Eight sweet-toothed flies landed on M&Ms and took the plunge into chocolate sauce — likely resembling chocolate-covered raisins in the process — at PDQ’s Deerfield Beach location, one of three South Florida restaurants that state inspectors ordered shut last week.
Flies, live roaches and rodent droppings also plagued two other major chains: Flanigan’s Seafood Bar in Lake Worth and a Burger King in Hallandale Beach.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel typically highlights restaurant inspections in Broward and Palm Beach counties from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. We cull through hundreds of restaurant and bar inspections that happen weekly and spotlight places ordered shut for “high-priority violations,” such as improper food temperatures or dead cockroaches.
Sun Sentinel readers can browse full Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade county reports through our state inspection map, updated weekly (usually Mondays) with fresh data pulled from the Florida DBPR website.
Any restaurant that fails a state inspection must stay closed until it passes a follow-up. If you spotted a possible violation and wish to file a complaint, contact Florida DBPR here. (But please don’t contact us: The Sun Sentinel doesn’t inspect restaurants.)
PDQ, Deerfield Beach
3333 W. Hillsboro Blvd.
Ordered shut: July 6, reopened July 7
Why: PDQ had four violations (three high-priority). Despite finding 13 “flying insects” landing on countertops in the kitchen’s food prep areas on July 5, and discovering 37 flies “landing on tabletops” in the dining room and “landing on dessert toppings” on July 6, inspectors did not close this PDQ location. During a repeat inspection on July 6, however, the chicken-tender chain was ordered shut after the state spotted “8 small flying insects in the dessert station landing on chocolate sauce and M&M’s.” The restaurant was also ordered to stop selling and trash its M&Ms and chocolate sauce “due to adulteration of food product.” The PDQ reopened the following day when inspectors found zero new issues.
Flanigan’s Seafood Bar and Grill, Lake Worth
2405 10th Avenue N.
Ordered shut: July 5; reopened July 6
Why: State inspectors discovered five violations (two high-priority), including “one live fly in kitchen prep area” that didn’t “land on anything,” and “three live roaches under bar countertop located in dining room.” The restaurant reopened the following day without incident.
Burger King, Hallandale Beach
1030 W. Hallandale Beach Blvd.
Ordered shut: July 5; reopened July 6
Why: The state uncovered nine violations (two high-priority), led by “one dead rodent” and “two dead roaches” all stuck “on glue trap” in the kitchen’s dry storage room. The state also uncovered five live flies hovering “around mop sink” in the kitchen’s chemical storage area, plus three rodent droppings “next to bread rack” and “on floor under shelf in dry storage room.” The burger chain reopened the following day when the state’s reinspection found no new issues.
