MIAMI BEACH, FL. State inspectors walked into Coyote on Collins Avenue on May 27 and found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, a finding that means every item on the plate that day could have bypassed federal safety inspection entirely.
That was one of 14 high-severity violations documented in a single visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The inspectors documented violations across nearly every layer of food safety at the 1351 Collins Ave. location. Beyond the unapproved food sourcing, they found food in poor condition or adulterated, food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and food not cooked to required minimum temperatures.
The chemical storage findings were stark. Inspectors cited both improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Two separate citations for chemical hazards in a single visit means the risk of contamination was not isolated to one corner of the kitchen.
There was no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods, and no allergen awareness demonstrated by staff. Shellfish records were inadequate, meaning that if a customer became ill from an oyster or clam served that day, tracing the source back through the supply chain would be difficult or impossible.
The person in charge was either absent or not performing duties. Inspectors also found that employees were not reporting illness symptoms and that no written employee health policy existed.
The Four Intermediate Violations
Beyond the 14 high-severity citations, inspectors found four intermediate violations: improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities.
Sewage disposal problems in a food preparation environment are not a minor paperwork issue. Raw sewage carries Hepatitis A, E. coli, and Norovirus, and its improper handling creates fecal contamination risk that can spread through a kitchen quickly.
Improperly cleaned multi-use utensils develop bacterial biofilms within 24 hours, biofilms that resist standard sanitizing. Combined with the high-severity finding on food contact surfaces, the contamination picture at Coyote on May 27 was layered.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved sources is one of the most serious violations an inspector can document because it severs the chain of accountability. If a customer becomes ill, investigators need to trace the food back to its origin. When a restaurant buys from unlicensed or unknown suppliers, that trace goes cold. The food may never have been inspected for Listeria, Salmonella, or E. coli.
The allergen violation compounds that risk for a specific population. Thirty-two million Americans have diagnosed food allergies. Allergic reactions send roughly 30,000 people to emergency rooms each year and kill an estimated 150. When no staff member can demonstrate allergen awareness, a customer with a tree nut or shellfish allergy has no reliable way to know what is safe to order.
The combination of no employee health policy, no symptom reporting, and improper handwashing technique creates a direct transmission route for Norovirus, which causes an estimated 20 million illnesses in the United States annually. Those three violations together describe a kitchen where a sick employee had no formal obligation to stay home, no process for reporting symptoms, and no guarantee of washing hands correctly even when attempting to do so.
Undercooking violations matter because Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. The time-as-public-health-control violation means food was allowed to sit in the bacterial growth range, between 41 and 135 degrees, without temperature monitoring as a safeguard.
The Longer Record
The May 27 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Coyote has accumulated 276 total violations across 26 inspections on record, a rate that has been climbing sharply in recent years.
Two days after the May 27 inspection, a follow-up visit on May 29 found 10 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate violations, meaning the restaurant still had not resolved the bulk of its problems. In July 2025, inspectors documented 7 high-severity violations. In January 2025, they found 5 high. The pattern going back to 2022 shows a facility that has never gone more than a few months without high-severity citations.
The trajectory is getting worse, not better. The 2022 inspections produced 1 high-severity violation each. By 2023, visits were yielding 5. By 2026, a single inspection produced 14. Coyote has never been emergency-closed in its inspection history.
Still Open
Florida's emergency closure authority exists for situations where inspectors determine an imminent hazard to public health. Fourteen high-severity violations at a single facility, including unapproved food sources, chemical storage failures, no allergen awareness, and no employee illness reporting, did not meet that threshold on May 27.
Coyote remained open that day, and was still operating when inspectors returned two days later and found 10 more high-severity violations.