VIRGINIA GARDENS, FL. Inspectors visiting Craft American Eatery at 5911 NW 36 St on July 17 found food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, a violation that means pathogens like Salmonella can survive on the plate and reach the customer. The restaurant was not closed.
The July 17 inspection produced six high-severity violations and two intermediate violations. That tally matches, almost exactly, the six high-severity violations inspectors documented at the same restaurant in August 2025.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooking violation is among the most direct threats to a customer's health that an inspector can document. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and the gap between a piece of chicken that looks done and one that has reached a safe internal temperature is invisible to anyone eating it.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled. That violation, cited alongside food prep surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, means two separate contamination pathways were active in the kitchen on the same day.
Inspectors also cited inadequate shell stock identification and records. The restaurant serves shellfish, which are consumed raw or lightly cooked, and without proper tagging records there is no way to trace the source if a customer becomes ill.
The employee health policy violation and the improper handwashing technique citation appeared together. One means there is no written system to keep sick workers out of food preparation. The other means that even when workers do wash their hands, the technique documented left pathogens behind.
What These Violations Mean
The undercooking violation is not a paperwork problem. Salmonella and Campylobacter, the bacteria most commonly associated with undercooked poultry, cause severe gastrointestinal illness and, in vulnerable patients, can require hospitalization. A customer has no way to verify the internal temperature of food served to them.
The shell stock traceability violation compounds that risk for anyone who ordered shellfish. Oysters, clams, and mussels are filter feeders that concentrate whatever pathogens are present in the water where they were harvested. The tagging system exists precisely so that, when someone gets sick, public health investigators can identify the harvest location and pull product before more people are exposed. Without those records at Craft American Eatery, that chain breaks.
The combination of improperly cleaned food contact surfaces and improperly cleaned multi-use utensils means bacteria can transfer from raw proteins to ready-to-eat food through the cutting board or the knife used on both. That is a direct cross-contamination pathway, not a theoretical one.
The chemical storage violation adds a separate category of risk entirely. Cleaning agents and pesticides stored near or above food preparation areas can contaminate food through spills, mislabeling, or aerosol drift. Unlike bacterial illness, chemical poisoning can produce symptoms within minutes.
The Longer Record
The July 17 inspection is the fourteenth on record for this address. Across those fourteen inspections, the facility has accumulated 96 total violations. It has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern in the inspection history is consistent. In August 2023, inspectors cited seven high-severity violations, the highest single-visit count in the record. In February 2025, the count was five high-severity violations. In January 2026, it was four. In August 2025, it was six high-severity violations and two intermediate, an inspection that is nearly identical in structure to the one conducted this July.
That August 2025 inspection and the July 2026 inspection share the same violation counts, six high-severity and two intermediate. The record does not show that the August 2025 findings produced a sustained reduction in violations at the January 2026 follow-up or at the most recent visit.
Of the eight prior inspections on record, every single one produced at least two high-severity violations. The lowest count in the history was two high-severity violations, documented in March 2024.
Open for Business
State inspectors have the authority to order an emergency closure when conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. That order was not issued on July 17 at Craft American Eatery, despite the six high-severity violations that included undercooked food, improperly stored toxic chemicals, and shellfish with no traceability records.
The restaurant served customers that day, and the days after.
