A popular restaurant in The Villages was shut down last week after the discovery of health code violations.
An inspector shut down Giovanni’s Ristorante & Pizzeria at Southern Trace Plaza on Ash Wednesday after discovering problems with food temperature, roaches and a troubling lack of employee hygiene, according to the inspection report on file with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
The inspector ordered a “stop sale” after the discovery of food temperature violations involving ricotta cheese and diced ham. There was also a temperature violation with regard to pasta.
Live roaches were found in the kitchen, including under the stove and in a cubby with clean equipment. There was also a roach on the floor in the dough prep area.
In addition, the inspector found violations with employee hygiene. An employee handled soiled equipment and then began food preparation without first engaging in hand washing. Another employee failed to wash hands before putting on gloves to engage in food preparation. A handwashing sink in the dough prep area was blocked by a table and apparently unusable, the report indicated.
There were numerous other lower-priority violations including wet wiping cloths not stored in sanitizing solution between uses and paperwork problems involving employee training.
The inspector returned for a followup check the next day and while violations were still found, the restaurant was deemed safe enough to reopen.