Applebee’s in Tamarac {Applebee’s}
By Ryan Yousefi
A national chain restaurant was recently slapped with a stop-sale notice due to a Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation inspection that uncovered several food and health safety violations.
Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar & Grill in Tamarac, located at 6005 North University Drive, recently underwent a health inspection on January 25 that revealed 20 violations.
According to the inspection report, the restaurant was found to have several issues with live insects, food-contact surfaces, and storage practices.
The inspection indicated the inspector witnessed live flying insects in various areas of the restaurant, including the kitchen, food preparation area, storage area, bar, and dining room.
Dead insects were also found in the kitchen, such as in the standing reach-in cooler and on the fly zapper over the kitchen doorway.
The report also noted that the hand washing sink had a buildup of mold-like substance, as did the interior of the nozzle holders of the server soda machine. The interior of the ice machine had black/green mold-like substance.
Several food contact surfaces were soiled with food debris, mold-like substance, or slime. This included the interior of the reach-in cooler, which also had shelves with an accumulation of soil residues and old moldy lettuce.
The Stop Sale order was immediately issued after discovering time/temperature control violations for safe food standards.
Time/Temperature Control for Safety (TCS) foods such as chicken, pico de gallo, brown rice, shredded cheese, and creamed spinach were found to be held overnight at a temperature above 41°F, which is the maximum allowed temperature for the cold holding of TCS foods.
According to health and safety standards, a follow-up inspection is required to ensure that the restaurant takes corrective measures and addresses these issues.
Got News? Send it to Tamarac Talk. Don’t miss reading Margate Talk, Coral Springs Talk, Coconut Creek Talk, and Parkland Talk.