MIAMI, FL. State inspectors walked into China Lee Restaurant at 559 SW 8th Street on September 23 and documented food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, meaning some of what was being served to customers that day had never passed a federal safety inspection.
That was one of eleven high-severity violations cited in a single visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation is among the most serious on record. When a restaurant cannot identify where its food came from, there is no chain of custody, no USDA or FDA inspection record, and no way to trace an outbreak back to its source if customers get sick.
Inspectors also found that employees were not reporting illness symptoms, that handwashing facilities were inadequate, and that staff were using improper hand and arm washing technique. Those three violations together describe a kitchen where the basic barrier between sick workers and customer food had broken down.
Food was not being cooked to required minimum temperatures. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Toxic chemicals were improperly stored or labeled near food.
The restaurant also lacked adequate shell stock identification records, meaning shellfish served that day, whether oysters, clams, or mussels, could not be traced to a certified harvester if a customer became ill. No consumer advisory was posted for raw or undercooked items, leaving elderly diners, pregnant women, and immunocompromised customers without the warning the state requires.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of employee illness reporting failures and inadequate handwashing infrastructure is what public health officials call a direct transmission pathway. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, spreads most efficiently when a symptomatic worker handles food with hands that were never properly cleaned. At China Lee on September 23, inspectors documented both conditions simultaneously.
Food from unapproved sources is a traceability problem with serious consequences. If a customer develops Listeria or Salmonella poisoning after eating at China Lee, investigators would have no supplier records to pull, no lot numbers to check, and no way to determine whether other restaurants received the same contaminated product.
The allergen awareness violation affects a specific and vulnerable population. Food allergies affect 32 million Americans, and allergic reactions send roughly 30,000 people to emergency rooms each year. When a kitchen cannot demonstrate that staff understand allergen risks, a customer with a peanut or shellfish allergy is ordering on faith.
Undercooking is not a procedural technicality. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A kitchen that is not reaching required minimum temperatures is serving food that can make customers seriously ill.
The Longer Record
The September 23 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show China Lee has been inspected 29 times and has accumulated 450 total violations across its history.
Six days after the September 23 visit, a follow-up inspection on September 25 still found six high-severity violations and one intermediate. The restaurant had not resolved the bulk of what inspectors cited.
The pattern goes back further. An inspection on October 29, 2025 found 12 high-severity violations and five intermediate ones. An inspection on March 10, 2026 found nine high-severity violations and five intermediate ones. The September 23 count of 11 high-severity violations fits squarely in the middle of that range.
China Lee was emergency-closed once before, on December 9, 2021, after inspectors documented roach and rodent activity. It was allowed to reopen the following day.
Still Open
A two-day-old follow-up inspection on September 25 found six high-severity violations still in place, including at least one of the same categories documented two days earlier.
The October 2 inspection found one high-severity violation remaining.
On the day inspectors documented eleven high-severity violations, including food from unknown sources, sick employees not reporting symptoms, and food not reaching safe cooking temperatures, China Lee Restaurant remained open for business.
