PINELLAS PARK, Fla — On the menu at the Applebee’s in Pinellas Park, there's an option to build a "sampler plate," but inspectors found one ingredient in the kitchen no one would want in their meal.
On July 11, the Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar at 4000 Park Blvd had to stop serving food and shut down their kitchen around noon and into the next morning, after state inspectors found live roaches crawling on the walls, inside packaged croutons, by the dry storage shelves and reach-in freezer in the kitchen.
Inspectors made the restaurant throw out four bags of those commercially packaged croutons, due to the live roaches crawling on them.
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Other violations documented last Thursday include over 20 live, small flying insects in the kitchen and French onion soup at 115 degrees Fahrenheit on the steam table, which should have been at 135 degrees Fahrenheit or above.
Inspectors also saw grease and soil deposits underneath the grill on the cook's line, holes in the wall, ceiling tiles damaged and accumulated black debris on other walls.
Applebee's released the following statement:
"The health and safety of our guests and team members remains a top priority. We fully cooperated with the health department to address the items identified in the report, and were cleared to open the next day."
Pamela Jones
Neighborhood Restaurant Partners
Local Applebee’s franchisee
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