HIALEAH, FL. State inspectors visiting Asere Batidos II on West 37th Street in August found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, improper sewage disposal, and toxic chemicals stored without proper labeling near food, and then left the restaurant open.
The August 20 inspection produced nine high-severity violations and three intermediate ones. That total places it among the most serious single-visit records in the facility's 31-inspection history.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation is the kind that stops an investigation cold. When food enters a restaurant from an unapproved or unidentified supplier, it has bypassed USDA and FDA inspection entirely, meaning there is no chain of custody if a customer gets sick.
Inspectors also cited the shop for food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated, and for inadequate shell stock identification records. Shellfish, including oysters, clams, and mussels, require harvest tags and dealer records precisely because they are high-risk foods often consumed raw. Without those records, there is no way to trace a contaminated batch back to its source.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled near food. That is not a paperwork issue. Mislabeled or misplaced cleaning compounds near food preparation areas create a direct contamination pathway.
The sewage violation, classified as intermediate, carried its own weight. Improper wastewater disposal introduces fecal contamination risk throughout a facility, touching surfaces, utensils, and food.
The Management Breakdown
Three of the nine high-severity violations pointed to the same root problem: no one was running the kitchen in any meaningful sense.
Inspectors cited the absence of a person in charge performing duties, no written employee health policy, and employees failing to report illness symptoms. Those three violations together describe a facility where sick workers could handle food without any system in place to stop them.
Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States, spreads primarily through infected food handlers. A written health policy and active managerial oversight are the two most basic barriers against that transmission route. Neither was present on August 20.
Inspectors also cited improper handwashing technique, meaning that even when employees attempted to wash their hands, the method left pathogens behind.
What These Violations Mean
Food from an unapproved source is not a labeling technicality. It means that whatever arrived at Asere Batidos II through that channel was never inspected for Listeria, Salmonella, or E. coli at any point in its journey. If a customer got sick, investigators would have no supplier records to pull.
The shell stock identification failure compounds that risk. Raw or lightly cooked shellfish carry Vibrio bacteria, which can cause severe illness within 24 hours of consumption. Harvest tags exist so that a contaminated harvest can be traced and pulled from circulation. Without them, a bad batch has no return address.
The combination of no health policy, no symptom reporting, and improper handwashing technique describes a facility where a sick employee had no structural reason to stay home and no reliable way to limit contamination even if they tried. That cluster of violations is what public health officials identify as the primary driver of multi-victim outbreaks.
The consumer advisory violation is the final piece. Customers who are elderly, pregnant, immunocompromised, or very young face acute danger from raw or undercooked foods. Without a posted advisory, they have no way to make an informed choice.
The Longer Record
August's inspection was not an aberration. State records show 31 inspections on file for Asere Batidos II, with 283 total violations accumulated across that history.
The pattern in recent years is consistent. Inspectors found five high-severity violations in April 2026, five in December 2025, three in March 2025, five in November 2024, five in May 2024, and six in December 2023. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
August's nine high-severity violations represent the worst single-visit count in at least the past three years of available records. It is not the facility's first inspection with food sourcing or management violations in the mix. It is, by the numbers, the most serious one.
Across eight prior inspections listed in state records, the shop accumulated between three and six high-severity violations per visit. The floor was never clean. The ceiling just got higher.
Asere Batidos II on West 37th Street remained open after the August 20 inspection.
