RED MESA CANTINA
128 3rd Street South
Saint Petersburg, Florida, 33701
Downtown
Pinellas County County
Overall Food Safety Rating
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5)
Based on 7 health inspection reports
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All Inspection Reports
Inspection on 5/2/2025
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 5/2/2025 revealed 1 total violations (0 high priority, 0 intermediate, 0 basic).
Inspection on 3/27/2025
High Priority
1
Intermediate
1
Basic
4
Total
6
Disposition: Met Inspection Standards
Inspection Details:
- 35A-06-4:Basic - Accumulation of dead or trapped birds, insects, rodents, or other pests, in control devices. 100 flies in sticky trap on wall in prep area. Employee removed sticky trap and discarded dead. Corrected On-Site
- 24-08-4:Basic - Equipment and utensils not properly air-dried - wet nesting. Wet nesting of plastic pans on drying rack in prep room.
- 16-46-4:Basic - Old labels stuck to food containers after cleaning. Old date dot labels on clean plastic pans in drying rack. Employee removed to dish area to clean. Corrected On-Site
- 29-49-6:Basic - Standing water in bottom of reach-in-cooler. Standing water in reach in beer cooler in exterior bar area.
- 08A-05-6:High Priority - Raw animal food stored over/not properly separated from ready-to-eat food. Raw calamari over open fries in walk in freezer. Employee removed to raw to lower shelf. Corrected On-Site
- 22-02-4:Intermediate - Food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime. Cutting boards soiled on cook line reach in coolers. Can opener soiled in prep area.
Food safety inspection conducted on 3/27/2025 revealed 6 total violations (1 high priority, 1 intermediate, 4 basic).
Inspection on 3/27/2025
High Priority
0
Intermediate
0
Basic
1
Total
1
Disposition: Met Inspection Standards
Inspection Details:
- 24-08-4:Basic - - From initial inspection : Basic - Equipment and utensils not properly air-dried - wet nesting. - From follow-up inspection 2025-03-27: **Time Extended**
Food safety inspection conducted on 3/27/2025 revealed 1 total violations (0 high priority, 0 intermediate, 1 basic).
Inspection on 3/12/2025
High Priority
1
Intermediate
1
Basic
2
Total
4
Disposition: Follow-up Inspection Required
Inspection Details:
- 24-08-4:Basic - Equipment and utensils not properly air-dried - wet nesting.
- 08B-17-4:Basic - Unwashed fruits/vegetables stored with ready-to-eat food. Tuna moved out from under produce Corrected On-Site
- 03A-02-5:High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. flautas(55F - Cold Holding); pork (55F - Cold Holding); yucca fries (55F - Cold Holding); plantains (55F - Cold Holding Placed items in freezer for 15 mins. All foods 41f Corrected On-Site
- 02B-02-5:Intermediate - Raw animal foods must be fully cooked prior to service. Consumer advisory needs to be better identified on menu.
Food safety inspection conducted on 3/12/2025 revealed 4 total violations (1 high priority, 1 intermediate, 2 basic).
Inspection on 9/9/2024
High Priority
1
Intermediate
3
Basic
2
Total
6
Disposition: Met Inspection Standards
Inspection Details:
- 12B-07-4:Basic - Employee beverage container on a food preparation table or over/next to clean equipment/utensils. Employee beverage on prep table across from walk in cooler. Manager removed. Corrected On-Site
- 16-46-4:Basic - Old labels stuck to food containers after cleaning.
- 22-57-6:High Priority - Heat strip failed to turn black to indicate the sanitization temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit was achieved on the dish surface and/or high temperature holding thermometer did not reach 160F. Discontinue use of dishmachine for sanitizing and set up manual sanitization until dishmachine is repaired. High temperature dishwasher machine only reached 159.1 F after running more than 6 times. Sanitization will occur in three compartment sink at 200 ppm quaternary. Operator was able to get dish machine to work properly. Dish machine is now sanitizing at 161.6 F. Corrected On-Site Repeat Violation
- 53A-03-7:Intermediate - Food manager certification expired. A list of accredited food manager certification examination providers can be found at http://www.myfloridalicense.com/DBPR/hotels-restaurants/food-lodging/food-manager/
- 22-02-4:Intermediate - Food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime. Green cutting boards on cook line have built up food debris. Can opener on prep table in rear part of kitchen has built up food debris. Repeat Violation
- 16-54-4:Intermediate - Wash solution in spray type hot water sanitizing dishmachine not reaching proper temperature according to manufacturer's specifications. High temperature dishwasher machine only reached 159.1 F after running more than 6 times. Sanitization will occur in three compartment sink at 200 ppm quaternary. Operator was able to get dish machine to work properly. Dish machine is now sanitizing at 161.6 F. Corrected On-Site Repeat Violation
Food safety inspection conducted on 9/9/2024 revealed 6 total violations (1 high priority, 3 intermediate, 2 basic).
Inspection on 5/9/2024
High Priority
8
Intermediate
5
Basic
11
Total
24
Disposition: Met Inspection Standards
Inspection Details:
- 22-20-5:Basic - Accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine/bin. Interior of ice machine has mold like substance.
- 50-09-4:Basic - Current Hotel and Restaurant license not displayed.
