MIAMI, FL. China Lee Restaurant on SW 8th Street drew 11 high-severity violations during the week of September 19, the highest single-facility count among 15 Miami restaurants cited for serious food safety failures in state inspection records reviewed this week.
Inspectors at China Lee documented food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, food contaminated by chemical or physical hazards, inadequate shellfish traceability records, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and improperly cleaned food contact surfaces. That is seven distinct categories of high-severity failure in a single visit, alongside two intermediate violations.
The facility has 27 prior inspections on record.
The Worst of the Week
Rio Grande Churrascaria at 11995 SW 26 ST drew five high-severity violations, including an employee not reporting symptoms of illness, food from an unapproved or unknown source, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked menu items. The churrascaria also had improper sewage or wastewater disposal among its six intermediate violations.
China Buffet at 1032 SW 67 Ave accumulated nine high-severity violations, including no employee health policy, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate shellfish traceability records, food not cooked to required temperatures, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Inspectors also cited the facility for improper use of time as a public health control, a finding that indicates food was left in the bacterial growth temperature range without any documented tracking of how long it had been there.
Burger King 5 at 7975 NW 27th Ave carried nine high-severity violations of its own, among them food from unapproved or unknown sources, parasite destruction procedures not followed, inadequate shellfish traceability records, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. The parasite destruction finding is notable at a quick-service chain where customers do not typically expect to encounter underprocessed fish or pork.
Don Criollito at 12039 SW 132 CT also reached nine high-severity violations. Inspectors flagged food in poor condition, mislabeled or adulterated, alongside parasite destruction failures, food from unapproved sources, inadequate shellfish records, and toxic chemicals stored or labeled improperly.
Brisa de Espana at 8726 NW 26 ST drew nine high-severity violations including inadequate handwashing facilities, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, food from unapproved sources, parasite destruction failures, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and toxic chemicals improperly stored.
Casa Nane at 1130 SW 2 Ave received eight high-severity violations, including no employee health policy, an employee not reporting symptoms of illness, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, time as a public health control not properly used, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled.
Dunkin Donuts #20 at 9545 NE 2nd Ave collected eight high-severity violations, a total that stands out given the chain's standardized operating model. Among the findings: inadequate shellfish traceability records, food not cooked to required temperatures, time as a public health control not properly used, toxic substances improperly identified or stored, and no allergen awareness demonstrated by staff.
Me Kong Chinese Restaurant at 18073 S Dixie Hwy drew eight high-severity violations, including both inadequate handwashing by food employees and improper handwashing technique cited in the same visit, alongside no employee health policy, an employee not reporting illness, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, no consumer advisory, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and required procedures for specialized processes not followed.
Gaucho Ranch Group at 8303 NE 2nd Ave was cited for eight high-severity violations. Inspectors found no person in charge present or performing duties, no employee health policy, an employee not reporting illness, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, time as a public health control not properly used, no consumer advisory, and two separate toxic substance violations covering both improper storage and improper identification.
Rinconcito Paisa 1 Restaurant at 15108 SW 72 ST also received eight high-severity violations, including inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved sources, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, time as a public health control not properly used, no consumer advisory, and toxic chemicals improperly stored.
Whisk Gourmet Food and Catering at 7382 SW 56 Ave drew six high-severity violations, including no person in charge present, inadequate handwashing facilities, no employee health policy, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, no consumer advisory, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. The facility also had improper sewage or wastewater disposal as an intermediate violation.
Las Tejas Restaurant at 11865 SW 26 ST drew three high-severity violations: no employee health policy, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, and required procedures for specialized processes not followed. The specialized process finding suggests the restaurant is conducting smoking, curing, fermenting, or similar operations without the required written protocols in place.
Manta Restaurant at 102 NW 25th ST received two high-severity violations, no employee health policy and improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, along with improper sewage or wastewater disposal as an intermediate finding.
El Meson del Paraiso Restaurant at 12820 SW 120 ST drew two high-severity violations: inadequate handwashing by food employees and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used.
What These Violations Mean
The food-from-unapproved-sources violation, cited at China Lee, Rio Grande Churrascaria, Burger King 5, Don Criollito, Brisa de Espana, and Rinconcito Paisa 1, removes the traceability that makes outbreak investigations possible. When food enters a kitchen from a supplier outside the regulated supply chain, there is no documented path back to the source if customers get sick. Inspectors cannot identify the lot, the farm, or the processor. That gap is not an administrative inconvenience; it is the reason multi-state outbreaks take weeks to contain.
The handwashing failures documented across more than half of this week's facilities are worth reading carefully. There are two distinct violations in the records: inadequate handwashing facilities, meaning the physical infrastructure to wash hands properly does not exist, and improper handwashing technique, meaning employees are making an attempt but not doing it correctly. Both appeared together at Me Kong, Rinconcito Paisa 1, and Brisa de Espana. Inspectors at China Lee cited both categories as well. When a facility lacks the sink, soap, or paper towels to wash hands, and employees are also not washing correctly when they do try, the risk of pathogen transfer from hands to food is compounded at every step.
Parasite destruction failures at Burger King 5, Don Criollito, and Brisa de Espana carry a specific risk that is separate from bacterial contamination. Fish, pork, and wild game can harbor parasites that survive normal refrigeration. The regulatory requirement is to freeze fish at specific temperatures for specific time periods before serving it raw or undercooked. When that protocol is skipped or undocumented, customers consuming ceviche, sushi, tartare, or undercooked fish have no assurance the product was treated.
The allergen awareness failure at Dunkin Donuts #20 is the week's only citation of that type. Food allergies trigger 30,000 emergency room visits annually in the United States. When staff cannot demonstrate awareness of the allergens present in menu items, a customer with a tree nut, dairy, or wheat allergy who asks a question at the counter is getting an answer that may be wrong.
The Longer Record
Two facilities with the highest prior inspection counts, Me Kong Chinese Restaurant and Rio Grande Churrascaria, both carry 34 prior inspections on record, the most of any facility cited this week. Me Kong's 34-inspection history alongside eight high-severity violations this week, including dual handwashing failures and toxic chemical storage, suggests the kinds of problems that accumulate rather than resolve. Rio Grande's five high-severity violations, including food from unapproved sources and an employee not reporting illness, arrive after the same number of documented visits.
China Buffet has 32 prior inspections on record and nine high-severity violations this week. Don Criollito, with 29 prior inspections, matched that count at nine. Brisa de Espana, El Meson del Paraiso, and Rinconcito Paisa 1 each carry 28 prior inspections, and all three drew significant high-severity findings this week.
Casa Nane stands apart from that pattern. With only seven prior inspections on record, it is among the newest facilities in this week's data, yet it drew eight high-severity violations including no employee health policy, food not cooked to required temperatures, and toxic chemicals improperly stored. A facility accumulating that volume of serious citations in its first several inspections is on a trajectory that warrants attention.
Gaucho Ranch Group and Dunkin Donuts #20 each carry 17 prior inspections. Burger King 5 has 20. All three drew eight or nine high-severity violations this week, and none of the three had a person in charge present and performing duties at Gaucho Ranch, which inspectors also cited as a high-severity failure. Whether Gaucho Ranch Group's management absence was a one-time occurrence or part of a pattern its 17-inspection record might reveal is not resolved in this week's data.
