Serving Spoon — Restaurant in Sarasota

After reading this disgusting Health Dept report I can't believe your still open. This report shows a real lack of respect for your customers and the health risks you are subjecting us to. 14 HIGH PRIORITY VIOLATIONS WOW !!!

Immediate closure, emergency order recommended. Inspector says conditions endanger public health and safety. 37 total violations, with 14 high-priority violations: -- High Priority - Employee cracked raw shell eggs and then handled ready-to-eat food and/or clean equipment or utensils without washing hands. Observed at cook line. Warning -- High Priority - Employee handled soiled dishes or utensils and then handled clean dishes or utensils without washing hands. Observed staff working at ware washing station. Warning -- High Priority - Employee touching ready-to-eat food with their bare hands - food was not being heated as a sole ingredient to 145 degrees F or immediately added to other ingredients to be cooked/heated to the minimum required temperature to allow bare hand contact. Establishment has no approved Alternative Operating Procedure. Touch already toasted and plated biscuit Warning -- High Priority - Food stored in ice used for drinks. See stop sale. Cut lemons Warning -- High Priority - Live, small flying insects in kitchen, food preparation area, or food storage area. Observed two flying insects on produce next to juicing machine. Warning -- High Priority - Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook line- ham 56°f, chicken 57°f, sausage 46°f, pooled eggs 47°f Reach in cooler- reconstituted hash browns 60°f, cooked chicken 49°f, cut tomatoes 50°f, shredded cheese 54°f, ham 53°f, raw salmon 50°f, cooked ground beef 54°f, chick peas 55°f, roasted red peppers 57°f Walk in cooler-tuna salad 47°f, cut tomatoes 47°f, butter 47°f, half and half 48°f Front line- butter 65°f Called for repairs Corrective Action Taken Warning -- High Priority - Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food hot held at less than 135 degrees Fahrenheit or above. Butter 87°f, cooked potatoes 79°f discussed time as a public health control Corrective Action Taken Warning -- High Priority - Raw animal food stored over ready-to-eat food. Observed raw smoked salmon stored over butter in walk in cooler. Warning -- High Priority - Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found. Observed one live roach on wall in ware washing area, and five live roaches on tape proximal to the microwave under the steam table. Warning -- High Priority - Roach excrement and/or droppings present. In hole In wall on cook line. Warning -- High Priority - Rodent activity present as evidenced by rodent droppings found. Observed approximately 28 hard rodent droppings under dry storage shelves to the left of the ice machine in the kitchen area, approximately 8 hard rodent droppings under oven in food preparation room, approximately 65 hard rodent droppings under equipment in food preparation room, and approximately four hard rodent droppings on top of water heater. Warning -- High Priority - Rodent chew marks present along walls/ceilings. Observed on sticky trap under shelf in dry storage. Warning -- High Priority - Stop Sale issued due to food not being in a wholesome, sound condition. Cut lemons stored in drink ice, small flying insects on food Warning -- High Priority - Stop Sale issued on potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food due to temperature abuse. Reach in cooler- reconstituted hash browns 60°f, cut tomatoes 50°f, raw salmon 50°f, cooked ground beef 54°f, chick peas 55°f, roasted red peppers...

The Serving Spoon is like a second home to me! I live in the neighborhood and eat here 3-5 times a week. The food and service are fabulous. I always check out the specials board, especially on the weekends. At first glance, it seems like an old fashioned coffee shop, but let me tell you, the menu has everything from traditional breakfast to creative (or create your own) omelettes to huevos rancheros to fabulous French toast, waffles, pancakes, blintzes and bagels and lox. And that's just for breakfast. For lunch they have homemade soups, a great variety of huge salads, cold and grilled sandwiches, and even delicious burgers. Want a healthy meal? Try the quinoa power starter, the morning protein bowl, an egg white power wrap, avocado toast, a healthy salad, or drink your meal by ordering one of the delicious juices from the juice bar menu. I don't know where to start with the specials. There's always a "Sampler" which could start with a unique fruit covered pancake, grilled steelcut oats with agave, or stuffed French toast followed by 2 breakfast meats, eggs, and home fries. Their corned beef hash is actually made in house, not canned hash that looks like dog food!!!! My favorite special is the shrimp and grits. OMG it's better than what a fancy seafood restaurant would serve. I could go on. Oh! I almost forgot the baked goods: muffins, sticky buns, biscuits, and more, and even gluten free raspberry almond bars. Their locally sourced coffee is out of this world. AND they recently got a license to serve beer, wine, mimosas, and bloody mary's in case you're in the mood to celebrate! But the best part is the servers in this family run restaurant. Natasha is the owner and there is usually one or two of her 5 children working there. Plus the nicest gals you ever want to meet. During the "season" it's packed, but never more than a short wait. Sarasota Memorial Hospital is around the corner and many staff members eat daily at the Spoon, as well as Sarasota’s finest from SPD. You will be treated like a local and by the second or third visit, they'll know your...

After googling where to eat in Sarasota on our trip, I am SHOCKED I am leaving this place a ONE STAR review. We (family of 4 with two twelve year olds) walked in around 9:15-9:20am Saturday March 25th 2023 and were greeted promptly by the young hostess who asked if a booth was okay, which of course we said yes. There were multiple tables empty and so was the bar area. We took about 5-10 mins to decide what we wanted to order, at that time we noticed a few people come in and sit at the bar. Then a guy by himself, both were greeted and both had drinks within mins by the bar wait staff. No one had acknowledged us yet but there were 3 wait staff that had walked by us multiple times, two women and one guy. Then a couple gets sat in front of us at a table. Within 2 mins they were greeted and asked what they wanted to drink.. I tried to signal that waitress over to see if she was ours and she turned away. within another 5 mins, they had drinks and the waitress was taking their order. At that point, which had been about 20-25 mins my husband went back up to the hostess to let her know we had yet to be acknowledged. She came over and was concerned, I asked who our waitress was and what section we were in. She looked towards the back and said, "She should be with you soon but I can take your drink order if you'd like." Of course I said yes and we put our drink order in. Hostess got busy up front with checking two people out then nothing for another 5 mins after that! NO ONE ACKNOWLEDGED US besides the hostess. Not a hello, not even a glance at our table, NO ONE! We were there for a good 25-30 mins with not even a drink! Is this a place just for the locals? Our girls were the ones who helped pick out the places we would eat and were very upset at this whole experience. If you're a tourist, go down to the nearest IHOP where we were greeted by multiple staff members and weren't ignored. I've worked in the service industry and there is no excuse for not one person looking our way. Two...