Diners beware: Earley’s Kitchen racking up health code violations

dirty-main-istock2
They aren’t ticky-tack, either.

Earley’s Kitchen sucks. That’s not an opinion.

Just a couple months after opening its doors it has racked up the second-highest number of health code violations among all restaurants in Leon County, putting it in the company of culinary abominations like Great Plates and Peppers Mexican Grill.

The violations aren’t ticky-tack, either.

On Valentine’s Day — the last time inspectors came through — Earley’s was dinged 11 times for food-service 101 issues ranging from not labeling what’s in the food it serves to not providing employees with soap to wash their hands or paper towels to dry them.

Congrats, that extra spice came from whatever they touched during their shift working under a heat lamp. Probably raw meat water, since they dump the day’s food into a sink full of standing water to thaw it.

On that point, Earley’s got caught storing an unholy concoction of raw pork, beef, chicken and cracked eggs with no separation. Pro-tip for the proprietors: When people talk about “fusion” restaurants, that’s not what they mean.

For all the vegetarians and vegans out there, you should probably know the juicy mishmash of mystery meat was on the rack right over the jalapeños.

Perhaps the worst violation, however, was the reckless disregard for proper food temperature. Mashed potatoes and noodles sitting in the open air well below the proper threshold.

I’m not one of those people who thinks you need to chuck the Thanksgiving turkey after 30 minutes on the counter, but c’mon, we all know that stuff had been sitting around all day serving as a petri dish for any bacteria or bug willing to slum it in a vat of subpar sides.

Another citation only compounds the problem: Staff neglected to mark the date on containers full of green beans and macaroni and cheese. All we know is they were more than a day old.

Last I checked, the “Lost Boys” reboot was filming in the Carolinas, but maybe the crew decided to reshoot the infamous maggots scene at the Capitol cafeteria. It’s a reach, but that’s the only way Earley’s could excuse serving customers out of caustic chafers.

Peter Schorsch

Peter Schorsch is the President of Extensive Enterprises and is the publisher of some of Florida’s most influential new media websites, including Florida Politics and Sunburn, the morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. Schorsch is also the publisher of INFLUENCE Magazine. For several years, Peter's blog was ranked by the Washington Post as the best state-based blog in Florida. In addition to his publishing efforts, Peter is a political consultant to several of the state’s largest governmental affairs and public relations firms. Peter lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Ella.


One comment

  • Charlie brown

    March 5, 2020 at 1:17 pm

    What don’t kill you will make you stronger.

Comments are closed.


#FlaPol

Florida Politics is a statewide, new media platform covering campaigns, elections, government, policy, and lobbying in Florida. This platform and all of its content are owned by Extensive Enterprises Media.

Publisher: Peter Schorsch @PeterSchorschFL

Contributors & reporters: Phil Ammann, Drew Dixon, Roseanne Dunkelberger, A.G. Gancarski, Anne Geggis, Ryan Nicol, Jacob Ogles, Cole Pepper, Gray Rohrer, Jesse Scheckner, Christine Sexton, Drew Wilson, and Mike Wright.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @PeterSchorschFL
Phone: (727) 642-3162
Address: 204 37th Avenue North #182
St. Petersburg, Florida 33704




Sign up for Sunburn


Categories