St. Pete restaurant inspections: 96 of 126 in the clear

State inspectors visited 126 restaurants, cafes, bars, food trucks and other food businesses with a St. Petersburg address between Oct. 1 and Oct. 30. At 96 of them, the latest visit of the month ended in the clear.

One restaurant, the Domino’s at 6511 Fourth St. N., had an emergency order recommended. It passed its callback inspection the next day. Thirty places ended the month with a warning, an extension or a recommended administrative complaint still open.

The figures come from the food service inspection file for District 3, which covers Pinellas County. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s Division of Hotels and Restaurants publishes it. Our copy was downloaded Oct. 31 and lists inspections through Oct. 30. Florida does not score or grade restaurants. Each visit records a count of violations and an outcome.

October in numbers

The file holds 143 inspections at 126 St. Petersburg establishments in October:

• 111 were first visits: 89 routine inspections, 14 prompted by a complaint and eight licensing inspections of new or changed businesses.
• 32 were callbacks, return visits to check that problems had been fixed.

On first visits, the inspector recorded no high-priority violation at 42 of 111. First visits recorded a median of eight violations of any kind.

Taking each establishment’s most recent result in October:

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The state file lists the city as St. Petersburg for all 126. The state uses the mailing city, and a St. Petersburg mailing address includes places outside the city limits, such as Lealman and parts of unincorporated Pinellas County.

The emergency order

An inspector visited the Domino’s at 6511 Fourth St. N. on a routine inspection Tuesday, Oct. 20. The state recorded eight violations, three of them high priority, and the outcome “emergency order recommended.”

The inspector returned Wednesday, Oct. 21, and recorded “emergency order callback complied,” with no violations at all. An emergency order can close a business until an inspector returns and finds the problems fixed. The file does not say whether the restaurant closed in between.

It is the 12th St. Petersburg emergency order since July 1. Our restaurant inspections guide explains what each outcome means.

Clean visits and fixes

Thirteen first visits in October recorded no violations at all. Five were licensing inspections, made before a new or changed business opens:

• Fortu, 180 Central Ave., Oct. 8
• Tropical Smoothie Cafe, 1101 34th St. N., Suite A, Oct. 19
• Kitty’s House of Pizza, 4059 Fifth Ave. N., Oct. 21
• Lucky Cup Coffee Co., 2606 Fairfield Ave. S., Oct. 22
• Shore Bites Empanadas, 301 75th Ave., Oct. 27

Eight were routine inspections, among them:

• Sneaky D’s Saloon, 4808 County Road 16, Oct. 1
• Goodness Gracious Great Balls of Love, 7097 30th Ave. N., Oct. 8
• Bay Area Catering & Events, 6218 33rd St. N., Oct. 12
• Sizzle & Crunch Grill, 7097 30th Ave. N., Oct. 13
• Captain Bill’s Sharkuterie, 1245 18th Ave. S., Oct. 13
• Pasta Veloce, 515 22nd St. S., Suite 130, Oct. 13
• Chuck E. Cheese, 1024 58th St. N., Oct. 30, on one of its two state food licenses at that address (the other is in the table below)

Twenty-three callbacks found the problems fixed. Six of them recorded no violations at all, among them Wildflower Ice Cream, 2603 Ninth St. N., and Treehouse BBQ, 229 62nd Ave. N.

One fix closes a long-running case. The Big Catch at Salt Creek, 1500 Second St. S., had an emergency order recommended Aug. 12 after a complaint inspection, with eight high-priority violations. Two callbacks the next day did not comply, and a third, Aug. 14, gave it more time. On Oct. 14 the state recorded “call back, complied,” with one violation, none high priority.

Still open at the end of the month

These are the places whose latest October result was not yet closed, as the state recorded it. The file does not yet show a later visit for any of them.

Some of these follow earlier visits:

• Miwa Hibachi & Sushi Express had six high-priority violations on Oct. 19. Only one other St. Petersburg first visit in October recorded as many.
• Einstein Bros. Bagels had a warning Oct. 27, with nine violations, three of them high priority. The callback two days later recorded five.
• Crafted Plate had an administrative complaint recommended Oct. 2, with five high-priority violations. The callback Oct. 26 found one violation.
• Buffet City had an administrative complaint recommended Oct. 6, with 16 violations. It also had an emergency order recommended in August and complied on a callback Aug. 6.
• Baja’s Southern Style Cooking and Catering had a warning Oct. 28, with four high-priority violations. A second state license at 1836 49th St. S. ended with no further action the same day.
• Wicked Cantina and Fatty’s BBQ and Soul Food were callbacks on warnings issued in August. Manhattan Pizza has had a callback extension since Aug. 19.

A warning means the inspector set a deadline to fix the violations and will return. An extension gives more time. “Administrative complaint recommended” means the inspector sent the case to the division’s legal staff. Any fine comes later through the division’s own process, and the business can contest it. That can still happen at a place that later passed a callback.

Every business named here can give its side. If one does, we will add its response. Write to hello@stpetenow.com.

What it means for you

An inspection is a snapshot of conditions on the day of one visit. It is not a rating of the food, and a later visit can find something different.

• Look up any restaurant’s full report, including what each violation was, with the state’s license and inspection search.
• Report a food safety problem online through the Division of Hotels and Restaurants or by calling 850-487-1395. A complaint can lead to an unannounced inspection, as 14 did in St. Petersburg in October.

Our guide to restaurant inspections in St. Petersburg explains each outcome. For places to eat, see where to eat in St. Petersburg, and for openings, new businesses in St. Petersburg.