COCONUT CREEK, FL. Shellfish on the menu at Embrace Brazilian Kitchen on Lyons Road had no identification records attached to them on August 17, meaning if a customer got sick, there would be no way to trace where the oysters, clams, or mussels came from.
That was one of eight high-severity violations state inspectors documented at the Coconut Creek restaurant that day. The facility was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The shell stock violation sits at the top of any serious concern list. Shellfish, including oysters, clams, and mussels, are frequently consumed raw or lightly cooked, and they filter large volumes of water, concentrating whatever pathogens or contaminants are present. State rules require dealers to attach identification tags to each bag or container so inspectors and health officials can trace a product back to its harvest location if customers report illness.
At Embrace Brazilian Kitchen on August 17, those records were not in order.
Inspectors also found toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used somewhere in the facility. That violation carries an immediate risk of chemical contamination of food or food-contact surfaces, not a theoretical future risk, but a same-shift hazard.
The restaurant had no written employee health policy and workers were not reporting illness symptoms to management. Those two violations operate together: without a written policy, employees have no formal guidance on when to stay home, and without active reporting, a sick worker can move through an entire service shift handling food.
Inspectors further documented that employees were using improper handwashing technique. This matters even when employees are washing their hands, because technique failures leave pathogens on skin that soap and water should have removed.
No consumer advisory was posted for raw or undercooked foods, meaning customers who are pregnant, elderly, immunocompromised, or otherwise at elevated risk had no warning that certain items on the menu carry a higher danger.
The person in charge was either absent or not actively performing supervisory duties.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no employee health policy, no illness reporting, and improper handwashing technique at Embrace Brazilian Kitchen describes a kitchen where the standard barriers against disease transmission were not functioning on the day of inspection. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States with roughly 20 million cases annually, spreads almost entirely through contaminated hands and sick food workers who continue working. A restaurant without a written health policy, where employees are not trained to report symptoms, and where handwashing is being done incorrectly, has removed three of the most basic defenses against an outbreak.
The shellfish traceability failure compounds that picture. If a customer who ate raw shellfish at this restaurant became ill, investigators would have no harvest records to work from. Traceability is not a paperwork formality. It is the mechanism by which public health officials determine whether an outbreak is isolated or connected to a contaminated harvest region affecting other restaurants.
Improperly stored toxic substances present a different category of risk entirely. Chemical contamination of food does not require a sick employee or a pathogen. It can happen in a single moment of mislabeling or improper storage, and the effects can be immediate.
The Longer Record
The August 17 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Embrace Brazilian Kitchen has been inspected 27 times and has accumulated 157 total violations across its history.
The pattern at high-severity violations is consistent across years. Inspectors documented 8 high-severity violations on January 11, 2024. They found 8 more on July 8, 2024, just one day before a follow-up visit that showed zero high-severity violations. Eight high-severity violations appeared again on November 13, 2024. The facility logged 6 high on September 18, 2025, and 3 high on February 3, 2026, before a clean inspection on May 1, 2026.
Then August 17, 2026: 8 high-severity violations again.
The restaurant has never been emergency-closed in its inspection history. Clean visits have followed bad ones, only for the same severity levels to reappear months later. The May 2026 inspection showed zero high-severity violations. Fewer than four months passed before the August visit returned the count to 8.
Still Open
State inspectors documented 8 high-severity violations at Embrace Brazilian Kitchen on August 17, including shellfish with no traceability records, toxic substances improperly stored, no employee health policy, workers not reporting illness symptoms, and a person in charge not performing duties.
The restaurant was not closed.
