CORAL GABLES, FL. State inspectors walked into Aromas del Peru of Coral Gables at 110-112 Giralda Ave. on April 20 and left with nine high-severity violations documented, including food sourced from unapproved suppliers with no way to trace it if someone got sick. The restaurant was not closed.
That finding, food from an unapproved or unknown source, sat alongside eight other high-severity citations in the same inspection report. Zero intermediate violations accompanied them. Every single violation was at the most serious level the state assigns.
What Inspectors Found
The food-sourcing violation is among the most consequential on the list. When food arrives from an unapproved or unknown supplier, it has bypassed the USDA and FDA inspection systems entirely. If a customer becomes ill, investigators have no supply chain to trace back to the source.
Inspectors also cited the restaurant for failing to cook food to required minimum temperatures. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. That is not a technicality. It is the threshold between a meal and a hospitalization.
Toxic substances were cited as improperly identified, stored, or used. That violation sits in the same category as the others: high severity, immediate risk. Chemicals stored or handled incorrectly near food preparation areas create the possibility of contamination that a customer would have no way to detect.
The restaurant also lacked a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Peruvian cuisine commonly includes dishes served raw or lightly cooked, and without a posted advisory, customers with compromised immune systems, pregnant women, the elderly, and young children have no warning before ordering.
What These Violations Mean
Handwashing failures and unclean food contact surfaces together form a two-part contamination system. Bacteria transferred from an employee's hands to a cutting board, and then from that cutting board to food, can cause illness that takes days to appear and is rarely traced back to its source.
The shellfish traceability violation compounds the sourcing problem. Oysters, clams, and mussels are frequently consumed raw or lightly cooked. Without proper shell stock identification records, there is no way to determine where a batch came from or pull it from circulation if a contamination alert is issued.
Time-as-a-public-health-control violations are less visible but equally serious. When a restaurant uses time rather than refrigeration to keep food safe, strict protocols govern exactly how long food can remain in the temperature danger zone between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Inspectors found those protocols were not being followed at Aromas del Peru. Food held too long in that range allows bacterial populations to multiply to levels that can cause illness even after the food is cooked.
Nine high-severity violations in a single inspection, with no intermediate citations mixed in, means every documented problem that day carried direct public health consequences.
The Longer Record
The April 20 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Aromas del Peru of Coral Gables has been inspected 20 times and has accumulated 159 total violations across that history.
High-severity violations have appeared in nearly every recent inspection. The January 2026 visit produced four high-severity citations. The September 2024 inspection produced six. The May 2024 inspection produced four more. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
Going back further, the pattern holds. High-severity violations appeared in March 2025, in July 2023, in December 2022, and in May 2022. The single exception in recent years was a September 2025 inspection that found zero high-severity violations and one intermediate citation. That visit stands alone in the data.
The April 20 inspection, with nine high-severity violations, is the worst on record for this location by a significant margin. It more than doubled the previous high of six high-severity violations from September 2024.
Open for Business
Florida law gives inspectors the authority to order an emergency closure when conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. Roach infestations, rodent activity, and sewage backups are among the triggers most commonly cited in closure orders across the state.
Nine high-severity violations, including food from unapproved sources, undercooking, improperly stored toxic substances, and no shellfish traceability, did not meet that threshold on April 20 at Aromas del Peru of Coral Gables.
The restaurant remained open that day.