Report: Violations Lead to Closure of Captain's Pizza
Two recent closures for health code violations could spell trouble for Captain's Pizza and Restaurant, WTSP 10 News reports.
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A recent story from WTSP 10 News states that longtime Main Street eatery Captain's Pizza closed last week after a state agency found a staggering 72 critical health code violations over four days of inspections last month.
According to the article, which was published on the news station's website last Thursday:
- 72 critical violations were discovered, including slime in the ice machine, roaches in the dining room and kitchen and cigarette ashes on the food prep table
- the restaurant has been closed following the most recent inspection
- the owner might have suffered an injury while attempting to repair some of the problems
- a maintenance man said the pizzeria might remain closed permanently
Safety Harbor Patch obtained four reports filed by the Florida Deptartment of Business & Professional Regulation that outline a litany of violations, both critical and non-critical in nature, for the restaurant, which has been part of the downtown dining scene for over 30 years.
Non-critical violations include utensils in poor condition and employees with no hair restraints and dirty hands, while critical violations include lack of thermometers in holding units, food with mold-like growth on it and and the accumulation of dead animals, insects and rodent droppings underneath a kitchen cabinet.
In total there were 120 violations listed in the reports, 72 critical and 48 non-critical.
A phone call to the restaurant was not answered on Sunday.
Safety Harbor Patch will be following this story closely. If you would like to share any thoughts on the subject, feel free to do so in the comments below.
Owen Linder, MD FACP
9:01 am on Monday, October 1, 2012
In this subject your publishing the truth in full,
leaves no need for anecdotal support from individuals.
Good job.
Michael Rusch
9:01 am on Monday, October 1, 2012
Well, I don't know why what has transpired here happened in the first place but clearly it's not good. It's a shame too. I bet everyone in town has been here at one time or another over the years. Some have been here regularly, I'm sure. My daughter worked here some 15 years ago. She never mentioned anything was amiss back then. Certainly Captains Pizza was a staple in this town all of these years. Yet another restaurant failure does not bode well, but then this failure would seem to be internal. A shame any way you look at it. I wish Steve good luck and get well soon.
Jeffrey Rosenfield
9:42 am on Monday, October 1, 2012
I appreciate the comments.
Valerie Nolte
12:42 pm on Monday, October 1, 2012
I am so sorry to hear this, but can't say I am surprised. I love Captain's Pizza and order pizza from there regularly. Steve "Captain" is a great guy and makes the best pizza around. As the article says, he has been at this site for over 30 years. Unfortunately, I don't think he has made many improvements to the inside of the restaurant in quite some time and I have noticed a steady deterioration over the years. I asked him once why he didn't just retire and he shared that making pizzas was his life. This is what he loves to do. I wish him well and hope for a speedy recovery.
Georgia Leblanc
8:30 am on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Not surprise!
Fritz Kirsch
11:14 am on Monday, October 8, 2012
Captain's Restaurant has indeed been a fixture in Safety Harbor for thirty years. Before that it was Seller's Grocery Store. I remember when Steve opened the place. For years the food was top quality. The pizza was outstanding. In the past year or two the quality of the food seemed to drop off and the restaurant began to look less than sparkling. Captain's Pizza had some cleanliness issues over the years but never was as bad as it has been in the past year. It would be good to see Steve get back on his feet again and make marked improvements but age has a way of slowing a man down. Whether he can or wants to try again remains a question time will answer.
Laura Dent
2:57 pm on Wednesday, October 24, 2012
So sad. All the best to you Steve. You are a very kind and good man. It is an honor to have known you and your family.
Monique K
5:16 pm on Saturday, February 23, 2013
Best pizza in the area, hands down. But, rundown, in disrepair and just filthy. We bought pizza there many times in the past twenty years, but less and less often in the past few. We'd joke about just walking in, picking up our order and not looking around so as not to lose our appetites. My heart goes out to Steve. He told me one time that love went into every pizza he made, he must be heartbroken. I went by today and they were completely gutting the place. I hope he's able to clean it up, rebuild and get back to doing what he loves to do...making great pizza!