MIAMI, FL. State inspectors walked into The Chinese Restaurant at 12963 SW 112 St on April 28, 2026, and found food coming from unapproved or unknown sources, meaning ingredients that had bypassed federal safety inspections entirely and could not be traced if a customer got sick.
That was one of nine high-severity violations documented in a single visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation is among the most serious an inspector can document. When food arrives from an unapproved supplier, there is no USDA or FDA inspection record attached to it, and no chain of custody if a customer becomes ill.
Inspectors also found toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled near food. That is a direct poisoning risk, not a paperwork problem. A mislabeled chemical or one stored above a food prep surface can contaminate ingredients without anyone noticing until someone is already sick.
Shellfish violations compounded the picture. Inspectors cited inadequate shell stock identification records, meaning oysters, clams, or mussels on the menu could not be traced to their harvest location or date. Shellfish are consumed raw or lightly cooked and are a known vehicle for Vibrio and Hepatitis A.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Cutting boards, prep tables, and other surfaces that touch raw protein carry bacteria directly to the next food prepared on them.
The handwashing violations arrived as a pair. Inspectors found both inadequate handwashing facilities and improper hand and arm washing technique. The first means the physical infrastructure for hygiene was missing or broken. The second means that even when employees did wash their hands, the technique left pathogens behind.
The six intermediate violations included improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, single-use items being reused, inadequate ventilation and lighting, improper use of wiping cloths, and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities. Fifteen violations total. The restaurant remained open.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved sources is not a labeling technicality. If a customer develops Salmonella or Listeria symptoms after eating at this restaurant, investigators need supplier records to trace the contaminated batch and warn others. Without those records, the outbreak investigation stops at the kitchen door.
The illness-reporting violations, no employee health policy and employees not required to report symptoms, form a specific outbreak pathway. Norovirus spreads person to person through food handled by a sick worker. It takes fewer than 20 viral particles to cause infection. A single employee working through gastrointestinal symptoms can expose every customer served that shift.
Improper sewage disposal means fecal contamination can reach food preparation areas. That is not a remote possibility. Raw sewage contains E. coli, Salmonella, and Hepatitis A. When wastewater is not properly contained and removed, those pathogens move.
The combination of inadequate handwashing facilities and flawed technique is particularly corrosive. Proper handwashing is the single most effective barrier between a sick employee and a customer's plate. When the sink is inadequate and the technique is wrong, that barrier does not exist.
The Longer Record
Inspection History: The Chinese Restaurant, SW 112 St
The April 28 inspection was not an aberration. State records show 33 inspections on file for this address, with 441 total violations accumulated across that history.
The facility has logged eight or more high-severity violations in a single visit on at least four separate occasions since September 2023: nine in September 2023, eight in December 2024, eleven in April 2025, eight in November 2025, and nine again in April 2026. That is a pattern, not a rough stretch.
The restaurant was emergency-closed once, in October 2016, for roach activity. Inspectors allowed it to reopen two days later. In the decade since, the facility has never been closed again, including after the eleven-violation inspection in April 2025 and the fifteen-violation inspection last month.
The day after the April 28 inspection, a follow-up visit on April 29 found three high-severity and four intermediate violations still present. Nine violations had been reduced to seven. The restaurant was open for business.