Bagel lovers beware your favorite spot to find your fix may not be as fresh and clean as you'd like to think.
If you get your morning pastries from a South Florida mom and pop-type shop, you don't have anything to worry about because this week's dirty dining is all about corporate America.
We'll start with the Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Company at 14451 S. Military Trail in Delray Beach.
The franchise bagel baker was forced to close temporarily when inspectors found hundreds of rodent droppings in 16 different areas, including a powdered sugar cup, a muffin pan and maybe worst of all, the dough prep area on top of the chocolate chips.
When we asked about all of the poop, the manager handed us his phone with a corporate representative already on the line. The representative told us someone would come right over to talk with us. That didn't happen. Instead we got another call from corporate telling me the following statement was on the way:
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to respond to your story regarding the recent health inspection at The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. located in Delray Beach, Florida. The cited violations were promptly corrected, and the restaurant reopened for business the very next morning. At The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co., we value the relationships that we share with our guests; their safety and well-being is our number one concern. All of our restaurant locations follow strict health and sanitation standards that meet or exceed county, state, and federal health regulations. Our restaurants are committed to providing freshly prepared, high-quality products in an enjoyable atmosphere. We look forward to serving our loyal guests in Delray Beach for many years to come.
The second bagel shop we had to visit is Einstein Bros. Bagels at 353 N. Federal Highway in Boca Raton. The state inspection only listed one high priority violation which is usually pretty good. Unfortunately, this violation was for live roaches which earns an emergency closure every time.
We walked in to Einstein Bros. hopeful they might want to talk to us a little more than the last chain...which was a little naive on my part.
We had to wait for the only customer in the store to finish a complaint about his order but when it was finally our turn the staff was very friendly.
I introduced myself and said "We're here to talk with a manager about the problem you had with roaches."
Guess what? I was handed another phone.
Not only did we not get to talk to a live person but we never received a statement from Einstein Bros. Bagels either.
We can tell you the state inspector found no violations during the follow up inspection.
To find out how your favorite restaurant faired this week you can check out our database provided by our partners at TCPalm.Com.