FL Eatery Popular With Tourists & Locals, Pirate's Cove Resort Restaurant, Shut Down Via Inspection

Photo byIvan Bandura, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Because Florida has a large tourism economy, it is not unusual to find somewhat popular restaurants inside of Florida's resorts and hotels. And those restaurants are inspected just like all restaurants are. These resort eateries can get violations as well. One of them, Pirate's Cove Resort & Marina Restaurant in Stuart, was recently temporarily shut down after a state inspection.

About Pirate's Cove Resort & Marina Restaurant: The resort's website calls the eatery Pirate's Loft. It serves an extensive menu with items like salads, seafood, ribs, chicken, and burgers and it has views of the marina.

The eatery at 4307 SE Bayview Street has been reviewed 1,700 times on Google reviews and earns 4.3 out of 5 stars. And it has been reviewed by both locals and visitors staying at the resort. Many mention the views and some say the food is good and the service attentive. A reviewer named Yoly wrote:

"This review is strictly for the Pirate's Cove restaurant. The location has a very nice view right on the water. The service is very good and the food is fresh and consistently good. We have visited on three separate occasions and we were very pleased to experience consistency in the great service and food offered. Will definitely go back."

What Happened At Inspection?: According to data from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, an inspection occurred on August 12, 2024. At that time, 15 violations were noted.

Examples of basic violations were things like fish being improperly thawed, raw fruits and vegetables not being washed prior to preparation, and the dish machine not being properly sanitized.

Intermediate violations came from no soap at the hand washing sink and milk being opened without the date marked.

High-priority violations were noted for live flying insects, raw scallops being stored over mini hot dogs, the observation of live roaches, and fish, tuna, and mahi mahi being improperly thawed, which resulted in a stop sale order.

Because of some of the above violations, the restaurant was temporarily shut down. On August 13th, a violation remained, but it was not considered to be an immediate threat to the public so the restaurant would have been free to reopen. At a follow-up on August 21, 2024, the restaurant "met inspection standards."

Please note that an inspection is one moment in time and not necessarily how a restaurant conducts itself every day.