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TAMPA, FL -- Tobe McAdams and his buddies come to Village Inn Pancake House on West Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa at least every Wednesday, the same day you can get a free slice of pie with a purchase.
"I mean the food's always good. I don't really question it," said McAdams.
But the teens had no idea the restaurant had 50 critical violations over the last year and a half and had just been written up for 41 violations last month, half of those critical.
"I give restaurants a little bit of leeway. I think they can have a few violations here or there. No one's perfect. 41 is a bit surprising but it's not going to stop me from eating here," McAdams said.
"You are reckless," said McAdams' friend, Arthur McIntosh.
"I am reckless," McAdams responded.
McIntosh says he's not too worried when he eats out either.
"I get sick a lot eating in various places. I've been lucky enough, I've always been fine eating here thus far, knock on wood as they say!" McIntosh said.
"Did you have any idea they had some bad reports?" asked ABC Action News Anchor Wendy Ryan.
"I knew they had some violations, but I didn't know they had anything like this," responded Mark Rolph, Village Pancake House's manager.
Rolph has been the manager for just over a month and had no idea inspectors issued a stop sale on 8 pounds of food a few months ago.
They were ordered to throw out 3 pounds of sandwich meat, 3 pounds of cooked pasta, a pound of pre-made salads and a pound of dairy products because they were at hazardously warm temperatures.
"It's something we try to look at every day, making sure our temperatures are correct. We're holding temperature all day long and covering things up," said Rolph.
Inspectors also found an employee on the cookline working with raw food and then ready to eat foods without ever washing his hands, which is a critical violation.
But Rolph says he's confident the restaurant is now up to par.
"Do you feel the kitchen is clean now and the food is safe to eat?" asked Ryan.
"Yes ma'am, I sure do. And I wouldn't want to feed my guests anything I wouldn't want to eat myself," Rolph said.
