Three Lakeland restaurants received warnings or administrative complaints

Three other Polk County restaurants received warnings or administrative complaints related to insect activity during the two-week period. None of the three received an emergency order to close.

• Popeyes 11576, 3815 S. Florida Ave., Lakeland: On Sept. 5 the restaurant was handed an administrative complaint after receiving seven violations, two of them high-priority violations related to live flies. The inspector noted five live flies on a wall by the chicken prep area, three on a wall by a hand sink, four on a wall by a three-compartment sink, and five on a wall in a dry storage area. In addition, the inspection report noted three live fly larvae on the floor in a dry storage area. On Sept. 7, a follow-up inspection found four live flies on a wall by a breading station and five under a prep sink. It also noted four live fly larvae on the floor in dry storage. On Sept. 13, the restaurant met standards with only three basic violations.
• Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, 3950 S. Florida Ave., Lakeland: On Sept. 5, the restaurant received a warning for seven violations, one of which was a high priority. An inspector noted two live flies on cases of single-service paper goods and three live flies on a wall in the dish area. In a follow-up inspection on Sept. 7, the restaurant had fixed the fly issues, but a follow-up was required for three basic violations and one intermediate.
• Checkers #183, 2919 S. Florida Ave., Lakeland: On Sept. 16, the restaurant received a warning for five violations, including one high priority. That was for seven live flies found flying in the kitchen and landing on bread buns, five live flies on walls in the dish area, and five live flies on soda boxes. A follow-up was required, but as of Friday, no follow-up inspection appeared in state reports.

The violations spanned a wide spectrum, from equipment or facilities in disrepair, to food stored in the wrong manner or at unsafe temperatures, to more clerical violations such as failure to post licenses or proof of state-mandated employee training.

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation says an inspection report is “a snapshot of conditions present at the time of the inspection.” It says that an inspection might not be “representative of the overall, long-term conditions at the establishment.”