EL MEZCAL MEXICAN RESTAURANT
8441 SW HWY 200 STE 147/149, OCALA 34481
Overall Food Safety Rating
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5)
Based on 5 health inspection reports
All Inspection Reports
Inspection on 3/24/2025
High Priority
1
Intermediate
0
Basic
0
Total
1
Disposition: Follow-up Inspection Required
Inspection Details:
- 22-41-4:High Priority - - From initial inspection : High Priority - Dishmachine chlorine sanitizer not at proper minimum strength. Discontinue use of dishmachine for sanitizing and set up manual sanitization until dishmachine is repaired and sanitizing properly. Dishmachine at 10ppm CL **Warning** - From follow-up inspection 2025-03-24: Dishmachine at 0ppm Cl **Admin Complaint**
Food safety inspection conducted on 3/24/2025 revealed 1 total violations (1 high priority, 0 intermediate, 0 basic).
Inspection on 2/12/2025
High Priority
6
Intermediate
3
Basic
14
Total
23
Disposition: Follow-up Inspection Required
Inspection Details:
- 32-12-6:Basic - Covered waste receptacle not provided in women's bathroom. No covered waste receptacle provided in women's bathroom.
- 14-09-4:Basic - Cutting board has cut marks and is no longer cleanable. Cutting board on flip-top make table in kitchen with grooves with black stains. **Repeat Violation**
- 12B-07-4:Basic - Employee beverage container on a food preparation table or over/next to clean equipment/utensils. Employee drink above microwave on cook line **Repeat Violation**
- 08B-49-4:Basic - Employee personal food not properly identified and segregated from food to be served to the public. Employee WaWa sandwich stored in reach in cooler above food served to public
- 36-17-5:Basic - Floor tiles missing and/or in disrepair. floor tiles missing in walk-in-cooler and walk-in-freezer **Repeat Violation**
- 08B-36-4:Basic - Food stored in a location that is exposed to splash/dust. Trays of beans and chicken cooling stored on bottom shelf under dirty dishes. Manager removed.
- 14-69-4:Basic - Ice buildup in reach-in freezer and/or walk-in freezer. Ice buildup in reach in freezer
- 10-20-4:Basic - In-use tongs stored on equipment door handle between uses. tongs hanging on oven handle. Cook removed **Corrected On-Site** **Repeat Violation**
- 10-01-5:Basic - In-use utensil in non-time/temperature control for safety food not stored with handle above top of food within a closed container. In-use utensil in non-time/temperature control food stored with handle touching food ( sugar )
- 10-07-4:Basic - In-use utensil stored in standing water less than 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Ice cream scoop in standing water at 78F. Manager removed **Corrected On-Site**
- 08B-12-5:Basic - Stored food not covered. Churros stored in reach in cooler not covered
- 08B-17-4:Basic - Unwashed fruits/vegetables stored with ready-to-eat food. Unwashed produce (strawwberries ) stored over ready-to-eat food ( flan) in reach in cooler. Unwashed produce (peppers ) stored over ready-to-eat food (salsa ) in walk in cooler
- 36-36-4:Basic - Wall tile missing At the end of the cookline
- 29-11-4:Basic - Water leaking from pipe and/or faucet/handle. Leaking hose under hand wash sink and three-compartment sink
- 22-41-4:High Priority - Dishmachine chlorine sanitizer not at proper minimum strength. Discontinue use of dishmachine for sanitizing and set up manual sanitization until dishmachine is repaired and sanitizing properly. Dishmachine at 10ppm CL **Warning**
- 12A-12-4:High Priority - Employee switched from working with raw food to ready-to-eat food without washing hands. Cook wearing gloves placed raw beef on grill then handled cooking utensils, then took a plate and hand rolled a burrito, without removing gloves, washing hands and putting on clean gloves. Discussed with Manager.
- 08A-05-6:High Priority - Raw animal food stored over/not properly separated from ready-to-eat food. Raw shelled eggs in rice stored above tamales
- 03A-02-5:High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Pico de gallo at 48F at flip-top make table cooler prepared 2 hours earlier
- 03B-01-6:High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food, other than whole meat roast, hot held at less than 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Trays of beans 109F and tray of chicken 119F ambient cooling for 1 hour. Manager placed items in walk-in-freezer
- 29-42-4:High Priority - Vacuum breaker missing at mop sink faucet or on fitting/splitter added to mop sink faucet. "Y" connector at mop sink is missing vacuum breaker on the non-chemical side of the "Y" connector. Manager purchased back flow preventor and installed **Corrected On-Site** **Repeat Violation** **Admin Complaint**
- 22-02-4:Intermediate - Food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime. Food-contact surface of commercial can opener soiled with food debris, mold-like substance. Cutting board on flip-top make table with mold like substance in the grooves in kitchen. Interior of microwave on cook line soiled **Repeat Violation**
- 27-19-4:Intermediate - Handwash sink does not have enough water pressure to properly wash hands. Only Hand wash sink on cook line lacks water pressure
- 02C-02-5:Intermediate - Ready-to-eat, time/temperature control for safety food prepared onsite and held more than 24 hours not properly date marked. House made salsa prepared two days earlier not dated.
Food safety inspection conducted on 2/12/2025 revealed 23 total violations (6 high priority, 3 intermediate, 14 basic).
Inspection on 1/3/2025
High Priority
2
Intermediate
4
Basic
8
Total
14
Disposition: Met Inspection Standards
Inspection Details:
- 36-03-4:Basic - Cove molding at floor/wall juncture broken/missing. Missing cove molding in dry goods storage area next to air handler.
