MIAMI, FL. A state inspector visiting Casa Juan at 5755 NW 7th St. on September 14 found food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, toxic chemicals improperly stored near food, and no system in place to keep sick employees out of the kitchen.
The inspection turned up 11 high-severity violations and 5 intermediate violations. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The cooking temperature violation is among the most direct risks in the report. Salmonella survives in poultry held below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and the state's own violation data identifies undercooking as a leading cause of foodborne illness. A customer who ordered a cooked protein dish on September 14 had no way of knowing whether it had reached a safe internal temperature.
The two chemical violations compound the picture. Inspectors cited both improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals and separately cited toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. That is two distinct citations covering the same category of risk: chemicals capable of causing acute poisoning if they contaminate food or food-contact surfaces.
There was also no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods, meaning customers who are elderly, pregnant, or immunocompromised received no warning before ordering.
The Illness Problem
Three of the eleven high-severity violations at Casa Juan on September 14 dealt specifically with employee illness. There was no written employee health policy. Employees were not reporting symptoms of illness. And no person in charge was present or performing supervisory duties.
That combination is particularly dangerous. Without a manager actively enforcing health rules, and without a written policy requiring sick workers to stay home, a symptomatic employee has no institutional barrier between themselves and the food they are preparing.
Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, spreads most readily through exactly this pathway: an infected food worker with no reporting obligation and no supervisor checking on them.
What These Violations Mean
The shellfish traceability citation deserves attention on its own. When a restaurant cannot produce proper shell stock identification records for oysters, clams, or mussels, there is no way to trace those shellfish back to their harvest source if a customer becomes ill. Shellfish are frequently eaten raw or lightly cooked, and contaminated shellfish are a well-documented source of Norovirus and Vibrio outbreaks. Without records, a public health investigation hits a dead end.
The sewage and wastewater disposal violation, logged as intermediate, carries a risk that extends beyond what that classification suggests. Improper sewage handling inside a food preparation environment creates a route for fecal contamination to reach surfaces, utensils, and food. Combined with the citation for multi-use utensils not properly cleaned and the separate citation for single-use items being reused, the facility presented multiple overlapping contamination pathways on the same day.
Inadequate handwashing facilities and improper handwashing technique were both cited. The facilities violation means proper hand hygiene was structurally impossible. The technique violation means that even when employees tried to wash their hands, they were not doing it correctly. Together, those two citations describe a kitchen where pathogens on hands had a clear path to food.
The Longer Record
Casa Juan: Recent Inspection History
Casa Juan has 26 inspections on record and 468 total violations across that history. The September 14 inspection was not an anomaly. It was part of a pattern that stretches back years and has not produced a sustained improvement.
In February 2025, the restaurant logged 12 high-severity violations in a single visit, the highest count in the recent record. That inspection was followed in September 2025 by 9 high-severity violations, then in March 2026 by 7, then by 11 on September 14. The numbers move up and down, but they have not moved toward zero.
The restaurant's one prior emergency closure came in February 2015, for roach activity. It was allowed to reopen the next day. In the eleven years since, inspectors have returned to find high-severity violations on nearly every visit for which records are available.
The follow-up inspection conducted the day after the September 14 visit, on September 15, found 6 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate violations still present.
As of the date of the September 14 inspection, Casa Juan remained open to customers.
