LARGO, FL -- Diane Taylor has owned Feola's Pasta Factory on Ulmerton Road in Largo for the last 8-years, but says the past year has been a challenge.
From March of 2008 to March of 2009, state inspectors visited the restaurant 10 times and wrote up 204 violations and 119 of those were critical issues.
"You had a roach infestation. They shut you down for about 5 days. And then when they came back, they found more roaches," said ABC Action News Anchor Wendy Ryan.
"Yeah, but I'm all taken care of," said Taylor.
In January of this year, inspectors found live roaches in the storage area, under the dish machine, under the prep table, and behind the freezer.
The month before in December, inspectors found over 30 live and dead roaches in various parts of the kitchen.
And it was 6 months before that when inspectors shut down Feola's for almost a week because they said in their inspection report, "there were too many roaches to count throughout the kitchen."
Taylor blames it on their former exterminator.
"So was there just a problem with the old one?" asked Ryan.
"Yes, I think he was spraying water," answered Taylor.
Most recently in March, inspectors saw employees using their bare hands on ready to eat food and we saw the same violation during our visit, as this employee prepared a sandwich.
"Is that your sauce?" asked Ryan.
"Yes, we just made it," answered Taylor.
"But that's on the floor too. That's a no no." Ryan said.
A huge pot of pasta sauce was sitting directly on the floor. Inspectors had just warned Feola's of this violation, after finding onions and other food stored on the floor.
State law mandates all products must be at least 6 inches off the ground.
Diane says employee turn over has been a huge issue.
"Employees sometimes you tell them and they go 'yeah, yeah, I know.' And you come back in and they're still doing the same thing. It's like yeah, yeah, out the door! So then you have another turn over because they're not listening to what you're telling them," explained Taylor.
Over the last year, inspectors also issued a stop sale on over 392 lbs of food in the walk-in cooler because they were at dangerously warm temperatures between 58 and 63 degrees. All cold food should be held at 41 degrees or colder.
But Taylor says she's trying to put the past behind her and have a positive outlook for the future.
"You think you'll have a clean bill of health from here on in?" asked Ryan.
"Absolutely! I want to stay in business," Taylor said.
