A restaurant in downtown Fort Walton Beach was closed Nov. 16 after inspectors found more than 100 rodent droppings and evidence that rodents had been nesting near the ice tea station.

staff report

FORT WALTON BEACH — A restaurant in downtown Fort Walton Beach was closed Nov. 16 after inspectors found more than 100 rodent droppings and evidence that rodents had been nesting near the ice tea station.

The Tipsy Pig at 138 Miracle Strip Parkway failed a follow-up inspection the next day, but made enough corrections to open later that day after a third inspection.

According to the initial inspection report from the state Department of Business and Professional Regulatations, there were more than 150 dry rodent droppings throughout the restaurant.

More than 50 of those were below the ice tea station, where the “rodent burrow or rodent nesting materials” also were discovered.

Other high-priority violations included food not being stored correctly and multiple small flying insects near the soda gun, the report said.

The inspector also found black mold in the ice machine, stained cutting boards and encrusted material on the can opener blade. The manager also lacked proper certification, the report said.

The interior of the microwave was encrusted with food debris, and food debris was burned into a portion of the oven.

The inspector returned the next day and found that several of the violations had been corrected, but not enough to reopen the restaurant, according to the report.

There were still more than 50 dry rodent droppings near the electrical panel, possibly the same as had been seen the day before.

The droppings were removed from several areas and cleaned up during the follow-up call, the report said.

The cutting board was still too stained to be safe and the manager’s lack of certification was noted in the follow-up report.

Later that day, the DPBR inspector returned and allowed the restaurant to reopen.

“Violations require further review, but are not an immediate threat to the public,” the report noted.