An Ocala restaurant that’s open for breakfast and lunch was shut down recently after a health inspector found 14 violations – six of which were given high-priority status.
The inspector visited the Northgate Diner, located at 3541 NE Jacksonville Rd., on Sept. 16 and stopped the sale of ham, cheese and tomatoes that had been sitting on a prep table for too long without being refrigerated. The report also cited an employee slicing celery with her bare hands that was going to be used in chicken salad and a stop sale issued for that item as well.
Another high-priority violation centered on raw shrimp being stored above chocolate chips and raw pork above fruit in a reach-in cooler. The other two high-profile violations centered on 11 rodent droppings near a dry storage shelf and three lives roaches spotted in the wheel of a reach-in freezer, according to a report on file with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
The inspector cited one intermediate violation for food that had been opened more than 24 hours and not properly date marked. Seven basic violations also were cited. Those included:
- A buildup of a mold-like substance on an exterior sliding door in a unit at the front counter;
- Two dead roaches on the floor next to a dry storage shelf;
- An employee’s beverage container on a food preparation table next to a dish machine;
- Glasses in a server station not properly air-dried;
- A dumpster sitting in a grassy area at the edge of a parking lot instead of on a proper pad/nonabsorbent surface;
- A wet wiping cloth on a prep table at the cookline that wasn’t stored in sanitizing solution between uses; and
- A bottle of sanitizer hanging on a shelf next to dry storage items in the prep area.
The inspector returned later that same day and found three basic violations that still needed to be corrected. But the restaurant was allowed to reopen at 3:42 p.m., the report says.