MIAMI, FL. Inspectors visiting Bocas House at 10200 NW 25th Street on June 3 found food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, toxic chemicals stored improperly near food, and handwashing facilities that inspectors deemed inadequate. The restaurant, despite six high-severity violations documented in a single visit, was not closed.
The inspection came one day after a separate visit on June 2 that turned up ten high-severity violations and four intermediate ones, the worst single-inspection tally in the facility's recent record.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooked food violation is among the most direct threats to customer safety in the June 3 report. Poultry and other proteins harbor pathogens that survive when internal temperatures fall short of the required minimums, and a single serving can be enough to cause serious illness.
The toxic chemicals finding compounds the picture. Chemicals stored near or alongside food, or left without proper labeling, can contaminate dishes through direct contact or mislabeled application. That violation, alongside food contact surfaces that inspectors found not properly cleaned or sanitized, creates multiple simultaneous pathways for a customer to be harmed.
Handwashing facilities inspectors cited as inadequate close off the most basic line of defense. Without functional handwashing infrastructure, employees handling food after touching contaminated surfaces, raw proteins, or waste have no reliable way to break the transmission chain.
The restaurant also lacked a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked menu items. That posting exists specifically to warn elderly diners, pregnant women, young children, and anyone with a compromised immune system that certain dishes carry elevated risk. Without it, those customers had no notice.
What These Violations Mean
The undercooked food violation is not a paperwork infraction. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and a single underprepared dish reaching a customer's plate is a direct exposure event. The June 3 inspection at Bocas House documented this failure the day after inspectors had already found ten high-severity violations at the same address.
Improperly stored toxic chemicals represent a separate category of acute danger. Cleaning agents, sanitizers, and pesticides stored without separation from food preparation areas can enter the food supply through splash, drip, or accidental use of a mislabeled container. The result is chemical poisoning, not bacterial illness, and it can present within minutes of consumption.
The time-as-public-health-control violation is less visible to customers but equally serious. When a kitchen uses time rather than temperature to manage food safety, it operates under a strict protocol requiring food to be discarded after a set window. Inspectors found that protocol was not being followed properly, meaning food that should have been thrown away remained in service.
Improper waste disposal, one of the three intermediate violations, matters beyond aesthetics. Overflowing or improperly managed waste draws cockroaches, flies, and rodents, all of which are documented vectors for the same bacterial pathogens the temperature and handwashing violations already left uncontrolled.
The Longer Record
The June 3 inspection is not an isolated event. Bocas House has accumulated 520 total violations across 36 inspections on record, a figure that averages to more than 14 violations per visit over the life of the facility's documented history.
The pattern of high-severity citations runs through nearly every recent inspection. In March 2025, inspectors found nine high-severity violations. The following October, back-to-back inspections on the 6th and 7th produced eight and six high-severity violations respectively. November 2024 brought five high-severity violations. April 2024 brought eight.
The June 2 inspection, the day before the one that is the subject of this article, was the worst single visit in that recent run: ten high-severity violations and four intermediate ones. That inspection did not result in an emergency closure either.
In none of those 36 inspections has the facility been emergency-closed. The record shows a restaurant that has been cited for serious food safety failures repeatedly across multiple years, across multiple inspection cycles, in overlapping violation categories including temperature control, food sourcing, and hygiene infrastructure, without ever reaching the threshold that triggers a state-ordered shutdown.
Open for Business
As of the June 3 inspection, Bocas House remained open to the public.
Six high-severity violations were documented. The facility had been inspected the day before, when ten high-severity violations were recorded. The 36-inspection record shows 520 total violations and zero emergency closures.
The restaurant was not closed.