MIAMI, FL. State inspectors ordered Eleventh Street Pizza at 9025 SW 72nd Place shut down on August 3 after documenting fly activity inside the restaurant, the same category of violation that has triggered emergency closures at other South Florida food establishments in recent years.
The closure order required the restaurant to vacate by August 4. It reopened that morning at 9:14 a.m., but only after inspectors returned and documented conditions they considered corrected enough to allow customers back inside.
What Inspectors Found
The August 3 inspection that triggered the closure produced 6 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate violations. Fly activity was the documented reason inspectors ordered the restaurant closed, but it was far from the only problem they recorded that day.
Inspectors cited employees for improper hand and arm washing technique, a violation distinct from simply skipping handwashing. They also found food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, a finding that points to contamination risk on every cutting board, prep surface, and utensil that touched food served to customers.
Two additional high-severity citations had nothing to do with the kitchen's physical condition. Inspectors found no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods and no allergen awareness demonstrated by staff. Both are required disclosures, not optional practices.
On the intermediate level, inspectors documented improper sewage or wastewater disposal, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities. Three infrastructure failures in a single visit.
The follow-up inspection on August 4 reduced the count to 4 high-severity and 3 intermediate violations. The restaurant reopened, but a substantial number of the same categories of concern remained on the record.
What These Violations Mean
Fly activity sounds like a nuisance. In a food service environment, it is a contamination vector. Flies move between waste, raw food, and prepared food without any barrier, depositing bacteria including Salmonella and E. coli on surfaces and food they contact. An infestation severe enough to trigger an emergency closure means inspectors judged the activity level an immediate threat to public health, not a single fly near a window.
The improper handwashing technique violation compounds that risk. Even when an employee goes through the motion of washing their hands, incorrect technique, whether it is insufficient time, skipping soap, or not covering all surfaces, leaves pathogens on hands that then transfer to food. At a pizza operation where dough is handled directly, that transfer route is direct.
The allergen finding carries a different kind of urgency. Food allergies affect 32 million Americans, and reactions send roughly 30,000 people to emergency rooms each year. A staff with no demonstrated allergen awareness cannot reliably answer a customer's question about whether a dish contains tree nuts, shellfish, or dairy. For a customer with a severe allergy, that gap is not a minor compliance issue.
Improper sewage disposal is among the most serious infrastructure violations an inspector can document. Raw sewage contains fecal coliform bacteria. If wastewater is not properly routed and contained, that contamination can reach food prep areas, surfaces, or employee hands.
The Longer Record
Eleventh Street Pizza: Inspection History
The August closure was not a first. Eleventh Street Pizza has one prior emergency closure on record, meaning this is the second time the state has ordered the restaurant to stop serving customers. Across 11 total inspections, the facility has accumulated 97 violations.
The December 2025 inspections stand out in the record. On December 1, inspectors cited 9 high-severity violations in a single visit. The following day, a follow-up inspection still produced 6 high-severity violations. That back-to-back sequence, 15 high-severity citations in 48 hours, represents the densest concentration of serious findings in the restaurant's documented history.
The pattern that emerges across the full record is not of a facility that stumbled once. From the earliest inspection on file in March 2024 through the August 2026 closure, every single inspection has produced at least 2 high-severity violations. The count has never reached zero.
The restaurant reopened August 4 at 9:14 a.m. with 4 high-severity violations still on the books from the follow-up inspection, including improper handwashing technique and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
