A Palm Beach County pub was temporarily shut down by state inspectors for the second time in December after they found violations including a dead rodent, hundreds of rodent droppings and live flies.
No restaurants in Broward County received an emergency order to close 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 violations such as improper food temperatures or dead cockroaches.
Any restaurant that fails a state inspection must stay closed until it passes a follow-up. If you spot a possible violation and wish to file a complaint, contact Florida DBPR. (But please don’t contact us: The Sun Sentinel doesn’t inspect restaurants.)
PALM BEACH COUNTY
Blue Anchor pub
804 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach
Ordered shut: Dec. 22
Why: Seven violations (four high-priority), including:
- “Dead rodent present on floor behind bar next to slide-top cooler.”
- About 200 rodent droppings “on shelves behind bar,” “on floor under equipment/storage shelves behind bar,” “in kitchen on floor under/behind equipment,” “in kitchen behind chest freezer,” “in kitchen on floor inside walk-in cooler,” “on expo line in storage containers with clean utensils/unwrapped single-service articles/clean cups,” “at expo line on floor under shelves” and “on floor in dry storage area.”
- About 20 live flies “behind bar flying around/landing on drink dispensers/equipment/utensils.”
- “Employee entered establishment/kitchen/bar from outside and began handling clean utensils and equipment to prepare/serve food/drinks for customers without washing hands.”
Status: Remained closed on Dec. 23 after a next-day inspection found four violations (two high-priority and two basic.) A third visit on Dec. 26 kept the pub closed because of three violations (one high-priority and two basic). A fourth inspection on Dec. 29 found three violations (one high-priority and two basic), which kept it closed. Blue Anchor was allowed to reopen later that same day after a reinspection found two basic violations.
Previously, Blue Anchor had been forced to temporarily close on Dec. 4 and was allowed to reopen Dec. 8 after passing a third inspection.
