Evans Prairie/ mouse in salad
 

I have been watching the forums to see if this has been reported. I did not want to be the one to post this. But the facts are that on Monday night a party of 4 ordered entree salads at Evans Prairie and one of the guests found a dead mouse in his salad.

This was posted on "Next door" to warn neighbors. My concern is that the problem could be in their supply chain. Evans Prairie, Bonifay, Belle Glade, Orange Blossom and Scooples all have the same owner, and thus most likely, the same suppliers.

It was stated that the management, and owner were self reporting the incident and that they are doing all they can to find out how this happened.

I am just surprised that no one has alerted the Villages residents, at large, so that we could all be aware and alert.

This should not be hushed up and swept under the carpet. This is s serious health risk and should be promptly addressed.

I am sorry that it was me that had to post this. But I had to get the word out.

What is "Next Door"? Is it a reliable source?

Most likely it will be a long time before this happens again. So, what am I to be alert to?
This could , and probably does, happen at other restaurants.

Why do restaurants in The Villages go out of business?


Well.


I don't know what Next Door is either but it didn't happen to Dotti.


Maybe it didn't happen. Maybe it did.


This is the time of year when the rumor machine rachets up.

Thanks for the heads up, Dotti. I should be a little more attentive to what's on my fork before it goes in my mouth! I'd have probably taken a bite out of it!

Be sure to say "House" salad, not " Mouse"
Salad!

I just have a hard time believing someone making a salad wouldn't see a mouse! Maybe it happened but it seems a bit skeptical.

What would drive this phenomena ? Any facts ?

Thanks for that post
Now I feel free to ask if it was baked, fried, or broiled:1rotfl:

To clarify - and although proper to be skeptical, don't shoot the messenger -the OP.

Nextdoor is a mini-forum, like ToTV - I am a member of the Gilchrist one, where the original postings was made yesterday that Dotti, the OP referred to.

I will paste their entry from Nextdoor but delete out names etc (why do I feel like a congressional hearing admin?)

Here is their posting:
---------------------------------

Not sure where to post this but thought we would let people know in case you ate at Evan's Prairie last night, if you are at all queasy stop reading....

We had a horrible experience at Evan's Prairie last night. 4 of us were dining
and we all ordered salads we were part way done with our salads when suddenly my
partner xxxxx said to stop eating and covers his salad plate with his napkin. He has
just found a whole mouse that was dead in his salad. The waitress came over
and she was going to take his plate but he followed her and the went direct to
the manager. Then the manager came back to our table along with the director of
operations and they were apologizing and offered both couples gift cards. Then
suddenly the owner of Fresh Made Kitchen who runs Evan's Prairie restaurant came
to our table and he also was apologizing and told us that he was going to self
report to the Florida Health department. We contacted the Florida Licensing
Department this morning they oversee any complaints of this type and we filed a
complaint. We also then contacted the Sumpter county Health department just in
case they see any food borne illnesses with Evan's Prairie or prepackaged salad
as a common denominator. Needless to say we probably won't be returning to
Evan's Prairie for a long time if ever.

[emoji106]

Another one bites the dust.

We should get separate sources on this. Let's see what appears on the FL Licensing Department web-site about it. Florida Division of Hotels and Restaurants Home Page

Restaurants/Food Service Public Records

HR Mailing Addresses

Nextdoor is accessible to anyone in TV. It is a legitimate forum and residents use their real names.

Usually people sign up under their Village. That is how our AED committee communicates in Gilchrist. The posters all use their real name. People of late, have quoted comments from the owner, who is very upset.

He was going to self report, and the guests were reporting it as well to the county. We may never learn the source of the mouse, but the fact that it was plated and served makes me think that oversight in the kitchen was not the best. Someone had to serve that portion, garnish it etc.

It is just very disturbing!

"Rumor" has it the restaurant recently added peppercorns to the salads so "they" say.

That would be disgusting. Just watching out for TOTV and lawsuits and the like. You should always get verification from a number of sources for something like this.

I do thank you for posting about it though.

The big question is whether the Villages Daily Sun will cover this??? I assume they and the other news sources have not?

The posting from nextdoor was also published in my neighborhood news with names of the posters. I believe it to be true, a horrid dining experience, credible because I have rarely known such responsive and responsible restaurant management as has EP, and the writer's description shows the same.

