Dirty Dining: Tequila Beach Sport Grille cited

BRADENTON, Fla. - Located on Manatee Avenue West in Bradenton, Tequila Beach Sport Grille is known as a family friendly restaurant, with daily specials, live music, karaoke and happy hour.

But it wasn't the tunes that made inspectors take notice.

In June, the state ordered the restauarnt to close it's doors for hours because of a dozen roaches. They found them in the dishwash area and underneath equipment at the cookline.

They also cited the place for food not being fully frozen in the freezer. Bacon, hamburger patties, and fish were all 41 degrees. FDA code requires frozen food be kept at 32 degrees or below.

In February, inspectors documented ground turkey and grouper fillets thawed at room temperature. They found raw seafood kept next to cold cuts and cooked chicken in the reach-in cooler, which can lead to cross contamination.

Jeremy Runo, owner of Tequila Beach Sport Grille did not want to go on camera, but did send us an email which reads in part,

"Tequila Beach's number one concern is to deliver a safe, quality product and service to each and every one of our guests.

"We do make mistakes at times and correct them immediately, as well as diligently work on a solution for them not to happen in the future."

TEXT OF ENTIRE EMAIL RESPONSE FROM JEREMY W. RUNO:

Jackie - Hello, this is Jeremy Runo from Tequila Beach in Bradenton. I wanted to get back to you. I have been out of town and am now back at it.

Per our conversation last week, I am not in a position to do an on camera interview as I mentioned due to the last health inspection being in question and working with the state on the issues in question.

Therefore, I am giving you this statement concerning our last 12 months of health inspections for the record:

Tequila Beach's #1 concern is to deliver a safe, quality product and service to each and every one of our guests. We do make mistakes at times and correct them immediately, as well as diligently work on a solution for them not to happen in the future. Every time there has been an issue with a violation on our health inspections, we have worked with the state inspectors to correct the issue and teach and train our team members the issues and what to avoid going forward.

I would ask that as you review the past health inspections and reports, that you would not "generalize" the violations and really look to see what they are and how they were addressed and corrected. Tequila Beach follows all Florida state health laws and regulations and when we make a mistake, we acknowledge it and fix it so that we may continue to deliver a safe and quality product to our guests.

Jeremy W. Runo

If you have any other questions or concerns, please call me at the store or contact me through this email address.

Thank you for you time.