CUTLER RIDGE, FL. State inspectors walked into Alaines Osteria at 7290 SW 168th Street on May 12 and documented food sourced from suppliers that have never been vetted by federal safety regulators, a violation that means there is no chain of custody if a customer gets sick.
That was one of six high-severity violations recorded that day. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
All six violations documented on May 12 were classified at the highest severity level. None were intermediate. None were basic.
Two of the six involved toxic substances. Inspectors cited both improperly stored or labeled chemicals and separately cited improper identification, storage, or use of toxic substances, meaning the kitchen had at least two distinct problems with how dangerous materials were being kept in relation to food and food preparation areas.
Inspectors also found that food contact surfaces had not been properly cleaned or sanitized. Cutting boards, prep surfaces, and similar equipment that touches food directly are among the most reliable vehicles for transferring bacteria from one ingredient to another.
The fifth violation involved time as a public health control. When a restaurant uses time rather than temperature to keep food safe, it must document exactly when food entered the temperature danger zone and discard it within a strict window. Inspectors found that protocol was not being followed.
The sixth violation was improper handwashing technique. An employee making a handwashing attempt is not the same as an employee washing their hands effectively. Pathogens remain on hands when the technique is wrong, and those hands then touch food.
What These Violations Mean
The food sourcing violation is the one that most directly removes any safety net. Food purchased through USDA and FDA-approved suppliers comes with inspection records, temperature logs, and traceability documentation. If a customer becomes ill, investigators can follow the supply chain backward to find the source. Food from an unapproved or unknown supplier has none of that. There is no record of how it was raised, processed, stored, or transported.
The two toxic substance violations compound each other. Mislabeled chemicals, or chemicals stored near food preparation areas without proper separation, create a direct path to acute poisoning. A container that looks like a food ingredient but contains a cleaning agent, or a sanitizer sprayed near an uncovered prep surface, does not require a pattern of negligence to cause immediate harm. It requires one mistake.
Improperly sanitized food contact surfaces and failed handwashing technique are the most common routes for bacterial cross-contamination in a commercial kitchen. Together, they describe a kitchen where the two most basic barriers between raw ingredients and a customer's plate were not functioning on the day inspectors visited.
The time-control violation matters because restaurants that use time as a safety measure are already operating with less margin than those that use refrigeration. The protocol only works if it is followed precisely. Inspectors found it was not.
The Longer Record
The May 12 inspection was not the first time inspectors found serious violations at this address. State records show 23 inspections on file for Alaines Osteria, with 174 total violations across that history.
Every inspection on record going back to at least 2022 has included at least one high-severity violation. The January 2025 inspection produced four high-severity citations. The May 2025 inspection produced three. The January 2026 inspection produced two. The trajectory heading into May 2026 was not toward improvement.
The restaurant has never been emergency-closed. That distinction matters here because six high-severity violations in a single inspection, with no intermediate violations and no basic violations, means every single citation inspectors wrote that day described a condition capable of causing illness or injury directly. Facilities are sometimes emergency-closed for fewer findings of equivalent severity.
The 2023 inspections each produced three high-severity violations. The pattern across eight documented prior inspections is consistent: high-severity citations appear at every visit, the counts vary, and the restaurant continues to operate.
Still Open
State records do not show a follow-up inspection triggered immediately by the May 12 findings. As of the inspection date, Alaines Osteria remained open to the public.
Six high-severity violations, including food with no verifiable safety history and toxic chemicals not properly separated from food areas, were documented in a single visit. The restaurant kept its doors open.
