MIAMI, FL. A state inspector who walked into Coral Restaurant Cafeteria at 7390 NW 35 Terr on September 28 found food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, toxic chemicals improperly stored near food preparation areas, and no written employee health policy in place — six high-severity violations in a single visit, and the restaurant was not closed.
The facility stayed open.
What Inspectors Found
The cooking temperature violation is the one that most directly put customers at risk. Food that never reaches required minimum temperatures can carry live Salmonella, E. coli, or Listeria directly to a customer's plate. For poultry, the minimum is 165°F. Below that threshold, dangerous bacteria survive in sufficient numbers to cause serious illness.
The toxic chemical storage violation compounds that risk in a different direction. Improperly stored or unlabeled cleaning chemicals near food preparation areas can contaminate food through mislabeling or incidental contact, causing acute poisoning that can be difficult to trace back to a source.
The food contact surfaces violation closes a third contamination loop. Cutting boards, prep surfaces, and equipment that are not properly sanitized between uses transfer bacteria from one food item to the next, regardless of whether the individual ingredients were safe when they arrived.
The inspector also documented improper handwashing technique, meaning employees were going through the motions of handwashing without effectively removing pathogens. There was no written employee health policy, meaning the cafeteria had no formal mechanism to keep sick workers out of food preparation. And there was no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked items, leaving customers with no way to make an informed choice.
Three intermediate violations accompanied the six high-severity findings: multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, single-use items being reused, and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of violations documented on September 28 describes a kitchen where multiple contamination pathways were open at the same time. An employee who was ill, with no health policy requiring them to stay home, could spread Norovirus or other pathogens through improper handwashing technique to food contact surfaces that were not properly sanitized, onto food that was not cooked to temperatures that would kill what remained.
That is not a hypothetical chain. It is the documented sequence behind dozens of confirmed foodborne illness outbreaks in Florida over the past decade.
The consumer advisory violation deserves separate attention. Customers who are elderly, pregnant, immunocompromised, or very young face disproportionate risk from undercooked food. A posted advisory gives those customers the information they need to make a safe choice. Without one, they are eating without knowing what they are being served.
The chemical storage violation sits in a different category but is no less serious. Cleaning compounds stored near or above food preparation areas can contaminate food in ways that produce symptoms quickly and severely, and that are often misattributed to something else entirely.
The Longer Record
The September 28 inspection was not an anomaly.
State records show Coral Restaurant Cafeteria has been inspected 32 times, accumulating 340 total violations across its history. The pattern in recent years is consistent: five or six high-severity violations per visit, with intermediate citations accompanying nearly every inspection.
On January 25, 2025, inspectors found six high-severity and three intermediate violations, the same count as this inspection. On August 20, 2024, the tally was six high-severity and two intermediate. On October 21, 2024, it was five high and two intermediate. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
The inspection on September 29, the day after the visit that generated this report, found three high-severity violations and one intermediate. Whatever corrections were made between the two visits did not resolve the pattern — it compressed it.
Eight consecutive inspection periods, stretching back to September 2023, show high-severity violations at every single visit. The lowest count in that stretch was two high-severity violations, logged in February 2024.
Still Open
Florida's emergency closure authority exists for situations where inspectors determine that continued operation poses an imminent hazard to public health. Six high-severity violations, including undercooked food and improperly stored toxic chemicals, did not trigger that determination at Coral Restaurant Cafeteria on September 28.
The restaurant served customers that day, and the day after, and the day after that.
State records show 340 violations across 32 inspections, no emergency closures, and a pattern of high-severity findings that has not changed in at least three years.
