MIAMI BEACH, FL. State inspectors walked into BonChon on Washington Avenue on April 20 and found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, meaning there was no way to trace where some of what customers were eating had come from or whether it had ever passed a federal safety inspection.
That was one of six high-severity violations documented at the 915 Washington Ave. location that day. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation is among the most serious an inspector can cite. When food arrives from suppliers outside the USDA and FDA inspection chain, there is no documentation trail. If a customer gets sick, investigators have nowhere to start.
Alongside it, inspectors cited a failure to follow parasite destruction procedures. For certain fish, pork, and wild game, state rules require specific freezing or cooking protocols to kill parasites including Anisakis and Trichinella. The records at BonChon did not demonstrate those steps were being taken.
Inspectors also found that time was not being properly used as a public health control. When a kitchen opts to track time rather than temperature to keep food safe, it accepts a strict set of rules about how long food can stay in the danger zone between 41 and 135 degrees. Those rules were not being followed here.
There was no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods. That notice is the only warning a pregnant customer, an elderly diner, or someone with a compromised immune system has before ordering something that carries an elevated risk.
The restaurant also had no written employee health policy, and inspectors documented improper handwashing technique among staff. On the equipment side, multi-use utensils were not being properly cleaned, and ventilation was cited as inadequate.
What These Violations Mean
The food sourcing violation is not a paperwork problem. When food bypasses federal inspection, there is no verified record of how it was raised, processed, or handled before it arrived in a kitchen. If someone becomes ill after eating at BonChon, health investigators trying to trace the source would have no supplier records to examine.
The parasite destruction failure compounds that risk. BonChon is known for Korean fried chicken, but menu items involving fish or other proteins subject to parasite risk require documented freezing or cooking steps. Without those records, there is no evidence the steps occurred. Anisakis larvae in fish, for example, cause severe abdominal pain and can require surgical removal if not destroyed before consumption.
The handwashing violation is worth reading carefully. Inspectors did not simply find that employees skipped handwashing. They found that employees washed their hands using improper technique, meaning pathogens can remain on hands even after a washing attempt. That distinction matters because it means the problem is not awareness, it is execution.
Improperly cleaned multi-use utensils develop bacterial biofilms within 24 hours. Those biofilms resist standard sanitizers and can transfer bacteria to every plate, bowl, or piece of food that contacts the utensil afterward.
The Longer Record
BonChon on Washington Avenue has four inspections on record, accumulating 31 total violations across those visits. That is a short history, but not a clean one.
The most recent prior inspection, in November 2025, produced four high-severity and one intermediate violation. Before that, in September 2025, inspectors cited nine high-severity and two intermediate violations in a single visit. The only clean inspection in the facility's record was in March 2025, when inspectors found zero high-severity and zero intermediate violations.
The pattern is not one of gradual improvement. The March 2025 inspection suggested the kitchen could meet standards. By September 2025, inspectors were documenting nine high-severity violations. By April 2026, six more. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
The April 2026 inspection brought the cumulative high-severity violation count across all four inspections to at least 19. The categories shift from visit to visit, but the severity level does not. High-severity violations at BonChon are not anomalies. They are the baseline.
Still Open
Florida's emergency closure authority exists for situations where inspectors determine a facility poses an immediate threat to public health. Six high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved source and a failure to follow parasite destruction procedures, did not meet that threshold on April 20.
BonChon on Washington Avenue was not closed. Customers who walked in after the inspection had no way of knowing what the inspection had found.
The restaurant's record now shows 31 violations across four inspections, with high-severity citations in three of those four visits. It has never been ordered to close.