- 12B-12-5:Basic - Employee drinking from an unenclosed beverage container in a food preparation/clean dishware area and the container does not have a dispensing mechanism to prevent hand contact with lip contact area of drink container. Open container of water above dish machine. Employee removed. Corrected On-Site
- 13-04-4:Basic - Employee with no beard guard/restraint while engaging in food preparation. Repeat Violation
- 10-17-4:Basic - In-use knife/knives stored in cracks between pieces of equipment. Knives stored in between reach in cooler and door.
- 22-08-4:Basic - Interior of oven/microwave has accumulation of black substance/grease/food debris. Microwave oven on cook line has built up food debris.
- 23-03-4:Basic - Nonfood-contact surface soiled with grease, food debris, dirt, slime or dust. Light fixtures over bar have dust and other debris.
- 24-18-4:Basic - Silverware/utensils stored upright with the food-contact surface up. Spoons in cook line stored with food contact surfaces upright.
- 25-06-4:Basic - Single-service articles not stored inverted or protected from contamination. Coffee filters in kitchen not covered for protection. Manager stored correctly. Corrected On-Site
- 03G-53-1:Basic - Time/temperature control for safety food packaged using a reduced oxygen method without a HACCP plan not properly labeled with the production time and date. Raw beef vacuum sealed and held under refrigeration in walk in cooler with no date, time or product information.
- 03G-54-1:Basic - Time/temperature control for safety food packaged using a reduced oxygen method without a HACCP plan not removed from its package within 48 hours after packaging. Raw beef, ham, and refried beans vacuum sealed and stored in walk in freezer without a HAACP plan for more than 48 hours.
- 12A-07-5:High Priority - Employee failed to wash hands before putting on gloves to initiate a task working with food.
- 12A-13-4:High Priority - Employee handled soiled equipment or utensils and then engaged in food preparation, handled clean equipment or utensils, or touched unwrapped single-service items without washing hands. Dishwasher goes from scraping dirty dishes to putting away clean dishes with no hand wash.
- 22-57-6:High Priority - Heat strip failed to turn black to indicate the sanitization temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit was achieved on the dish surface and/or high temperature holding thermometer did not reach 160F. Discontinue use of dishmachine for sanitizing and set up manual sanitization until dishmachine is repaired. High temperature dishwasher machine only reaches 154.7 F. Maintenance fixed booster and temperature taken again reached 159.3 F. Corrected On-Site
- 35A-02-6:High Priority - Live, small flying insects in kitchen, food preparation area, food storage area and/or bar area. 1 live fly in kitchen by server expo line not landing on food or food contact surfaces.
- 08A-05-6:High Priority - Raw animal food stored over/not properly separated from ready-to-eat food. Employee on cook line was working with raw beef with the spatula and dipped the spatula in the salt container to add salt. Inspector discussed with Certified Food Manager.
- 01B-02-5:High Priority - Stop Sale issued on time/temperature control for safety food due to temperature abuse. Raw beef, ham, and refried beans vacuum sealed and stored in walk in freezer without a HAACP plan for more than 48 hours. 17 packages of flan marked more than 7 days.
- 03A-02-5:High Priority - Time/temperature control for safety food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. In reach in cooler underneath cook top: cooked beef (48F - Cold Holding); raw beef (48F - Cold Holding); raw shrimp (48F - Cold Holding) temperatures taken at 2:00 pm. Temperatures taken again at 2:40 pm: cooked beef (42F - Cold Holding); raw beef (42F - Cold Holding); raw shrimp (43F - Cold Holding) Corrected On-Site
- 41-15-5:High Priority - Wiping cloth solution exceeding the maximum concentration allowed stored in a location that could result in the cross contamination of food, equipment, utensils, linens, single-service, or single-use articles. Wiping cloth solution over 400 ppm quaternary. Corrected to 200 ppm quaternary. Corrected On-Site
- 22-02-4:Intermediate - Food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime. Cutting boards on cook line have built up food debris. Can opener in prep table behind cook line has built up food debris. Repeat Violation
- 31A-11-4:Intermediate - Handwash sink used for purposes other than handwashing. Hand wash sink on cook line used to fill pan. Hand wash sink in outdoor bar used to dump straws.
- 16-62-1:Intermediate - No measuring device available for measuring utensil surface temperature when using hot water as sanitizer in a dishmachine.
- 31B-02-4:Intermediate - No paper towels or mechanical hand drying device provided at handwash sink in bar area. Manager replaced. Corrected On-Site
- 16-54-4:Intermediate - Wash solution in spray type hot water sanitizing dishmachine not reaching proper temperature according to manufacturer's specifications.
Food safety inspection conducted on 5/9/2024 revealed 24 total violations (8 high priority, 5 intermediate, 11 basic).
Inspection on 10/26/2023
High Priority
0
Intermediate
1
Basic
1
Total
2
Disposition: Met Inspection Standards
Inspection Details:
- 13-04-4:Basic - Employee with no beard guard/restraint while engaging in food preparation. Employee preparing food on cook line with no beard guard.
- 22-02-4:Intermediate - Food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime. Green cutting board on cook line across from fryers has built up food debris. Repeat Violation
Food safety inspection conducted on 10/26/2023 revealed 2 total violations (0 high priority, 1 intermediate, 1 basic).