Restaurant inspections: Galaxy Skateway, Rolli Porkloin, Tequila Azul temporarily closed

Florida keeps an eye on restaurants and so do we. Sometimes we see culinary marvels; sometimes, not so much. Sometimes you just have to read the nasty truth.

The state keeps a digital database of inspections that is updated regularly with the latest information on which restaurants did well, which suffered missteps, and which fared so badly inspectors were forced to shut them down for a time. 

If you visit our restaurant database, you can search by county or by restaurant name and see which restaurants were warned or fined, and which were forced into temporary closure. 

Be it known, however, that having been thumped with multiple violations does not necessarily indicate a terrible establishment. Some citations come as the results of procedural or technical mistakes, like having food manager certifications wrongly displayed or improperly submitted renovation plans. Gaskets break and tiles sometimes require replacing. We get it and so, we hope, do you.

Still, inspection is one very big reason Florida’s restaurants are as safe as they are, and we’ll share results with you every other week in this spot, highlighting those found to have been faultless as well as those that may raise an eyebrow or 10.

Here’s what happened the last two weeks of March:

The ugly:

Galaxy Skateway and Play Zone in Melbourne, Rolli Porkloin Extraordinaire in downtown Melbourne and Tequila Azul in Viera were temporarily closed by inspectors, with old and new evidence of vermin, among other issues.

Galaxy did not skate through but received an emergency order March 21 and an extension the following day, having been found with multiple high-priority violations, including “rodent activity present.”

The inspector observed droppings under a popcorn machine, beneath a triple sink with chemicals, in a room with a pizza oven “and bag in bag soda,” as well as on a counter with a popcorn machine. Gnaw marks were found on a plastic container holding popcorn bags, a stop-sale was issued because of adulteration of one food product because of vermin droppings and on another because of potentially hazardous temperature abuse.

Rolli, which the inspector also shuttered March 11 but subsequently reopened, got more bad news March 25, its violations having included live, small flying insects in the kitchen, food preparation area or food storage area, as well as around the mop sink and in a self-serve tea area. 

Evidence of rodent activity was found through droppings on the floor in the air conditioning closet, behind a freezer on the cook line, on the floor under a stove, on the floor under the water heater and on top of a grease trap. A high-priority violation also was issued for potentially hazardous time/temperature control, with cold food held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit.

Rolli reopened the same day, having complied with standards.

Tequila Azul at the Avenue Viera received its shut-down order March 28, when an inspector found high-priority violations, including flying insects in an expo area next to a soda fountain and flies on a kitchen wall and around a floor drain in a dish room. A pesticide-emitting strip was present in the food prep area too. 

Evidence of rodent activity was found through droppings, in this case: on a shelf in the dish room; on the floor in the dish room; on the floor near the back door; on the floor near where clean dishes are stored; atop a cash safe; on shelves in a liquor room; next to a copy machine; in the floor under a clean dish rack; by the office; on the lid or a sugar container; on the floor in a prep area and on soda lines next to the bag-and-box station in the prep room. Rodent run marks also were present along soda lines in the bag-and-box area.

Administrative complaints also were issued against eight Brevard County restaurants, many of which had stop-sales because of time/temperature control violations; flying insects; or violations such as lack of food handler certifications. Inspectors will return.

The good:

From March 17 through 29, six restaurants, including much-beloved Middle Eastern Aromas near Florida Tech and Gators Dockside at Port Canaveral were found to have been spot-on perfect: not a single violation among them. 

They joined Ven Pa’Ca Food Truck; Eurest Dining Services, Melbourne; Compass Group NAD, Melbourne; and Junkanoo Island Kitchen, Port Canaveral, as beacons of flawlessness.

The bad:

Restaurants with the most violations of all kinds since March 17 were:

34 violations, Taal, West Melbourne, March 26
32 violations, Dos Amigos, Indialantic, March 28
30 violations, Sand on the Beach, Melbourne Beach, March 21
28 violations, Bangkok House, Merritt Island, March 28
26 violations, El Bodegon, Cocoa, March 29 
25 violations, Pho Viet Noodle House and Restaurant, West Melbourne, March 25 
21 violations, Ko9 China in the Bar, Palm Bay, March 21 
21 violations, Molly’s Seafood Shack, Merritt Island, March 27
20 violations, Loyd Have Mercy, Titusville, March 21 
20 violations, Dustins Bar B Q, Melbourne, March 22 
20 violations, Pelicans Bar & Grill Boardwalk Bar Riki Tiki Tavern, Cocoa Beach, March 20 

Want to discuss food safety or Florida restaurant inspections? Join more than 12,000 other food-lovers on FLORIDA TODAY’s Facebook group 321 Flavor: Where Brevard Eats: facebook.com/groups/321FlavorWhereBrevardEats.

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