Four NE Florida restaurants shut down temporarily for roach, temperature violations

Enlarge Photo

Three of the restaurants were closed temporarily for violations including roach activity.

Robert Ward

Print Editor- Jacksonville Business Journal

Email  |  Google+  |  Twitter  |  Facebook

Four Northeast Florida restaurants were closed temporarily last week, four for roach activity and one for storage temperature violations.
• Pablo's Mexican Restaurant, Grill & Cantina, 12 N. Second St., Fernandina Beach
A state inspector shut down the restaurant Oct. 14 after finding 11 violations, including three high-priority violations, and allowed it to reopen the next day. The inspector found about 53 live roaches — in a dry storage room next to the kitchen area (eight), behind equipment on the cook line in the upstairs kitchen (10), under the prep table in the upstairs back kitchen area near a dishwasher (20) and on a wall in the upstairs kitchen area next to a storage room (15). Live, small flying insects were also found in the food preparation area and small flies were found in the upstairs kitchen area. Another high-priority violation was for potentially hazardous food not held at the correct temperature — a repeat violation.
At a follow-up inspection Oct. 15, the inspector found small flies in the downstairs kitchen and five dead roaches — in the downstairs storage room area (one), on the cooks line in the upstairs kitchen (one) and in the upstairs dining room area (three) — and scheduled a seven-day callback inspection.
• Sunrise Cafe, 7929 Blanding Blvd., Jacksonville
The restaurant was shut down Oct. 14 with 13 violations, including four high-priority violations, and allowed to reopen the next day. An inspector found about 30 live roaches — 28 on a door frame in a cooler with food inside and in a storage/dough area in the kitchen, and two on the floor by the dough table. Other high-priority violations included holding food at an incorrect temperature, improper storage of chemicals and a nonfood-grade container used for food storage (a Home Depot bucket being used for salt by the cook line).
Only one basic violation was found at a follow-up inspection Oct. 15.
• Pasta Market Italian Restaurant and Clam Bar, 1930 Kingsley Ave., Orange Park
The restaurant was shut down Oct. 13 and allowed to reopen the next morning. The restaurant had 13 violations, including two high-priority violations. An inspector found two live roaches in the cooler on the cook line, one on the underside of the prep table on the cook line, one under a microwave and one behind a pizza oven. The other high-priority violation was for raw animal food stored over ready-to-eat food in the walk-in cooler.
At a follow-up inspection Oct. 14, the inspector found 10 dead roaches behind the pizza oven, two in the front counter area, three under a triple sink and about 10 along the wall under cooking equipment, but the owner was cleaning them up, so the restaurant was allowed to reopen with the three remaining violations subject to further review.
• Reggae Island, 10300 Southside Blvd., Unit 3120, Jacksonville
The restaurant was shut down Oct. 13 after an inspector found 13 violations, including four high-priority violations, and allowed to reopen the next morning. The high-priority violations included three for holding food at incorrect temperatures and one for using nonfood-grade containers (Home Depot buckets) for food storage.