WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Chili's has a full menu of baby back ribs, burgers, and fajitas but a local franchise was serving none of that on Tuesday, September 25.
The Chili's Grill & Bar at 699 Cypress Gardens Blvd. in Winter Haven had to temporarily shut down due to live roaches in the kitchen.
Inspectors saw several roaches crawling on the shelf next to the salad bin on the cook's line and next to the waiter's station. And dead roaches on a plate stored next to the salad bins.
The state also documented over 20 flying insects in the dishwasher area and dry storage area.
15 violations total were discovered this week which include accumulation of old food debris inside the microwave, under and behind the cooking equipment, grease on the hood filters, limescale inside the dish machine, clean utensils stored in dirty storage bins, old food on utensils after being cleaned and stored for use, and ceiling tiles leaking rainwater in the back of the kitchen.
Chili's Statement:
The health of our Guests is always our top priority and we maintain very strict standards of quality, safety, and cleanliness in our restaurants. Therefore we took the recent health inspection report very seriously. We are in the process of taking quick, corrective action and working closely with the Health Department to ensure all concerns are thoroughly addressed.
-Chili’s Grill & Bar spokesperson
