MIAMI, FL. State inspectors ordered Nueva San Salvador Restaurant #4 on NW 22nd Avenue shut down on August 24 after documenting rodent activity inside the kitchen, triggering an emergency closure that gave the restaurant until the following morning to vacate.
The closure was not the restaurant's first. State records show this is the second time inspectors have ordered the permanent food service establishment at 1147 NW 22 Ave closed on an emergency basis.
What Inspectors Found
Nueva San Salvador #4: Recent Inspection Pattern
The August 24 inspection produced 10 high-severity violations and five intermediate violations. Rodent activity was the finding that triggered the emergency order.
Inspectors also cited employees for inadequate handwashing and documented food contact surfaces that had not been properly cleaned or sanitized. Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled inside the facility.
The follow-up inspection on August 25 found four remaining high-severity violations and two intermediate violations. The restaurant was allowed to reopen at 9:45 a.m. that day, state records show.
The Day-After Inspection
When inspectors returned the morning of August 25, the rodent activity finding had been resolved sufficiently to permit reopening. But four high-severity violations remained on the books.
Those included no employee health policy or an inadequate one, and continued problems with food contact surfaces. Two intermediate violations also carried over, including single-use items being improperly reused and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
A restaurant can reopen once it meets the state's threshold for addressing the specific violation that triggered the closure. That does not mean every violation on the inspection report has been corrected.
What These Violations Mean
Rodent activity inside a food service facility is not a paperwork violation. Rodents deposit urine and feces on food preparation surfaces, inside equipment, and on food itself. Those droppings carry pathogens including Salmonella and Hantavirus. Customers eating food prepared on contaminated surfaces have no way of knowing the exposure occurred.
The high-severity violations that remained after reopening carry their own risks. An inadequate employee health policy means the facility has no formal mechanism to keep sick workers out of the kitchen. Norovirus, one of the most common causes of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States, spreads when infected food workers handle food without a policy requiring them to report symptoms or stay home.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, also cited both days, are a direct transfer point for bacteria. Cutting boards, prep tables, and utensils that are not properly sanitized between uses can move pathogens from raw meat to ready-to-eat food without any visible sign that contamination occurred.
The single-use items violation, noted on the follow-up inspection, adds a separate contamination pathway. Items designed for one use, including gloves, foil, and single-use containers, are not constructed to be cleaned effectively. Reusing them creates surfaces where bacteria can accumulate between uses.
The Longer Record
Thirty-one inspections. Four hundred thirty-two total violations. Those are the numbers behind the August 24 closure at Nueva San Salvador Restaurant #4, and they place this week's findings in a specific context.
This is the second emergency closure in the facility's documented history. The first preceded the current string of inspections. The pattern of high-severity violations in the most recent record is consistent and unbroken: every single inspection in the data going back to March 2025 produced at least four high-severity violations. The September 9, 2025 inspection produced 11.
The December 3, 2025 date is notable on its own. State records show two separate inspections on that single day, one producing eight high-severity violations and one producing four. That kind of same-day double inspection typically follows a re-inspection finding that conditions have not been sufficiently corrected.
The February 10, 2026 inspection, six months before the August closure, found eight high-severity violations and one intermediate. That visit did not result in an emergency shutdown. The August inspection, which found 10 high-severity violations including rodent activity, did.
Across eight inspections documented in the recent record, the facility accumulated a combined 54 high-severity violations and 14 intermediate violations before the August 24 closure was ordered. The facility has been allowed to reopen. Whether the conditions that produced 432 violations across 31 inspections have been addressed in any lasting way is not something a single overnight cleanup can answer.
