DAVIE, FL. A state inspector walked into A Taco by Divino / Ceviches by Divino on Sheridan Street on May 29 and found food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, no functioning handwashing facilities, and no person in charge present or performing duties. The restaurant was not closed.
The inspection turned up six high-severity violations and zero intermediate ones. All six were the kind that state regulators classify as directly linked to foodborne illness risk.
What Inspectors Found
The cooking temperature violation sits at the top of any inspector's concern list. Poultry that does not reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit can harbor live Salmonella. At a restaurant that serves tacos and ceviches, the proteins moving through that kitchen are exactly the ones where undercooking carries the sharpest consequences.
The handwashing finding compounds that risk directly. Inspectors cited both inadequate handwashing facilities and improper hand and arm washing technique, meaning the infrastructure to wash hands was deficient and the technique being used was wrong even when washing was attempted.
The sixth violation, no person in charge present or performing duties, was documented alongside all of the above.
What These Violations Mean
When food is not cooked to the required internal temperature, heat-sensitive pathogens survive. Salmonella in poultry is the textbook case, but the same principle applies to ground beef, pork, and seafood. A customer eating undercooked food from this kitchen on May 29 had no way of knowing the risk.
The handwashing violations tell a layered story. Inadequate facilities means the physical infrastructure, a functioning sink, soap, or paper towels, was not in place. Improper technique means that even when employees tried to wash their hands, they were not doing it correctly. Both violations existed at the same time, in the same kitchen, on the same inspection.
The time-as-public-health-control violation is less familiar to most diners but equally serious. When a restaurant uses time rather than temperature to keep food safe, it must follow a strict protocol: food held in the temperature danger zone between 41 and 135 degrees must be tracked and discarded within four hours. When that protocol breaks down, food that has been sitting at bacteria-friendly temperatures for an unknown period gets served anyway.
No employee health policy means there is no written system requiring sick workers to report illness or stay home. Norovirus, one of the most common causes of foodborne illness outbreaks, spreads through exactly this gap. A worker with symptoms and no policy telling them to stay out of the kitchen is a direct transmission route to every plate that leaves the kitchen.
The Longer Record
This was not an unusual day at this address. State records show 30 inspections on file for A Taco by Divino / Ceviches by Divino, with 176 total violations documented across that history.
The most recent inspections tell a consistent story. In November 2024, inspectors cited seven high-severity violations. In February 2024, five high-severity violations. In February 2025, four high-severity violations. The May 2026 inspection, with six high-severity citations, fits the pattern rather than breaking from it.
The restaurant was emergency-closed once before, in June 2023, for fly activity. It reopened the following day. The two inspections that immediately followed that closure, in August 2023 and September 2025, showed zero high-severity violations. But the November 2024 inspection brought seven, the highest single-visit count in the recent record.
The cooking temperature violation documented on May 29 is not new territory here either. A review of the prior inspection history shows high-severity violations appearing in six of the last eight documented inspections before this one. The categories shift visit to visit, but the severity level does not.
Still Open
Florida's emergency closure authority exists for situations where inspectors determine an imminent hazard to public health is present. Six high-severity violations, including undercooked food, broken handwashing infrastructure, and no manager on duty, did not meet that threshold on May 29.
The restaurant served customers that day, and the days after it.
State records show the facility has accumulated 176 violations over 30 inspections. The one time it was closed, it reopened within 24 hours. The violations that followed that closure, in the months and years since, have continued at the same rate.
As of this report, no follow-up inspection result from the May 29 visit has been posted to state records.