Moxies Too, Haagen Dazs, Marty's Cafe Cited By Health Inspectors

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL – Employees touching food with bare hands, improperly thawed beef and ham, and lack of food safety training are some of the violations that Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation inspectors found recently at Tampa-area restaurants.

Romano's Macaroni Grill, 132 Brandon Town Ctr, Brandon, was cited for 10 violations on April 26, including reach-in cooler not maintained in good repair; wet wiping cloth not stored in sanitizing solution between uses; employee touching ready-to-eat food with their bare hands; and black/green mold-like substance found in ice machine.

Haagen Dazs, 545 Brandon Town Center Mall, Brandon, was cited for 10 violations on April 26, including employee drink stored on front employee hand wash sink; no proof of required food safety training provided for employees; open container of milk not labeled after held for over 24 hours; and wet wiping cloth not stored in sanitizing solution between uses.

Moxies Too, 6202 Benjamin Road, Suite 100, Tampa, was cited for three violations on April 26, including wet wiping cloth on cook's line not stored in sanitizing solution between uses; and potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food thawed at room temperature — beef and ham thawed on counter for less than four hours and placed in walk-in cooler (educated operator on proper thawing techniques).

Marty's Cafe, 9720 Princess Palm Ave #114, Tampa, was cited for 15 violations on April 26, including carbon dioxide/helium tanks not adequately secured in self-serve drink area; ceiling tiles/vents soiled with food debris, grease, dust in various areas of the kitchen and storage area; rusting walk-in cooler shelves and torn gasket in reach-in cooler; and straws provided for customer self-service not individually wrapped or in an approved dispenser.

In the last 21 days, 139 Hillsborough County restaurants did not pass the first inspection while 339 restaurants aced the first visit. For more details on Tampa-area restaurant inspections, click here.

The inspectors made note of 12 Tampa restaurants that passed inspections during the past week without any violations: Sweet Southern Heat BBQ, 10801 Tarpon Springs Road, Odessa; and the following Tampa eateries: Crooked Johnson, 5224 S Dale Mabry Hwy; Canopy Road Cafa, 10254 Causeway Blvd; Ruths Chris Steakhouse, 1700 N Westshore Blvd; Chick-Fil-A Uptown District FSU, 2811 E Fowler Ave; Nico's Arepas Grill, 8303 N. Armenia Ave Suite B; Carpeneto, 8021 Citrus Park Town Center #7990; Luis Cruz, 6915 W Waters Ave; Pal Campo Restaurant-Tampa, 9218 Anderson Road; EMG Enterprises, 3224 W Tampa Bay Blvd; Angelos Catering, 3224 W Tampa Bay Blvd; and Diggy Dogs, 3224 W Tampa Bay Blvd.

Note: Most of the restaurants with violations have corrected those violations and passed subsequent inspections.

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