Jacksonville, Fla. - When we walked inside Pepper's Mexican Grill & Cantina and asked to speak to the manager about the recent health inspection... we were told by a worker at the bar, "It's his day off." We explained that according to the State of Florida - there must be a certified food manager on duty at all times. We asked, "So, who's in charge right now?" He told us he would go to the kitchen and check.
The inspector recently found 25 violations at Pepper's including 19 critical:
OLD FOOD STUCK TO CLEAN DISHWARE
THE DISHWASHER NOT SANITIZING CORRECTLY
THE EMPLOYEE HANDWASH SINK BEING USED AS A DUMP SINK.
You can see the full health inspection report for Pepper's by clicking
HERE
When the worker came back from the kitchen he told us the owner was out, the manager had the day off and to come back tomorrow. We told him that there should be a manager on duty who could speak to us. That's when he told us, "the servers" were in charge of the restaurant. "Alright, I'm going to get on the phone and call the State of Florida and I'm going to ask them about this. In the meantime can you get me your owners phone number? That would be great!"
The owner told us over the phone that his cook was in charge and had a certificate to be the manager on duty. When we asked to see that certificate he threatened to call the police and asked us to leave.
Right after our visit, the state sent an inspector to check out the owner's story. Here is a copy of the email we received from the state:
Tera,
Upon our arrival, there was no food manager on site, but we called one and they arrived shortly after. They were cited for violation 53-09-1 (No CFM on duty with four or more employees present) and it was corrected on site.
Thanks and have a great day!
Beth Frady, Deputy Communications Director
Department of Business and Professional Regulation
1940 North Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-2208
Click
HERE for a link to that critical violation.
Other restaurants that top our list this week for violations:
The
Comfort Inn Oceanfront in Jacksonville Beach. The inspector found:
14 Critical violations including live flies in the kitchen
At
Casa Maya in Saint Augustine the inspector found:
14 critical violations - The restaurant was even ordered to stop selling some food because of temperature abuse
Four places get clean plate awards this week for having perfect health inspections:
THE ROADHOUSE INN ON BLANDING IN ORANGE PARK
AMENITY SNACK BAR IN ORANGE PARK
THE FITNESS SAN JOSE COUNTRY CLUB RESTAURANT IN JACKSONVILLE
AND FIVE GUYS ON SOUTHSIDE BOULEVARD IN JAX
