No running water, 50-plus flies on clean plates and utensils: 3 South Florida restaurants temporarily shut
No running water (so no hand washing …) and live flies on clean napkins, plates and utensils were among the issues that forced state inspectors to temporarily close three South Florida restaurants last week.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel typically highlights restaurant inspections conducted by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation in Broward and Palm Beach counties. We cull through inspections that happen weekly and spotlight places ordered shut for “high-priority violations,” such as improper food temperatures or dead cockroaches.
Readers may 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, myfloridalicense.com/DBPR.
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 here. (But please don’t contact us: The Sun Sentinel doesn’t inspect restaurants.
Dune Deck Café, Lantana
100 N. Ocean Blvd.
Ordered shut: June 20; reopened June 21
Why: 13 violations (six high-priority), including 13 flies landing “on prep table in back kitchen,” as well as “on napkins,” “on prep sink” and “on cutting board at cook line in the back.”
Live flies were also spotted “inside an empty pan in steam table in back kitchen,” “inside (a) reach-in cooler next to calamari” and “on clean plates at cook line in the back.”
A handful of sanitation issues included dishes “not washed, rinsed and sanitized in the correct order” and “loose floor tiles with water underneath at front and back line.”
An inspector caught one prep cook who “rinsed hands with her gloves on and then proceeded to take gloves off and put a fresh pair of gloves on.” The report also noted a “dishwasher handled soiled equipment or utensils and handled clean equipment or utensils, without washing hands,” and cooks cracked raw shell eggs then plated cantaloupe “without washing hands and changing gloves.” The inspection included a review of “proper handwashing” procedures with staff.
Dune Deck racked up four high-priority violations and three basic ones during the next-day reinspection, but the state let the beachfront cafe reopen.
Black Rock Bar and Grill, Coral Springs
2554 N. University Drive
Ordered shut: June 20-21; reopened June 22
Why: 14 violations (four high-priority), including an infestation of 57 live flies swarming around and landing on “walls and tables in dining room,” “on ice machine in bar,” “on flour and sugar containers in kitchen,” “on in-use food preparation table on cook line,” “on clean utensils and clean surfaces in dishwashing area,” “inside mop sink” and “on food preparation shelves in prep station.”
The state also noticed that “commercially processed, reduced-oxygen packaged fish bearing a label indicating that it is to remain frozen until time of use” was no longer frozen and “not removed from reduced-oxygen package.” The report indicated the thawed fish was “still in vacuum sealed packages in refrigerator.”
Finally, the eatery was ordered to cover “two open containers with flour and sugar in kitchen area.”
Black Rock was shut again the next day for issues including “30 live flying insects found throughout kitchen and dining room.” The restaurant reopened on June 22 despite two intermediate violations.
Piman Cafe Restaurant, Fort Lauderdale
1560 NE Fourth Ave.
Ordered shut: June 21; reopened June 22
Why: Five violations (three high-priority), including five live flies “on food prep table in kitchen.”
The report noted the restaurant had no running water in spots such as the “bathroom, kitchen, three-compartment sink or mop sink.” It also said a “front cashier accepted cash then engaged in filling food containers without washing hands or wearing gloves,” adding that the employee was “unable to wash hands due to lack of water.”
Finally, the state also red-flagged issues such as “ceiling/ceiling tiles/vents soiled with accumulated food debris, grease, dust or mold-like substance,” and “ceiling tiles near front line/counter sagging.”
The Haitian restaurant reopened the next day after a followup inspection found a single basic violation. The restaurant was previously ordered shut three times in November 2021 for roach-related woes.