LEE COUNTY, Fla. -- Four in Your Corner's Alan Jennings has uncovered proof of dead roaches in the kitchen at a Burger King on Cleveland Avenue in North Fort Myers. One dead roach was found on a hot holding table, another on the floor, and 2 live roaches on a food prep wall.
"Restaurants don't grow roaches. Roaches come in on a product, normally a produce product, in the box under the box, " said former restaurant owner, now consultant Virgil Cicco. He says restaurants should do thorough inspections on incoming produce along with proper washing.
Despite the high priority violation, state inspectors did not close down the restaurant. Burger King cleaned up the roaches, then passed inspection and remains open.
Burger King told Fox 4 the cockroaches were immediately cleaned up. Florida inspectors returned the next day to find the Burger King in compliance.
Florida inspectors also said they found raw chicken over ready-to-eat french fries at the Steak and Shake on Pine Island Road. State inspectors nailed the popular eating spot with a high priority citation because of potential health hazards to its customers.
It corrected the violations, then passed inspection. There were no reports of anyone getting sick.
Alan reached out multiple times to Steak and Shake corporate regarding the violation -- no one called back.
Our dirty dining probe using State of Florida inspection reports to discover even more violations. At the Buffalo Wild Wings on Dynasty Drive, an inspector noted the presence of insects, rodents or other pests. Pest control was notified, but that's not all; more than two dozen ants were crawling on the bar next to the Red Bull refrigerator.
Buffalo Wild Wings corporate got back to Alan and told him it takes the "cleanliness of our restaurants very seriously, and any items flagged during the Dec. 2016 inspection were taken care of immediately."
All of the restaurants were compelled by the state inspectors to fix the dirty dining issues on the spot.