- 14-09-4:Basic - Cutting board has cut marks and is no longer cleanable. Cutting board on flip-top make table with grooves in kitchen.
- 12B-07-4:Basic - Employee beverage container on a food preparation table or over/next to clean equipment/utensils. Employee water bottle on top of cookline microwave.
- 36-17-5:Basic - Floor tiles missing and/or in disrepair. Tiles in disrepair in walk-in-cooler and walk-in-freezer. Tile in dishwash area cracked with standing water **Repeat Violation**
- 08B-38-4:Basic - Food stored on floor. Tray of bottled water stored on floor entering dishwash area Box of corn in husk stored on floor in walk-in-cooler
- 10-14-5:Basic - Ice bucket not stored inverted or in a protected manner between uses. Ice bucket used to transport ice not stored inverted or in a protected manner by ice machine.
- 10-20-4:Basic - In-use tongs stored on equipment door handle between uses. Tongs stored on oven door handle. **Repeat Violation**
- 29-49-6:Basic - Standing water in bottom of reach-in-cooler. Water in bottom of upright reach in cooler at entrance to cookline.
- 03A-02-5:High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Beef (55,56F - Cold Holding) in reach in cooler on cookline. Reach in cooler was disconnected when plates placed on top of reach in cooler. Reach in cooler was reconnected and ice was placed on beef containers. Manager advised that bed had been placed in walk-in-cooler 1 hour earlier from walk-in-cooler **Corrective Action Taken**
- 29-42-4:High Priority - Vacuum breaker missing at mop sink faucet or on fitting/splitter added to mop sink faucet. "Y" connector at mop sink is missing vacuum breaker on the non-chemical side of the "Y" connector. Missing vacuum breakers at outside hose bibi next to AC unit. Missing vacuum breaker at hose Bibb under hand wash sink and three-compartment sink
- 22-02-4:Intermediate - Food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime. Cutting board on flip-top make table with mold like substance in the grooves in kitchen. Interior of microwave on cookline soiled with food particles
- 31A-09-4:Intermediate - Handwash sink not accessible for employee use at all times. Fryer baskets on cookline hand wash sink. Employee removed baskets **Corrected On-Site**
- 53A-05-6:Intermediate - No currently certified food service manager on duty with four or more employees engaged in food preparation/handling. A list of accredited food manager certification examination providers can be found at http://www.myfloridalicense.com/DBPR/hotels-restaurants/food-lodging/food-manager/ No food manager present at time of inspection with more than four employees handling food.
- 53B-14-5:Intermediate - Required employee training expired for some employees. To order approved program food safety material, call DBPR contracted provider: Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (SafeStaff) 866-372-7233. Ten employee food handler certificates expired
Food safety inspection conducted on 1/3/2025 revealed 14 total violations (2 high priority, 4 intermediate, 8 basic).
Inspection on 8/23/2024
High Priority
0
Intermediate
0
Basic
0
Total
1
Disposition: Met Inspection Standards
Inspection Details:
- N/A:No Violations Were Observed
Food safety inspection conducted on 8/23/2024 revealed 1 total violations (0 high priority, 0 intermediate, 0 basic).
Inspection on 8/12/2024
High Priority
5
Intermediate
0
Basic
6
Total
11
Disposition: Follow-up Inspection Required
Inspection Details:
- 36-17-5:Basic - Floor tiles missing and/or in disrepair. Floor tiles in walk-in-cooler cracked and missing.
- 10-20-4:Basic - In-use tongs stored on equipment door handle between uses. Tongs stored on oven handle on cook line
- 10-01-5:Basic - In-use utensil in non-time/temperature control for safety food not stored with handle above top of food within a closed container. Bowl with no handle used to dispense food (flour).Manager removed bowl. **Corrected On-Site**
- 10-06-5:Basic - In-use utensil not stored with handle above the top of time/temperature control for safety food and rim of the container. In-use utensil in time/temperature control food stored with handle touching food ( ice cream) in reach in freezer
- 23-03-4:Basic - Nonfood-contact surface soiled with grease, food debris, dirt, slime or dust. Mold like substance on the underside of the non food contact surface of the nozzles on the soda dispensing machine at server station.
- 08B-17-4:Basic - Unwashed fruits/vegetables stored with ready-to-eat food. Unwashed produce (lemons and limes ) stored over ready-to-eat food (salsa ) in walk in cooler . Manager moved lemon and limes **Corrected On-Site**
- 22-49-4:High Priority - Dishmachine not sanitizing properly. Discontinue use of dishmachine for sanitizing and set up manual sanitization until dishmachine is repaired and sanitizing properly. Dishmachine at 0ppm CL **Warning**
- 12A-29-4:High Priority - Employee touched soiled surface and then engaged in food preparation, handled clean equipment or utensils, or touched unwrapped single-service items without washing hands. Employee wearing gloves worked on dishmachine and rinsed off dirty dishes then went to cook line and handled tortillas without removing gloves, washing hands and putting on clean gloves. Discussed with Manager .
- 08A-05-6:High Priority - Raw animal food stored over/not properly separated from ready-to-eat food. Frozen fish stored above French fries and vegetables in walk-in-cooler. Manager moved fries and vegetables. **Corrected On-Site**
- 01B-02-5:High Priority - Stop Sale issued on time/temperature control for safety food due to temperature abuse. Rice on shelf under steam Bain at (90F - Hot Holding) for five hours **Admin Complaint**
- 03B-01-6:High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food, other than whole meat roast, hot held at less than 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Rice on shelf under steam Bain at (90F - Hot Holding) for five hours **Admin Complaint**
Food safety inspection conducted on 8/12/2024 revealed 11 total violations (5 high priority, 0 intermediate, 6 basic).