JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Inspectors issued emergency shutdown orders for two restaurants in Northeast Florida in the past week.
Si Senor Fresh Mex on St. Johns Bluff Road got the shutdown orders after Division of Hotel and Restaurants inspectors found the restaurant wasn’t holding food at the right temperature. According to the report, several items including, including chorizo, pork, mozzarella, guacamole and more were not at safe temperatures.
The inspector also found 30 lives flies in the restaurant’s bar area. Several more violations were given out for dirty cooking equipment, specifically the cutting boards. Some equipment was also in disrepair.
Si Senor Fresh Mex corrected enough of the major violations to reopen the next day but required a follow-up inspection. During that inspection, it was cited again for its food hold temperatures. When the inspector followed up a second time, the issues still had not been corrected.
Si Senor Fresh Mex is still open but awaiting another follow-up.
RESTAURANT REPORTS: Failing inspection | Return inspection | Follow-up inspection
At the Taco Naco inside Beach Boulevard Flea Market, only three violations were issued but the severity of two of them was enough to score a shutdown.
The inspector found one basic violation when an employee’s open drink container was found in the cooler where customer food is stored. The second was a high priority violation for the presence of rodents evident by the more than 30 rodent dropping found on the cookline. The third violation was of equal severity for 15 live flies in the food storage area.
It took one week for the restaurant to correct the issues, but it reopened with a perfect-scoring inspection.
RESTAURANT REPORTS: Failing inspection | Follow-up inspection with a perfect score
All restaurant reports are provided by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulations. You can search your favorite restaurants and their most recent inspections in DBPR’s licensing portal.