In slow week of inspections, 1 Polk County vendor falls short of standards. 16 are perfect
In a fairly light week of restaurant inspections compared with recent weeks, only one food establishment fell short of standards from March 25 to 31, according to state reports.
In all, there were 49 inspections during the week, and 48 of those food vendors met standards. Sixteen Polk vendors achieved the difficult perfect initial inspection – meaning and inspection that wasn’t mandated by violations found during a previous visit.
There wasn’t a single violation for pests – dead or alive – throughout the county during the week.
As a reminder, a restaurant inspection report is described by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation as “a ‘snapshot’ of conditions present at the time of the inspection.” The agency says it’s not a necessarily an indicator of normal conditions. Often, the violations that cause a restaurant to receive a warning and follow-up inspection are things common diners might not consider alarming.
That’s why The Ledger details all the violations reported for such restaurants each week, so readers can decide for themselves.
Sometimes, restaurants meet standards with violations that might seem worse to some people than the violations that got another restaurant in trouble. Those are too many to list here, but you can view inspections for any restaurant in Polk County and beyond in our searchable database: https://data.theledger.com/restaurant-inspections/polk.
The restaurant that fell short, and why
Detroit Tigers Inc., 2135 N Lake Ave, Lakeland: On March 26, a cafeteria at the baseball training facility had seven violations, including three high priority. Among the high priority violations, one was for a dishmachine that wasn’t mixing sanitizer properly. The other two were for cream cheese and milk that were being held above 41 degrees. There were three intermediate violations: one for a soiled can opener, one for no paper towels or hand-drying equipment at the handwash sink, and one for an unwrapped apple on the breakfast bar. A lone basic violation was for improperly labeled protein balls in a self-service case in the dining room. In a follow-up inspection on April 2, the establishment passed with zero violations.
March 18-24: 10 Polk food vendors failed to meet standards and two had 13 violations each. See why
Perfection
It’s tough to get perfection on an initial inspection – that is, one that isn’t a callback mandated by previous violations. But these 16 Polk County food vendors did so from March 25 to 31.
Riko Hotdogs, mobile vendor, 815 Eagle Ridge Drive, Unit 602, Lake Wales
Panera Bread Cafe 6259, 1271 Posner Blvd., Davenport
Brake Burger Garage, 206 State Road 60 E., Lake Wales
Colon Bakery And Supplies LLC, 42 Maxcy Plaza Circle, Haines City
Cafe Zuppina Market, 116 S. Tennessee Ave., Lakeland
Sportservice at Lakeland Tigers Little Caesars, 2125 N Lake Ave, Lakeland
Something Different Foods, mobile vendor, 17309 U.S. 27, Lake Wales
Tanners Lakeside Restaurant & Bar, mobile vendor, 1006 S. Lake Howard Drive, Winter Haven
Tanner's Lakeside, 1006 S. Lake Howard Drive, Winter Haven
Big Daddy's Barbeque 4, mobile vendor, 1490 1st St., Winter Haven
Juicy Wing And Seafood, 620 Cypress Gardens Blvd., Winter Haven
Good Times Burgers And Custard, 209 E. Main St., Dundee
Swamp Wagon, mobile vendor, 7737 Camp Mack Road, Lake Wales
Whatcha Got Cookin, mobile vendor, 118 E. Wall St., Frostproof
Wingstop, 7860 Lake Wilson Drive, Davenport
China Wok, 116 State Road 60 E., Lake Wales
March 11-17: 9 Polk County restaurants fail to meet standards. 21 were perfect
Keep in mind as you read
Remember that in some cases, violations are noted are technical issues not directly linked to hygiene or cleanliness. Remember, too, that broken refrigerators, chipped tiles or fast work may add up to unintended mistakes.
Regardless, if you notice abuses of state standards, report them and DBPR will send inspectors. Call 1-850-487-1395.
View for yourself: Search inspections for any food vendor in Polk County or beyond
The terminology
What does all that terminology in state restaurant inspections mean?
Basic violations are those considered against best practices.
A warning is issued after an inspector documents violations that must be corrected by a certain date or within a specified number of days from receipt of the inspection report.
An administrative complaint is a form of legal action taken by the division. Insufficient compliance after a warning, a pattern of repeat violations or existence of serious conditions that warrant immediate action may result in the division initiating an administrative complaint against the establishment. Says the division website: “Correcting the violations is important, but penalties may still result from violations corrected after the warning time was over.”
An emergency order — when a restaurant is closed by the inspector — is based on an immediate threat to the public. Here, the Division of Hotels and Restaurants director has determined that the establishment must stop doing business and any division license is suspended to protect health, safety or welfare of the public.
A 24-hour call-back inspection will be performed after an emergency closure or suspension of license and the establishment may reopen only after inspection shows that all high-priority violations that caused the suspension are corrected.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: 1 Polk County restaurant fails to meet standards. See why