HOLLYWOOD, FL. A state inspector walked into Black Beans at 712 N SR 7 on October 2 and found food sourced from an unapproved or unknown supplier, meaning the restaurant was serving customers items that had bypassed every federal safety checkpoint designed to catch Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli before they reach a plate.
The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation was paired with a separate citation for inadequate shell stock identification records. Shellfish — oysters, clams, mussels — are among the highest-risk foods a restaurant can serve, frequently eaten raw or lightly cooked. Without proper tagging and records, there is no way to trace a contaminated batch back to its harvest bed if customers get sick.
No person in charge was present or performing supervisory duties during the inspection. Inspectors also cited employees for improper hand and arm washing technique, meaning workers were going through the motions of handwashing without actually removing pathogens from their hands.
Black Beans had no written employee health policy on file. There was no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods. The restaurant was also cited for failing to properly use time as a public health control, a method that allows food to sit in the temperature danger zone only within a strict, logged window. Without proper documentation, that window becomes unlimited.
Inspectors flagged two intermediate violations as well: multi-use utensils that were not properly cleaned, and inadequate ventilation and lighting in the kitchen.
What These Violations Mean
The food from unapproved sources violation is one of the hardest to dismiss as paperwork. When food enters a restaurant outside the licensed supply chain, it has not been inspected by USDA or FDA. There is no lot number, no harvest date, no distributor record. If a customer gets sick, investigators have nothing to trace.
The shell stock traceability failure compounds that risk specifically for anyone who ordered a shellfish dish. Shellfish are filter feeders that concentrate bacteria and viruses from their surrounding water. The tagging system exists precisely because outbreaks have happened and investigators needed to identify which harvest bed was the source. Without those records at Black Beans on October 2, that chain of accountability was broken.
The absence of an employee health policy means there was no written protocol requiring workers who showed symptoms of Norovirus, Hepatitis A, or Salmonella to stay home or report their illness to a manager. Norovirus alone accounts for roughly 20 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States each year, and the primary transmission route in restaurants is an infected worker handling food.
Improper handwashing technique is a distinct problem from not washing hands at all. Studies show that a rushed or incomplete handwash, skipping the friction step or rinsing too briefly, leaves a significant pathogen load on the skin. Combined with no supervisory presence, no health policy, and food of unknown origin, the violations documented October 2 describe a kitchen where multiple independent safeguards had failed at once.
The Longer Record
The October 2 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Black Beans has been inspected 28 times and has accumulated 248 total violations across its history, never once receiving an emergency closure order.
The pattern of high-severity violations is consistent and recent. In March 2026, six months before this inspection, the restaurant drew 8 high-severity violations and 1 intermediate in a single visit. In October 2025, it drew 6 high-severity and 3 intermediate. In March 2025, 5 high-severity and 1 intermediate. In May 2024, 7 high-severity violations with no intermediates at all.
That is five inspections across roughly 18 months, each producing between 5 and 8 high-severity violations. The categories overlap. Management failures, food safety fundamentals, and sourcing issues recur across visits in a way that suggests systemic problems rather than isolated lapses.
The one relative outlier was December 2025, when a single high-severity violation was recorded. That visit stands alone in the recent history.
Still Open
Florida's emergency closure authority is triggered when inspectors determine a facility poses an immediate threat to the public. Seven high-severity violations in a single inspection at Black Beans, including food from an unknown source and missing shellfish traceability records, did not meet that threshold on October 2.
The restaurant continued serving customers.
State records show 248 violations across 28 inspections and no emergency closure in the facility's documented history. The October 2 inspection added 7 more high-severity citations to that count.
Black Beans remained open.
