Roaches in oil. Flies in an ice bin. Miami-Dade and Broward restaurant filth

Food admin October 23, 2026 0 Comments

Roaches in oil. Flies in an ice bin. Miami-Dade and Broward restaurant filth

Funky smells and active vermin were among the reasons seven Miami-Dade and Broward restaurants found themselves on this week’s Sick and Shut Down List of restaurants failing state inspection.

Though this list covers all of South Florida, Monroe and Palm Beach got off clean this week.

As usual, we remind you that we don’t do the inspections, nor do we choose who gets inspected. This is a strictly reactive list from inspections done by the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation. Some of the inspections are sparked by customer complaints to the DBPR, which can be made on the website at the hyperlink.

Restaurants that fail inspection remain closed until passing a re-inspection, aka callback inspection.

In alphabetical order…

Bagel Time Cafe, 2478 N. State Road 7, Margate

Routine inspection, five total violations, one High Priority violation

The inspector saw about 10 dead roaches “stuck to oil on the floor” between cookline fryers.

Five roaches congregated between the dishwasher and the wall in the kitchen while another went solo under a flattop grill.

In a reach-in freezer, the inspector “observed turkey bacon stored uncovered.”

Upon re-inspection, six dead roaches were counted, four of them under the kitchen dishwasher. One live roach ran along near the three-compartment sink.

Passing re-inspection No. 2 reopened the Bagel Cafe.

Denny’s, 12100 W. Sunrise Blvd., Plantation

Routine inspection, five total violations, four High Priority violations

Three roaches expired “on the floor under the clean side of the dishwasher table.”

Also in the dishwashing area, 10 roaches roamed “on the floor and on the wall behind the dishwasher.”

Meanwhile, four flies hung out “on the wall on the clean side of the dishwasher table.”

READ MORE: FDA, CDC updates on salmonella outbreak and oysters recalled from stores, restaurants

Family Kitchen Restaurant and Catering, 3134 W. Commercial Blvd., Tamarac

Routine inspection, nine total violations, seven High Priority violations

Family Kitchen’s gaining the familiarity of family, returning to the list just two months after its first appearance in August. That’s when Family Kitchen resembled more Single in a Studio Kitchen, lacking a dishwasher and a three-compartment sink.

So let’s see what’s not up to snuff with the equipment now…

“Grease trap overflowing onto the ground.” Do tell. “Observed clear water overflowing from the grease trap cover outside the back door to the establishment.”

An unused two-door reach-in cooler turned into a roach cemetery, with 17 dead bodies inside and three in the drain pan underneath. One dead roach with a sense of irony died in a first aid box on a kitchen wall. Five dead roaches were inside front counter cabinets.

In that out-of-use cooler, two living roaches rather ghoulishly hung around the 17 roach corpses. One live roach was on a front counter shelf. Four were on the wall next to the three-compartment sink. One live roach was on a storage-area floor.

An employee came in from outside wearing gloves “then proceeded to handle a knife without removing the gloves and washing hands.” Single-use gloves mean “one job and done.” And hands are to be washed before putting on gloves.

Cooked turkey and cooked chicken spent the night in a cooler but still weren’t at or under 41 degrees. Stop Sale orders came down for temperature abuse. Another pair of Stop Sales hit cooked turkey and cooked pork for the same reason.

On the callback inspection two days later, on Wednesday, the inspector saw nine dead roaches and one live roach.

When the inspector came back later Wednesday, Family Kitchen got the all-clear.

Habana 1900, 8770 Coral Way, West Miami-Dade

Routine inspection, 29 total violations, seven High Priority violations

We told you earlier this week about the malodorous air and rodent regularity at this Westchester restaurant, which still bears the sign of the previous restaurant at this location.

READ MORE: Rodent dung and a bad ‘odor’ ruin a Miami restaurant’s first inspection

Museum Tower Cafe, 150 W. Flagler St., Miami

Complaint inspection, seven total violations, two High Priority violations

Rodents left 30 droppings under shelves and on “several glue traps under the shelf in the second-floor dry storage area and also one glue trap under an oven at the first floor kitchen area.”

Five flies flitted about, one of which kept “landing on top of a white cutting board” on a prep table.

In the dry storage area, where the rodents ran and dumped freely, “single-service articles were improperly stored on the floor.”

Potato chips sat on the floor inside the walk-in freezer. Water bottles and a bucket of pickles sat on the floor inside the walk-in cooler. Buckets of beans sat on the floor in a second dry-storage area.

Sub City, 19900 NW Second Ave., Miami Gardens

Routine inspection, four total violations, two High Priority violations

Reach-in and walk-in coolers exist to keep food inside at or under 41 degrees, so bad bacteria doesn’t get all reproductive in the food. Sub City’s reach-in’s ambient temperature was 51 degrees. The walk-in cooler measured 49 degrees.

With both coolers as useless as wet Kleenex, a shower of Stop Sale orders sent the following food from the coolers to the garbage: hamburgers, ham, turkey, cooked chicken and tuna from the reach-in; plus sliced tomatoes, turkey, ham, ground beef, tuna and a slice of cheese from the walk-in.

Wings & More, 2525 Davie Blvd., Fort Lauderdale

Complaint inspection, 15 total violations, nine High Priority violations

The last restaurant alphabetically has this week’s first appearance of “Accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine/bin.”

Another reason to order your drinks sans ice: “Five small flies on the ice scoop inside the ice bin.”

Or maybe just order bottled water. At the front counter beer and soda station, “15 small flies were landing on the drink nozzles.” Another 10 watched their pals from a wall near the drink station.

There was also an “objectionable odor in the back area of the dining room, near the restrooms.”

Three dead roaches were “on the to-go shelf with condiments bags.” One was behind a kitchen storage unit.

Meanwhile, on the food prep line, “four live roaches were crawling behind the steam table.”

An employee put “dirty dishes in the triple sink, then proceeded to prepare beverages for a dine-in guest without washing hands.”

The can opener on a food prep table had a “mold-like substance.”

The walk-in cooler lacked enough cool to keep food at or under 41 degrees, leading to temperature abuse Stop Sales on coleslaw, cooked ribs, turkey, fries, sliced cheese and blue cheese.