x
Breaking News
More () »

Health inspector discovers dead roach in sour cream, triggering restaurant shutdown

More than 50 pounds of food was also found at unsafe temperatures and ordered to be thrown out.

INDIAN ROCKS BEACH, Fla. — Fans of Los Mexicanos say it’s one of the few places to get good Mexican on Indian Rocks Beach.

“They have really good tacos with cilantro on the side,” said longtime customer Michelle Damon.  

“It’s authentic. It’s not Americanized,” said her husband Dan.

The couple says they’ve been eating at Los Mexicanos for years but had no idea the restaurant was temporarily shut down Aug. 6 by state inspectors.   

State records show the establishment was written up with 25 health code violations, including raw fish stored above the guacamole and temperature abuse on raw chicken and raw beef.   

An inspector also reported finding a dead roach in the sour cream on the cook line, with more live roaches inside the drink machine and on the Bud Light tap at the bar area.

“I don’t wanna be eating sour cream with a cockroach in it,” Dan Damon said.

We showed the inspection report to horrified customers.

“That’s a lot of violations,” said Meg Mergenmeier, visiting from Virginia.  “I don’t know how quickly they can come back from that.”

So this week, 10News paid Los Mexicanos an unannounced visit to ask about all those violations.

A woman identified herself as the person in charge called the manager, who indicated they didn’t want to talk about the previous problems.

“I can’t give you any statement … I can’t tell you anything,” said the employee.

The restaurant was also unable to show a copy of their latest health inspection report as required under Florida law.   

Customers we talked to say the restaurant should be more transparent about what happened and what was done to get it cleaned up.

“I think honesty is their best bet,” said Mergenmeier, who was surprised the restaurant didn’t want to discuss what they’d done to clean up after their closure. “That’s not good!”

In all, Los Mexicanos was ordered to throw out more than 50 pounds of food found at unsafe temperatures plus the sour cream found with the dead roach. 

We left our information for the owner but so far no one from the restaurant has called us back.

Los Mexicanos was cleared by an inspector to reopen the day following their emergency closure.

You can view the restaurant’s entire inspection history here.

What other people are reading right now:

Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the 10News app now.

Have a news tip? Email desk@wtsp.com, or visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.

Before You Leave, Check This Out