Three Polk County restaurants were temporarily closed by inspectors during the two-week period from April 3 to April 16, and for one of them in South Lakeland, it was the fourth such closure in a little over a year.
Winghouse Bar and Grill, 4515 S. Florida Ave. in Lakeland, received an emergency order to temporarily close on three separate occasions last year — March 15, May 17 and Sept. 6, according to state inspection reports. In each of those instances, inspectors found at least eight violations, including live flies and/or roaches. And in each case, the restaurant was cleared to reopen the next day after follow-up inspections.
On April 10, an inspector again issued an emergency order to close after finding five violations, including one high-priority violation for live roaches. But this time, it took five follow-up visits over three days to clear the restaurant for reopening. Inspectors found roaches on two follow-ups on April 11 and two more follow-ups on April 12. On April 13, the restaurant met standards and was cleared to open.
Also receiving an emergency order to close during the two-week period was Shanghai Chinese Restaurant, 2344 Griffin Road in Lakeland. On April 6, an inspector cited the restaurant for six violations, two of them high priority. The high-priority violations were for live roach activity, and for raw shrimp that was stored above-cut vegetables in a walk-in cooler. The restaurant passed a follow-up inspection the following day with no violations.
Sweet Cup Cafe 1, 1401 Lakeland Hills Blvd. in Lakeland, was issued an emergency order on April 11 after an inspector found six violations, two of them high-priority. Among those, the inspector noted 32 rodent droppings at various spots around the kitchen area. The other high-priority violation was for operating with an expired license. In follow-up inspection later the same day, the restaurant met standards, its only high-priority violation being the expired license, for which it received an administrative complaint.
I will be deeply disappointed if this happens. I probably will stop coming to Florida as a snowbird. I am a strick I I I I environmentalist and do my best to clean all my recycling before putting in the bins. I know many people are careless regarding their recycling. We are supposed to care for our earth and Jehovah God will hold those responsible for not doing so. Revelation 11:18
Thankfully, Florida will survive. In Jesus name, Amen.