Rat droppings, bug infestations and a roach-infested egg: The revolting reasons behind Florida restaurant closures

Bug infestations and rat dropping were just some of the violations found at six south Florida restaurants in recent weeks  leading to their closure to get the eateries up to code. 

According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the inspections were completed by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation in Broward and Palm Beach counties. 

Officials found other violations such as improper sanitation and food temperature abuse. More than 80 dead cockroaches were found across the facilities, along with insects' eggs. 

Altogether, inspectors found 60 violations during their investigation into all of the shutdown restaurants.

In Florida, high-priority restaurant violations are issues that can lead to illness or injury, intermediate violations are the risks that can lead to serious health issues, and the basic violations are those that are considered the 'best practices to implement.'  

The six restaurants went through a follow-up inspection and as of April 5, all of them have reopened.

TooJay's Deli

The Coral Springs eatery had one of the least amount of violations and it was the only restaurant to have only one high-priority issue.

Two of the restaurant's basic violations involved the restaurant's ceiling tiles and vents.

Investigators confirmed in their report that ceilings in the dining room were damaged, and along with their vent, were accumulated with dust. 

Inspectors found three live cockroaches in a women's bathroom stall and close to the kitchen's flip-top cooler.

The restaurant operator sprayed, removed, cleaned, and sanitized the area, but it wasn't enough for investigators and they shut TooJay's down on April 4.

The issues were taken care of almost immediately and the restaurant reopened just one day after it was forced to close.

The Drawbridge - Flavors of the South

Inspectors discovered several violations that made The Drawbridge - Flavors of the South an unclean location in Belle Glade.

The restaurant not only had 11 violations but seven of them were labeled by inspectors as high-priority.

'The department cites violations of Florida's sanitation and safety laws, which are based on the standards of U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Food Code,' read the report.

'High Priority violations are those which could contribute directly to a foodborne illness or injury and include items such as cooking, reheating, cooling and hand-washing.'

Inspectors found six live flies on a paper towel in the kitchen, but they also found 26 rodent droppings on the floor.

Other issues included improper food storage and an improperly sanitized dishwasher.

The restaurant shut down on April 4 and again the next day after inspectors found that the eatery still had a high-priority violation. However, inspectors returned later that day and reopened the restaurant after there were no more violations.

India Grill and Bar

India Grill and Bar did not deny the 11 violations officials discovered during their investigation. The Royal Palm Beach location had six high-priority violations.

Some of the issues included in the restaurant's basic violations were at least 50 dead roaches still in their traps, ceiling damage and a roach egg casing on a prep counter.

The higher-priority violations include more than five live roaches in a small prep area the restaurant operator killed, rodent dropping at the server station and dry storage area, and a dead cockroach in an ice operator.

All of the issue led to the restaurant's April 3 shutdown.

According to the Sun Sentinel, the restaurant remained closed on April 4 after two basic and one high-priority violation were found by an inspector.

It was cleared to reopen on April 5 after officials made a follow-up visit. 

Dairy Queen

A Dairy Queen in Royal Palm Beach was one of the shutdown restaurants, but it also had a lesser violation total than most of the restaurants. Inspectors found that the restaurant had four violations, two of them being high-priority.

The basic violations were not displaying their restaurant license and one dead cockroach in the dry storage area.

The higher-priority issues became apparent once inspectors found small insects landing on the wall and at the prep table near the front counter.

The report also read that approximately 12 rodent droppings on floor under shelves with single service cups.'

Unfortunately, the report also indicated that it's not the location's first rodent dropping-violation.

All of these led to the Dairy Queen being closed on April 4 but it was allowed to be reopened the next day with one basic violation. 

Let's Dish Caribbean Restaurant

The West Palm Beach restaurant is one of two restaurants that had a whopping amount of violations.

According to inspectors, Let's Dish Caribbean Restaurant had 15 violations, and eight of them were high-priority. 

The restaurant's kitchen appeared to be a hotspot for cockroaches after officials found 10 live roaches in the kitchen. Upon further inspection, they also discovered about 50 dead cockroaches 'on storage shelves, prep table, floors under all equipment.'

Let's Dish Caribbean Restaurant was later ordered to stop selling their rice, peas, curry chicken, brown stew chicken and raw eggs due to temperature abuse.

Unfortunately, restaurant officials didn't manage to get rid of all of the violations in 24 hours.

The restaurant closed on April 2 and remained closed the next day after inspectors saw that there were still two basic and one high-priority violation.

Officials later found three violations on April 4, but despite this, they approved the restaurant's reopening later that day. 

Au Bon Gout Restaurant

A restaurant with another whopping 15 violations managed to only have three high-priority ones. 

Au Bon Gout Restaurant in Pompano Beach was the first of the six restaurants to be shut down by inspectors. One of the biggest reasons was live roaches that inspectors say they found on the clean utensil storage rack and prep area.

The report read the officials found 'two live roaches on bowls and plates' and 'seven live roaches observed on cleaned utensil storage rack.

Another high-priority issue that made the Au Bon Gout Restaurant come under fire was improperly separated food.

Inspectors also discovered that the restaurant's employees dried their hands on their clothes, aprons or soiled towels.

It may have been a bit surprising that the employees could wash their hands since officials found that a 'faucet at the hand wash sink loose and falling on its side.'

The restaurant was closed immediately on April 1 and reopened the next day despite the findings of five basic and one high-priority violation.