My take on this is...I believe in the managers. This incident does not reflect general conditions in the kitchen. Let's see what he inspector's report says.

https://www.myfloridalicense.com/ins...ID=&id=5416788

I do know of this neighborhood website and when we lived in Sanibel belonged to the one there. Dead mouse in their salad----wow! Iam sure the management is very concerned---it's the last thing you want to happen at your restaurant.

As bad as it sounds, they will get to the bottom of this incident and life will go on. I will go there for lunch or dinner----it will be super clean now!

Thanks Dotti! I will have to see if Charlotte uses Next Door..

I wasn't shooting the messenger, I was just curious about Next Door. I will have to see if Charlotte is a part of Next Door.

I still can't figiure out how someone preparing the salad to be served wouldn't see a mouse.

Yeah, it is a mystery...was it...nevermind...

No matter how it happened, I think it is fair to say Gordon Ramsey was NOT running the pass

I'm not all that concerned that a kitchen might get an occasional mouse wander in. But it is disturbing that it escaped detection by the salad maker, the pass, and the server. BTW, what type of dressing goes best with mouse?

Has to be blue cheese.

Next question - what do you have for dessert then?

Chocolate Mousse.

I would guess the salads comes prepackaged, all the preparer probably does is unpack and dressing it? If so I could see how something could go un-noticed. I suspect it happened at the supply vender???? Just guess though??

I believe you can order salads with chicken or shrimp. Will they be printing new menus to add mouse to the choice?

I agree Kathy. The salad could be those bagged salads we all see at the grocery store. Possibly an employee grabbed a handful and put it in a bowl and put toppings on it. There are plenty of mice in the fields where they grow lettuce.

Exactly what the Next Door post says! The salads are prepackaged and are plated by using salad tongs. Supposedly the mouse was the size of a fingertip, so it could be easily missed by whoever is preparing the salad. ( I think we all go eek! and picture a large mouse, but they DO start out little, so this is feasible...)The manager was self reporting the incident and has fired the company they receive their salads from. This has all been verified in the Next Door postings. Apparently several people that eat there frequently called to get to the bottom of the posting and everyone reported the same story. I would not let this incident keep me from eating there. The chances of it being repeated are slim to none, I think.

If they just plate it right out of the bag makes me think they do not even rinse it before serving. No thank you.

Thank you for the update.

Most salads, including the ones in grocery stores come pre washed.....not sure if any high volume restaurants do much preparation in house anymore.

Often side salads are prepped in advance. It probably happened after the salads were prepared.

I agree with Justjim... my guess is that EP will be "inspecting" everything so it doesn't happen again. So it just might be the cleanest place to eat!
We ate there tonight... everything was very good.

I have this picture in my mind of a government researcher eating mice (voles) as he studies wolves in the movie “Never Cry Wolf”. A “Good idea” as Mike the young Inuit would say in the movie.

I heard this rumor on Tuesday, and also that the mouse was the size of the tip of a finger.
Checking the Florida Licensing Department reports is a good idea.

I thought it would be pre-packaged but I assumed they would have to add some toppings after it was plated. But, if the mouse was as small as another poster said I could see how you could miss it. I was thinking of a regular sized mouse and not one as big as a finger tip.

I seldom buy those bagged salads. Now I probably will never buy one.

Gi guess no one thoughto take a photo

The first thought that crossed my mind upon reading the topic's headline was "a possible insurance scam". However it seems unlikely and certainly I would not bring into question the honesty and integrity of this resident. The people involved would have been wiser to keep this to themselves reported the incident to the restaurant owner/manager, other responsible parties ,inspection agencies, etc and place the restaurant on notice in writing of the events, the conversation that took place upon reporting it, along with the parties present, the restaurant's responses and their reaction to this discovery

You can bet , and the customer/resident should understand that the restaurant, its insurer, the state inspection agencies , etc have to consider every possible explanation and they would be remiss not to do so because this restaurant's future is depended upon it.

You can bet this investigation will go back to where that lettuce etc was grown, picked, packaged, distributed, all the way to the waitress placing that plate on the table.

Truthfully I never want to eat in another restaurant again nor have a salad. In my case ignorance would have been blissbarf