Clive's Cafe II on 5908 NW Second Avenue was briefly closed for health violations on March 28 and Micocos (El Buen) Cafe (2100 Ponce de Leon, Coral Gables) was shuttered March 27 following a citation by state health inspectors for operating without a license and other health violations.
Micocos was lacking a hand sink and a three-compartment sink. An inspector also found cold food being stored at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit and hot food not being kept at 135 or above. No thermometer was available to measure food temperature.
An employee was observed preparing food and handling clean utensils and touching unwrapped single-service items without washing hands first. The manager lacked proper certification and was seen wearing jewelry other than a plain ring while preparing food.
Micocos is still closed for operations, said Beth Frady, deputy communications director for the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and will stay closed until license requirements are met. The owner of the restaurant could not be reached for comment.
Clive's Cafe II, a Caribbean seafood restaurant in Wynwood and related to the original Clive's Cafe, was briefly closed after seven critical violations were observed by a state health and safety inspector.
Fifteen live roaches were found in the kitchen and above the hand wash sink, the employee hand wash sink lacked a sign, and there were no proper drying materials. Lettuce made contact with bare hands and cleanser. The outer entrances could not be properly sealed during smoker operation in the rear and the restaurant was operating without a current health and restaurant license.
Clive's has been cited in the past for bare hand contact with food.
Owner Norman Murray insists that the citations and closure are not a major issue. The reason the for roaches, he explains, is because the exterminators he hired prior to the inspection did not do their jobs properly.
"I'm trying to get my own exterminator but I can't find nothing else," says Murray. "The last exterminators I tried and they just don't work."
Murray corrected the citations the very same day but the restaurant was closed for a second day because he was recovering from a motorcycle accident.
As a small business owner, Murray believes that the government is making it harder to keep his business open."The government makes it so hard for us to survive man, they want us to do this, they want us to do that.
"As a small business owner you really don't see any money after the taxes and bills," he says. "We as small businesses are keeping this neighborhood alive."
The restaurant re-opened on Friday, March 30 after a follow-up inspection. Nobody could be reached from Clive's Cafe II.
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