MIAMI, FL. A teppanyaki restaurant in Kendall drew 11 high-severity violations in a single inspection last week, the most of any facility in South Florida during a stretch that saw 15 restaurants cited for three or more serious infractions across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.
The Worst of the Week
Aoki Teppanyaki at 7535 N Kendall Drive accumulated citations covering nearly every critical layer of food safety in a single visit. Inspectors found no person in charge present and no written employee health policy in place. The facility was also cited for food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, inadequate shell stock identification, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and food not cooked to required minimum temperatures. Handwashing failures appeared twice: once for inadequate facilities and once for improper technique.
Mike's China Beach at 337 47th Street in Miami Beach matched the second-highest tally with 10 high-severity violations. Inspectors cited the restaurant for food from an unapproved or unknown source, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and time used as a public health control without being properly applied. Shell stock identification was also inadequate, and food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized.
Jamaica House Restaurant II at 3351 W Broward Boulevard in Lauderhill also drew 10 high-severity violations, the only Broward County facility on this week's list with that count. The inspector found no person in charge present, an employee not reporting symptoms of illness, food from an unapproved source, inadequate shell stock records, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, and food not cooked to minimum temperature. Both inadequate handwashing and improper technique were cited as separate violations.
Master's Deli Pizzeria at 1720 Alton Road in Miami Beach was cited for nine high-severity violations, including food contaminated by chemical, physical, or biological hazards, food from an unapproved source, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, and no employee health policy. Inspectors also noted inadequate shell stock identification and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
Across the Tri-County Area
S 47 Lounge at 921 Brickell Avenue drew nine high-severity violations at one of Miami's more prominent addresses. Inspectors cited the lounge for food in poor condition, food not cooked to required temperatures, time as a public health control not properly used, toxic chemicals improperly stored, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and both inadequate handwashing and improper technique.
Yume LLC at 18515 S Dixie Highway in Cutler Bay also reached nine high-severity violations. The facility was cited for food from an unapproved source, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, no employee health policy, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and two separate chemical storage violations: toxic chemicals improperly stored and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used.
Sichuan Fish Restaurant at 1242 NE 163rd Street in North Miami Beach drew eight high-severity violations, including no person in charge, no employee health policy, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, food from an unapproved source, food in poor condition, no consumer advisory, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and no allergen awareness demonstrated.
Daniel's Miami at 1500 San Ignacio Avenue in Coral Gables was cited for eight high-severity violations, among them inadequate handwashing facilities, food from an unapproved source, inadequate shell stock identification, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used.
Kura Revolving Sushi Bar at 1349 S State Road 7 in Wellington drew eight high-severity violations in Palm Beach County. No person in charge was present, handwashing facilities were inadequate, an employee was not reporting illness symptoms, and time as a public health control was not properly used. Shell stock identification was also inadequate and no consumer advisory was posted.
Craig's Cafe and Bakery at 13750 NW 107th Avenue in Hialeah Gardens was cited for eight high-severity violations including no employee health policy, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, food in poor condition, food not cooked to required temperatures, inadequate shell stock identification, toxic substances improperly identified, and no allergen awareness demonstrated.
Balans Brickell at 901 S Miami Avenue drew seven high-severity violations at the Brickell City Centre-adjacent location, including food from an unapproved source, food not cooked to minimum temperature, time as a public health control not properly used, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Tropical Cafeteria at 652 East 9th Street in Hialeah was cited for six high-severity violations, including parasite destruction procedures not followed, food not cooked to required temperatures, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, inadequate handwashing, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Crafty Crab Restaurant at 801 NE 8th Street in Homestead drew four high-severity violations: improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock identification, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and no allergen awareness demonstrated.
Tina in the Gables at 4700 S Le Jeune Road in Coral Gables was cited for three high-severity violations: an employee not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, and food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated.
Las Fajitas at 2298 N Dixie Highway in Boca Raton drew one high-severity violation for food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, along with an intermediate citation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal.
What These Violations Mean
The single most repeated high-severity violation this week was inadequate shell stock identification, appearing at ten of the fifteen facilities, including Aoki Teppanyaki, Mike's China Beach, Jamaica House Restaurant II, S 47 Lounge, Kura Revolving Sushi Bar, and Balans Brickell. Shellfish, including oysters, clams, and mussels, are frequently eaten raw or lightly cooked. When a restaurant cannot produce shell stock tags showing where and when those shellfish were harvested, there is no way for health authorities to trace an outbreak back to its source if customers get sick.
Food from unapproved or unknown sources, cited at Aoki Teppanyaki, Mike's China Beach, Jamaica House Restaurant II, Master's Deli Pizzeria, Sichuan Fish Restaurant, Daniel's Miami, Yume LLC, and Balans Brickell, carries a related traceability problem. Suppliers operating outside the USDA and FDA inspection system are not subject to routine safety checks, meaning Listeria, Salmonella, and other pathogens in that food may never be detected before it reaches a customer's plate.
The employee illness violations at Jamaica House Restaurant II, Master's Deli Pizzeria, Sichuan Fish Restaurant, Kura Revolving Sushi Bar, Craig's Cafe and Bakery, Daniel's Miami, and Tina in the Gables represent a direct transmission pathway. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurants, spreads from an infected food worker to a customer in a single food-handling event. A written health policy requires workers to report symptoms before that contact occurs. Without one, there is no mechanism to pull a sick employee off the line.
Parasite destruction failures at Tropical Cafeteria, Mike's China Beach, and Yume LLC are specific to fish and pork products. Fish intended for raw or undercooked service must be frozen to specific temperatures for defined time periods to kill parasites including Anisakis and tapeworm. When that step is skipped, those organisms survive into the finished dish.
The Longer Record
Several facilities on this week's list carry inspection histories that place the current findings in sharper context. Jamaica House Restaurant II in Lauderhill, the only Broward County location in the top tier this week, operates under a license identifier suggesting a long operational history. Ten high-severity violations in a single inspection, including an employee not reporting illness and no person in charge, points to systemic management failures rather than isolated oversights.
Aoki Teppanyaki's 11-violation inspection is particularly notable given the breadth of categories cited. The facility was flagged simultaneously for sourcing, temperature, handwashing infrastructure, handwashing technique, management presence, health policy, and shellfish traceability. That combination, spanning every major food safety control point, is consistent with a kitchen operating without active oversight rather than one that slipped on a single procedure.
Kura Revolving Sushi Bar in Wellington presents a specific concern for a conveyor-belt sushi format. In that service model, food circulates on a belt past multiple customers without staff intervention between each pass. The combination of no person in charge, inadequate handwashing facilities, time as a public health control not properly applied, and food in poor condition carries heightened risk in a format where a single batch of fish can be exposed to dozens of diners before a problem is caught.
S 47 Lounge on Brickell Avenue, one of Miami's densest dining corridors, drew nine high-severity violations including toxic chemicals improperly stored alongside food safety and temperature failures. Brickell locations draw high weeknight and weekend volume. The citation for food in poor condition alongside the absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items means customers at that address last week had no posted notice that what they ordered carried elevated risk.
