BROWARD COUNTY, FL. A Pompano Beach takeout restaurant with four prior emergency closures on record was shut down again for rodent activity on September 15, making it one of five repeat offenders among the eight South Florida restaurants that state inspectors ordered closed during a thirteen-day stretch this month.
The Worst of the Week
Au Bon Gout Take Out Restaurant at 5273 N Dixie Hwy in Pompano Beach was ordered closed on September 15 after inspectors found rodent activity on the premises. It was allowed to reopen the same day at 12:08 p.m.
That same-day reopening is a recurring pattern at this address. State records show Au Bon Gout has now been emergency-closed five times in total, more than any other restaurant in this two-week roundup and a figure that stands out even against the broader Broward County closure record.
Pests Drove Six of Eight Closures
Six of the eight closures between September 9 and September 22 were triggered by pest activity, a category that covers roaches, rodents, and flies. The remaining two involved a sewage backup and the absence of any working warewashing facilities.
Deck 84 at 840 E Atlantic Ave in Delray Beach was closed September 17 for both roach and rodent activity, a combination that inspectors treat as grounds for immediate shutdown. It reopened at 2:52 p.m. the same day. Records show this is the third time Deck 84 has been emergency-closed.
Shanghai 818 at 7860 Glades Rd in Boca Raton was also closed September 16 for roach and rodent activity and allowed to reopen at 3:18 p.m. It carries two prior closures on record, making this its third.
Pizzapiez at 614 SE 10 St in Deerfield Beach was ordered closed September 15 for rodent activity and reopened at 12:32 p.m. No prior closures appear on record for this address.
CT Cantina and Taqueria at 176 N Pointe Dr in Dania Beach was shut down September 16 for fly activity and cleared to reopen at 9:21 a.m. the following morning. This appears to be its first closure on record.
Vale Food Company at 420 N Federal Hwy in Fort Lauderdale was closed September 15 for fly activity and reopened at 3:32 p.m. No prior closures are listed for this location.
When the Problem Isn't Pests
Two closures during this period had nothing to do with insects or rodents, and both involved conditions that raise immediate questions about basic operational standards.
Rivales Taqueria and Craft Bar at 106 N Olive Ave in West Palm Beach was closed September 14 because inspectors found no functioning warewashing facilities on the premises. The restaurant was allowed to reopen the following morning at 9:20 a.m. It has two prior closures on record.
Operating a restaurant without warewashing capability means dishes, utensils, and food-contact surfaces cannot be properly sanitized between uses. For a full-service taqueria and bar, that affects everything from the plates coming out of the kitchen to the glasses behind the bar.
IHOP 36-157 at 1503 Belvedere Rd in West Palm Beach was closed September 10 after inspectors documented a sewage backup. It remained closed until 3:57 p.m. that same day. State records show two prior closures at this location, making this its third.
A sewage backup at a working restaurant is not a minor plumbing inconvenience. Raw sewage carries pathogens including E. coli, salmonella, and hepatitis A, and a backup can contaminate food prep surfaces, flooring, and equipment across a kitchen before the source is even identified.
What These Violations Mean
Roach and rodent activity, the trigger for four of the six pest-related closures this period, represents one of the most direct contamination risks in a commercial kitchen. Cockroaches travel between sewage, garbage, and food-contact surfaces within a single environment. They shed body parts and feces continuously, and they are documented carriers of salmonella, E. coli, and staphylococcus. A rodent infestation introduces urine and droppings into storage areas, and rodents gnaw through packaging to reach food. Both Deck 84 in Delray Beach and Shanghai 818 in Boca Raton were cited for the combination of roaches and rodents simultaneously.
Fly activity, the basis for the closures at CT Cantina and Taqueria in Dania Beach and Vale Food Company in Fort Lauderdale, is treated as an emergency condition when inspectors observe flies making contact with food or food-contact surfaces. Flies regurgitate digestive enzymes onto food before feeding and carry bacteria on their legs and bodies from any surface they have previously landed on.
The sewage backup at the West Palm Beach IHOP and the missing warewashing equipment at Rivales Taqueria represent different but equally serious categories. Without the ability to sanitize dishes and utensils, a restaurant cannot control cross-contamination between raw and cooked food, between allergens and allergen-free dishes, or between one customer's service and the next. A sewage backup introduces waste-borne pathogens directly into the food service environment.
All eight facilities reopened on the same day they were closed or within one business day. Reopening is contingent on inspectors verifying that the specific condition that triggered the closure has been corrected, but it does not indicate that the underlying conditions that allowed the problem to develop have been addressed.
The Longer Record
Five of the eight closures this period were at locations with two or more prior emergency closures on record, a rate that distinguishes this two-week window from a typical distribution of first-time findings.
Au Bon Gout in Pompano Beach is the clearest example. Four prior closures before September 15 means inspectors have ordered this address shut down and verified a correction at least four separate times. The fifth closure, again for rodent activity, occurred anyway.
Deck 84 in Delray Beach and Shanghai 818 in Boca Raton each carry two prior closures before this period, meaning both have now been emergency-closed three times. Rivales Taqueria in West Palm Beach and IHOP on Belvedere Road in West Palm Beach are also at three closures each after this period.
The three locations with no prior closure history, CT Cantina and Taqueria in Dania Beach, Pizzapiez in Deerfield Beach, and Vale Food Company in Fort Lauderdale, represent first-time emergency actions at those addresses. Whether they represent isolated incidents or the beginning of a pattern is a question the inspection record will answer over the next several months.
Au Bon Gout Take Out Restaurant in Pompano Beach has now been emergency-closed five times, reopened five times, and as of the record available for this period, continues to operate at 5273 N Dixie Hwy.
