Restaurants missed mark during inspection

Emergency closures and moldy food

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – While searching this week's inspection reports, I found out that three restaurants in Jacksonville were forced to close its doors temporarily. One because of, what the inspector calls, temperature abuse and the others because of a bug problem.

Roach activity prompted an emergency closure of China Buffet, located on 6001 Argyle Forest Boulevard, last week. An inspector found 28 live roaches under the prep tables and 22 more live roaches by the ice machine in the kitchen.

The inspector issued a stop sale and the manager was forced to throw away cabbage, sprouts and imitation crab that wasn't stored at cold enough temperatures. China Buffet reopened the next day after passing a follow-up inspection.

Chef Chan Asian Cuisine, located on 9802 Baymeadows Road, missed the mark during a routine inspection and was also forced to close its doors.

The inspector gave several high priority violations for what she calls, temperature abuse. Food stored in the freezer must maintain a temperature of 41-degrees or less. The inspector found that noodles, chicken and pork were being stored at temperatures over 50-degrees.

The inspector also found a mold-like substance in the ice machine. After correcting the problems, Chef Chan Asian Cuisine was allowed to reopen the next day.

On Tapestry Park Circle, Lime Leaf Thai was given five high-priority violations last week after an inspector found moldy hummus in the reach in cooler. The manager voluntarily threw out the hummus.

The restaurant was also given a warning for storing food in a reach-in cooler that wasn't functioning correctly. According to the inspection report, the cooler only held a temperature of 60-degrees, and food is supposed to be stored under 41-degrees.

During a follow-up inspection - the food was taken out of the warm cooler - but the inspector found that whole chickens were sitting on the floor of the walk in cooler. Lime Leaf Thai was not forced to close after the inspection.