‘I fed my son this’: Pembroke Lakes Mall food court roach citation spurs backlash
A Pembroke Pines shopping center is generating buzz for reasons other than its spring sales or latest fashions: its food court’s roach activity.
After an April 15 inspection shut down Kelly’s Cajun Grill, Pembroke Lakes Mall has become the subject of Broward locals’ criticism, with shoppers taking to social media to vent their frustrations about the mall’s unsanitary eateries and percevied yearslong decline.
“There’s no way ... That’s a roach in my (expletive) food,” Broward mom Bianca Yazmine told her followers in an April 14 TikTok post, the day before the spot was shut down.
The video shows Yazmine raking through her order of lo mein and chicken with a fork, revealing a dead roach nestled inside the meal.
“I’m so upset ... I fed my son this,” she added, panning to a toddler in a stroller.
Inspectors cited the Cajun restaurant chain, located at 11401 Pines Blvd., with five total violations — two of which were considered able to “contribute directly to a foodborne illness or injury” — leading to an emergency closure, according to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
DBPR says the gravest offenses were two roaches crawling on top of the restaurant’s “prep table in rear food preparation area” and cross-contamination from an employee who handled raw beef and cooked chicken without changing gloves or washing their hands.
Kelly’s Cajun Grill — which has sister locations in Broward Mall, Sawgrass Mills, Dolphin Mall and Dadeland Mall — reopened the next day after a follow-up assessment found saw no infractions, per DBPR.
Broward shoppers are saying the vermin sighting is not a one-off occurrence and are calling for an overhaul of the decades-old shopping center and its food court.
“I noticed a rat in the Cajun area, and it appeared that employees were actively trying to locate it. This was last year,” commented one Instagram user under an April 21 Pembroke Pines News Instagram post announcing the closure.
Here are some other comments from social media in response to the roach finding.
- “I found a worm in my veggie too and they had to give me something different. Ew! And I hadn’t eaten there in years.”
- “I saw a roach at Popeyes, it’s true whatever they saying.”
- “If one got it they all got it. Shut the whole thing down. It’s run down anyways.”
- “Pembroke Lakes Mall needs to go to the light already ... it’s been such a downfall mall for years now.”
After raising the issue to the Kelly’s Cajun Grill team, Yazmine received a refund for her meal and reported the incident to the health department, the Broward mom told her followers the following day.
“Omg that’s crazy. Lol, they didn’t want to refund us our drinks at first, but I said uh uh, refund everything!” she commented on April 15 under her TikTok post.
Prior roach sighting
Kelly’s Cajun Grill is not the first Pembroke Lakes Mall eatery to see roaches crawling around its kitchen this year, according to DBPR.
Inspectors also cited Suki Hana — a fast-casual Japanese restaurant in the food court, four vendors down from Kelly’s Cajun Grill — for live roach activity in January.
“Observed one live roach on kitchen floor. Employee killed roach and sanitized area,” reads Suki Hana’s report.
Despite the high-priority infraction, the restaurant met DBPR’s inspection standards and did not close down or require a follow-up visit.
A March inspection of Suki Hana didn’t turn up any serious citations other than a batch of shrimp held at lukewarm temperatures, risking bacteria growth.
What about the shopping center’s other food court occupants?
Chick-fil-A, Sbarro and Popeye’s passed their February inspections and did not rake in any vermin sightings or high-priority violations
Arepasmania and Raw Energy did not turn up in DBPR’s inspection database.
Pembroke Lakes Mall has not responded to the Pembroke Pines News’ request for comment as of April 23.
