It was a good week for restaurant owners in the Jacksonville-area for the Department of Business and Professional Regulations' food safety inspections.
There were no emergency closures of any restaurants in District 5 for the week of July 6, but there were plenty of violations handed out during routine or complaint inspections.
News4Jax pulled inspections from three popular restaurants: Canal St Chicken and Seafood, La Nopalera Mexican Restaurant, and Whitey’s Fish Camp.
Each restaurant required a follow-up due to violations found at the initial inspection.
Canal St. Chicken and Seafood
Food safety inspectors with the Division of Hotels and Restaurants visited Canal St. Chicken and Seafood located at 6651 San Juan Avenue in Jacksonville on July 10.
During the routine inspection, the restaurant was cited with 23 violations. Among them, the restaurant racked up several basic-level violations for storing items on the floor including, clean linens, clean aprons, and containers of liquid margarine.
It was given more basic violations for having dirty floors, walls, and ceilings. That is a repeat violation from a previous inspection. In the inspector's report, it is also noted food and debris build up on the restaurant's fry baskets, the exterior of the friers, a shelf underneath a food prep area, and on a stand-up cooler in the kitchen.
The inspector also issued a 'stop sale' on food items because of improper storage. Canal St. had to then dispose of 11 containers of potato salad, one and a half bags of cabbage, and a container of coleslaw for storing the items overnight at 61 degrees.
At a follow-up inspection on the July 14, all previous violations had been corrected, except for a manager's certification. During the July 10 inspection, the restaurant was cited for not have the state-required certification.
Because the certification was still not valid, the inspector will be required to follow-up with the restaurant at a later date, but it is open with a near-perfect inspection.
La Nopalera Mexican Restaurant
La Nopalera Mexican Restaurant location at 2024 Kingsley Avenue in Orange Park scored 17 violations during a routine inspection on July 9. However, more than half were basic-level.
Some of those violations included, a door in the kitchen has gap showing through to the outdoors, having old equipment outside in the back of the restaurant's building, and ceiling tile missing above the dish area.
Of the restaurant's intermediate-level violations, it was cited for an accumulation of black/green mold-like substance around soda dispensing nozzle at the bar and the handwashing sink being unavailable to employees due to clogged drain.
The inspector also found none of the employees and none of the managers on duty had the required food safety training or certification. La Nopalera Mexican Restaurant still passed in the inspection but was scheduled for a follow-up over the missing certification.
Whitey’s Fish Camp
A fan-favorite, Whitey's Fish Camp at 2030 Highway 220 in Orange Park was cited for 12 violations during a complaint inspection on July 10.
Whitey’s Fish camp was cited with one high priority-level violation for having raw chicken and three unknown amounts of raw fish at above what is considered a safe temperature. It was a repeat violation for the seafood house.
Whitey's was given another high priority violation for holding queso in the slow cooker from 11 a.m. until after 4:00 p.m. That's an hour longer than what is considered safe.
A note in the inspection report states that the owner said the restaurant had just been through the lunch rush, as a reason for the violations.
At the follow-up inspection, no violations were found redeeming the restaurant with a perfect score.
Bonus for News4Jax readers:
Chuck E. Cheese
Following up on a complaint made against the Chuck E. Cheese located at 9820 on Atlantic Boulevard in Jacksonville, the inspector found 6 violations.
Of its two high priority-level violations, the inspector's report shows the restaurant chain location had a "small dead ant-like insect" inside the ice machine. The other high priority violation was due to an improperly installed splitter at the mop sink.
The inspector wrote another violation for the ceiling in disrepair. The report shows ceiling tiles were damaged with holes near the back door, near the ice machine, and in the customer area near the Rocket Blaster machine.
The inspector also found olives in full unopened case stored on the floor in the dry storage area. Both violations are considered a basic-level offense.
Two intermediate-level violations were given for not having hot water at the handwashing sink and not hot-enough water at the dishwashing sink. Despite the few violations, Chuck E. Cheese met inspection standards and will not require a follow-up.
News4Jax monitors restaurant inspections in District 5 for the Division of Hotels and Restaurants every week. District 5 covers Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, St. Johns, Suwannee, and Union Counties.