South Florida Sun Sentinel
May 17, 2021 2:57 PM
Sun Sentinel Restaurant Inspections
A giant infestation of hundreds of rodent droppings, live and dead cockroaches forced state inspectors to shut down Thai Thai Restaurant and Sushi Bar in Plantation not once but four consecutive times last week.
Meanwhile, Palm Beach eateries Strathmore Bagels & Deli in Wellington and TaOne Asian Fusion in Lake Worth were also temporarily ordered shut for live flies, rodent droppings and one example of “a container with raw chicken and cooked chicken mixed together.”
The South Florida Sun Sentinel highlights restaurant inspections in Broward and Palm Beach counties from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Here’s how it works: We cull through hundreds of restaurant and bar inspections that happen weekly and spotlight places ordered shut for “high-priority violations,” like improper food temperatures or dead cockroaches. On occasion we may highlight the weirder violations we notice, like this pizzeria that put a dead 80-pound iguana in its freezer.
Sun Sentinel readers can browse full Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade county reports on our state inspection map, updated weekly (usually Monday) with fresh data pulled from the Florida DBPR website.
Any restaurant that fails inspections must stay closed until it passes a follow-up state inspection. If you spotted a possible violation and wish to file a complaint, contact Florida DBPR here. (But don’t contact us: The Sun Sentinel doesn’t inspect restaurants.)
Thai Thai Restaurant & Sushi Bar
1861 N. Pine Island Road, Plantation
Ordered shut: Four consecutive times on May 13, May 14 and May 15
Why: Where do we start? (It’s a lot.) Health inspectors first shut down Thai Thai on May 13 after spotting 40 dead roaches in an empty bucket by the exit, inside a chest freezer and on storage racks; 50 live roaches on prep tables, under the rice cooker, “in clean and sanitized food containers on storage shelf,” next to the hot water heater and inside the kitchen. One live roach was seen inside a rice bin, which inspectors later ordered the restaurant to throw out. Finally, there were 26 rodent droppings underneath a dish drain and dead roaches “under counters in sushi bar.”
Thai Thai remained shut when a second inspection on May 14 found 108 (!) dead roaches under the prep tables, in the dining room, next to the microwave, on a container lid of star anise, under the sushi bar and “under rack where clean pots and pans are stored.” Add to that 10 more live roaches on ceilings, crawling on walls and “crawling on stack of clean plates.” (Inspectors asked the restaurant to wash the plates again.)
The restaurant then failed the state’s third visit – also May 14 – when inspectors found improperly stored raw chicken, squid and pork, along with more live and dead roaches left to clean. A fourth visit on May 15 kept the restaurant closed after inspectors found six more live roaches under the sushi station, on chest freezer, climbing on kitchen walls, under the sink and on the deep fryer, along with three dead roaches underneath prep tables.
Strathmore Bagels and Deli
4095 State Road 7, Wellington
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Why: Eight violations (seven high-priority), including nine live flies in the kitchen, food prep area, food storage and the bar, 70-plus rodent droppings underneath the dishwasher, breaker box and kitchen shelves. Inspectors saw an “employee touching ready-to-eat food with their bare hands” (Canadian bacon, muffin, bagels) and ordered the eatery to stop selling quiche due to improper food temperature. Inspectors let Strathmore reopen on May 14 when food inspectors in a follow-up visit found no violations.
4095 State Road 7, Suite O, Wellington
Why: Seven violations (six high-priority) such as improper food storage, including “a container with raw chicken and cooked chicken mixed together,” along with 46 rodent droppings under the sink and on top of the dishwasher and microwave. Inspectors also ordered the eatery to stop selling two containers of sushi rice due to improper food temperatures. The restaurant was allowed to reopen May 15 when inspectors in a follow-up visit found zero violations.
