FORT LAUDERDALE, FL. Inspectors visiting Ceviche Barrio by Antojitos To Go on Powerline Road on July 28 found food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, toxic chemicals stored improperly near food, and handwashing infrastructure so inadequate that proper hygiene was structurally impossible. The restaurant was not closed.
The inspection that day turned up six high-severity violations and four intermediate ones. That combination, at a facility serving raw and undercooked seafood, placed customers at direct risk of foodborne illness and chemical contamination.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooked food violation is the most direct threat. At a restaurant whose menu centers on raw and lightly prepared seafood, the failure to reach required cooking temperatures means pathogens that heat would have killed remain in the food served to customers.
The toxic chemical finding compounds that. Chemicals stored improperly near food, or without clear labeling, create a contamination pathway that has nothing to do with bacteria and everything to do with acute poisoning.
The handwashing violations hit from two directions at once. Inspectors cited both inadequate handwashing facilities, meaning the physical infrastructure was deficient, and improper handwashing technique, meaning employees were not executing the process correctly even when attempting it. Both were flagged as high severity on the same visit.
The absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods is its own category of failure. Ceviche is a dish that relies on acid rather than heat to address pathogens in raw seafood. Customers who are elderly, pregnant, or immunocompromised face meaningfully higher risk from raw seafood, and state rules require a posted advisory so those customers can make an informed choice. There was none.
What These Violations Mean
Undercooking is one of the most consistently documented causes of foodborne illness outbreaks. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Vibrio, a bacterium found in raw shellfish, can cause severe illness and is fatal in a small percentage of cases, particularly in people with liver disease or weakened immune systems. At a facility serving ceviche, where raw seafood is a core product, a cooking temperature violation is not incidental.
The handwashing failures documented here are structural, not situational. When the physical handwashing setup is inadequate, employees cannot wash their hands properly regardless of intent. When technique is also cited on the same visit, it means the facility failed on both the infrastructure and the practice. Every food item prepared after a bathroom visit, after handling raw protein, or after touching a contaminated surface passed through hands that were not properly cleaned.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, also cited as high severity, are a direct route for bacterial transfer between raw and ready-to-eat foods. Cutting boards and prep surfaces that carry residue from one item to the next move pathogens across the entire prep line.
The sewage and wastewater disposal violation adds a fecal contamination risk to an already compromised environment. Raw sewage carries E. coli, hepatitis A, and norovirus. Its improper handling inside a food preparation facility is not a paperwork problem.
The Longer Record
The July 28 inspection did not happen in a vacuum. State records show 27 inspections on file for this location, with 136 total violations accumulated across that history. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern in the inspection record is difficult to read as anything other than recurring. On September 18, 2024, inspectors cited six high-severity violations and one intermediate. On October 30, 2025, they cited six high-severity violations again. The July 28, 2026 inspection produced the same count: six high-severity violations.
Between those high-violation inspections, the facility has passed cleanly. Records show zero high-priority and zero intermediate violations on July 31, 2025, and again on February 19, 2024, and November 3, 2023. The pattern is not a facility in steady decline. It is a facility that cycles between passing inspections and inspections with serious, repeated violations in the same categories.
A follow-up inspection on August 5, 2026, eight days after the July 28 visit, found three high-severity violations and one intermediate still on record. The facility had not resolved all of its most serious problems within a week.
Still Open
Florida's emergency closure authority exists for situations where inspectors determine that continued operation poses an immediate threat to public health. Six high-severity violations, including undercooked food, toxic chemicals near the food supply, compromised handwashing infrastructure, no consumer advisory for a raw seafood menu, and improperly handled sewage, did not meet that threshold at this location on July 28.
The restaurant served customers that day, and the days after.
