x
Breaking News
More () »

Tampa restaurant shut down with roaches, rodent droppings ... and a frog

The dead amphibian was found near a buffet table at the Palm River Cafe.

TAMPA, Fla. — We’ve heard about restaurants shut down for roaches and rodents, but rarely have we ever seen a restaurant written up for having a frog in the kitchen.

Palm River Café is a Cuban restaurant located off the Selmon Expressway at 7754 Palm River Road in Tampa. The establishment was shut down Sept. 14 with 25 violations.

Among the issues, the inspector wrote up the restaurant for having vegetables stored right next to raw steak, a possible cross contamination issue, temperature abuse on milk at espresso station (67 degrees), sausage (55 degrees) and sliced ham (62 degrees), along with flies swarming around rice on the buffet and in the dining area.

RESTAURANT RED ALERT: See violations at restaurants across Tampa Bay

The inspector also wrote up the restaurant for having dead roaches and live unidentifiable insects in the kitchen along with rodent droppings around the drink storage shelf.

The report even makes mention of a dead frog right by the buffet.

Credit: 10News Staff
A dead frog was found near the buffet line at the Palm River Cafe.

“I’m scared of frogs,” said customer Irene Moment. “I don’t want them near my food.”

We also shared the inspection report with regular customer Brian Howard.

“I think I’m going somewhere else,” said Howard as he turned to walk towards his car. “That’s disgusting.”

Palm River Café was cleared by the inspector to reopen over the weekend, so 10News stopped in Thursday to check on conditions nearly a week after they were closed.

“Everything was corrected,” said an employee named Rosie, who identified herself as the person in charge. She told us the manager could not be reached by telephone and that she could not give us permission to inspect the kitchen.

“I wouldn’t give you permission right now because [the owner is] not here,” said Rosie.

She also told us there were no rodent dropping found in the kitchen, but when we tried to read off what the health inspector wrote in their report she told us she was out of time to talk.

“I’m sorry sir. I have things to do … but everything is taken care of. We did correct everything that was on the report.”

But for customers like Irene, she says she wants proof the problems are corrected.

“Them not letting you in is kind of causing me to think that they haven’t taken care of it.”

You can view Palm River Cafe's entire inspection history here.

Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the 10 News app now.

Have a news tip? Email tips@wtsp.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.

Before You Leave, Check This Out