MIAMI, FL. A state inspector visiting Carne Asada Tortilleria Nica Inc. on West Flagler Street in October found the restaurant was serving food from unapproved or unknown sources, a violation that means inspectors cannot trace where that food came from, who handled it, or whether it was ever inspected by federal food safety authorities.
The October 8 inspection turned up six high-severity violations and three intermediate violations. The facility was not emergency-closed.
What Inspectors Found
The unapproved food sourcing violation was not the only one raising immediate health concerns. Inspectors also cited the facility for failing to follow parasite destruction procedures, meaning fish, pork, or other proteins that require specific freezing or cooking protocols to kill parasites were not being handled to that standard.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Cutting boards, prep tables, and similar surfaces in direct contact with food can transfer bacteria between items when they are not sanitized between uses.
Two of the six high-severity violations involved sick workers. The facility had no written employee health policy, and employees were not reporting illness symptoms. Those two violations compound each other: without a policy requiring workers to disclose symptoms, and without workers actually disclosing them, a sick employee has no formal barrier between themselves and the food they are preparing.
The inspector also cited improper handwashing technique. An employee making a handwashing attempt but using the wrong technique can still leave Norovirus, Salmonella, or E. coli on their hands.
On the intermediate side, inspectors documented improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils that were not properly cleaned, and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved sources is one of the harder violations to walk back. When a facility sources ingredients outside of USDA- or FDA-inspected supply chains, there is no paper trail. If a customer gets sick, investigators cannot determine where the food came from, who processed it, or whether a recall should have caught it. Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli have all been linked to uninspected food sources.
The parasite destruction failure adds a second layer of risk on top of that. Florida health code requires specific time-and-temperature protocols for fish and certain meats precisely because parasites like Anisakis, found in raw or undercooked fish, and Trichinella, found in undercooked pork, survive normal refrigeration. If those protocols are not followed, the parasites can survive into the finished dish.
The combination of no employee health policy and employees not reporting symptoms is what epidemiologists call a structural outbreak risk. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, spreads through direct contact with an infected food handler. A written policy requiring sick workers to stay home is the primary institutional defense against that pathway. Carne Asada Tortilleria Nica had neither the policy nor the practice in place on October 8.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces close the loop. Even if incoming ingredients were safe and workers were healthy, unsanitized cutting boards and prep surfaces can transfer pathogens between raw and ready-to-eat foods throughout the day.
The Longer Record
This was not a facility caught off guard by an unusual inspection. The October 8 visit was the 37th inspection on record for this address, and the cumulative violation count across that history stands at 300.
The pattern in the prior inspection data is specific and consistent. On May 5, 2025, inspectors found eight high-severity violations and two intermediate violations. A follow-up the next day showed a clean report. On September 10, 2025, inspectors returned and found three high-severity violations and one intermediate. A follow-up the following day again showed zero violations. The same sequence repeated in March 2026: six high-severity violations and three intermediate violations on March 16, followed by a clean inspection on March 17.
October 8, 2026 fits that pattern exactly. Six high-severity violations, three intermediate violations, and the facility remained open.
The facility has never been emergency-closed across its 37 inspections on record. Each time a serious inspection has been followed by a clean follow-up, the cycle has reset. The violations documented on October 8 include the same categories that appeared in March 2026, in September 2025, and in May 2025: food sourcing, worker illness protocols, sanitation of food contact surfaces.
As of the October 8 inspection, Carne Asada Tortilleria Nica remained open to the public.
