floor.
Sumo, 629 U.S. 17-92 W., Haines City: On Feb. 1, the restaurant had 11 violations, including one high priority and four intermediate. The high-priority violation was for raw chicken stored on a sheet tray over beef wrapped in plastic wrap. The operator removed beef from under chicken.
Among the four intermediates, the inspector noted a bucket in the handwash sink (indicated the sink was used for things other than hand washing). The other three intermediate violations were for employee training issues.
The other six violations were all basic. One was for cups with no handle being used to dispense rice and flour. The inspector also noted the containers of rice and flour were not labeled properly. Another was for single-service containers on the cook line that weren’t stored “inverted or protected from contamination (the operator turned the containers over). The inspector noted shrimp in standing water in the sink, indicating it wasn’t thawed properly. Another was for walk-in cooler shelves with rust. And finally, the inspector said a reach-in cooler on the cook line was broken. No food was stored in it; the operator was using it as a table.
Daily Huddle Cafe Noah's Landing, 4700 Melody Lane, Lakeland: On Feb. 1, the restaurant had just two intermediate violations. One was for ice in the handwash sink (indicating the sink was used for something other than hand washing). The other was for lacking proof of state-mandated employee training.
Jan. 15-21: 5 Polk County restaurants fall short of inspection standards. Four are perfect
Perfection
It’s tough to get a perfect initial inspection. During the week of Jan. 29 to Feb. 4, a staggering 16 Polk County food vendors did so.
Taqueria Del Angel, caterer at 502 E. Main St., Lakeland
Stop And Go Pasta Crele Fl LLC, mobile food vendor at 32959 U.S. 27, Haines City
Smokin Chanchos, mobile food vendor, 3716 Morgan Combee, Lakeland
Slim Chickens, 23260 U.S. 27, Lake Wales
Passport Subs LLC, mobile food vendor, 5175 U.S. 98 N., Lakeland
Pa' Las Miches Bar And Grill, 1313 N. Combee Road, Lakeland
Cams Catering Co. Inc., caterer, 117 Bates Ave. S.W., Winter Haven
Cains Snowballs, 590 Ave. C S.E., Winter Haven
Lakeland Skate World Snack Bar, 911 N. Lake Parker Ave., Lakeland
Island Frydays, mobile food vendor, 1937 E. Memorial Blvd., Lakeland
Taco My Friend #2, mobile food vendor, 3899 Recker Highway, Winter Haven
Taqueria My Friend Inc., mobile food vendor, 3899 Recker Highway, Winter Haven
Russmatt Baseball, 50901 U.S. 27, Davenport
Wendy's #11472, 35645 U.S. 27, Haines City
Queen Rodriguez LLC, mobile food vendor, 223 N. Wabash Ave., Lakeland
John’s Drive In, 17 N. Charleston Ave., Fort Meade
Jan. 8-14: 8 Polk restaurants fall short of standards in latest inspections. See the reasons here
Keep in mind as you read
Remember that in some cases, violations are noted are technical issues not directly linked to hygiene or cleanliness. Remember, too, that broken refrigerators, chipped tiles or fast work may add up to unintended mistakes.
Regardless, if you notice abuses of state standards, report them and DBPR will send inspectors. Call 1-850-487-1395.
The terminology
What does all that terminology in state restaurant inspections mean?
Basic violations are those considered against best practices.
A warning is issued after an inspector documents violations that must be corrected by a certain date or within a specified number of days from receipt of the inspection report.
An administrative complaint is a form of legal action taken by the division. Insufficient compliance after a warning, a pattern of repeat violations or existence of serious conditions that warrant immediate action may result in the division initiating an administrative complaint against the establishment. Says the division website: “Correcting the violations is important, but penalties may still result from violations corrected after the warning time was over.”
An emergency order — when a restaurant is closed by the inspector — is based on an immediate threat to the public. Here, the Division of Hotels and Restaurants director has determined that the establishment must stop doing business and any division license is suspended to protect health, safety or welfare of the public.
A 24-hour call-back inspection will be performed after an emergency closure or suspension of license and the establishment may reopen only after inspection shows that all high-priority violations that caused the suspension are corrected.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: 7 Polk County restaurants fall short of standards. 16 are perfect
