HIALEAH, FL. State inspectors visiting Cuban Guys Sandwiches & More on West 76th Street in August 2026 found fish or other food items that had not gone through required parasite-destruction procedures, meaning customers could have been served food with live parasites present.
That was one of six high-severity violations documented during the August 24 inspection. The restaurant was not emergency-closed.
What Inspectors Found
The parasite violation is among the most specific risks in the inspection record. Parasites including Anisakis in fish and Trichinella in pork survive if food is not properly frozen or cooked to required temperatures. They are not visible to the naked eye and do not change the appearance or smell of the food.
Inspectors also cited food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated. That category covers spoiled or contaminated product, as well as food that has been altered or misrepresented in a way that creates a direct illness risk.
Food contact surfaces, the cutting boards, prep tables, and utensils that touch food directly, were found not properly cleaned or sanitized. Those surfaces are a primary vehicle for bacterial transfer between raw and ready-to-eat food.
The handwashing citations compounded the picture. Inspectors found both that the handwashing facilities themselves were inadequate and that employees were not washing their hands correctly. Both violations were cited on the same visit.
No person in charge was present or performing supervisory duties during the inspection.
What These Violations Mean
The parasite-destruction failure is the violation most likely to produce a serious illness outcome without any visible warning. Anisakis, found in raw or undercooked fish, can cause severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and intestinal damage. Trichinella, associated with undercooked pork, causes muscle pain and fever. Neither parasite announces itself in the food. A customer eating an improperly handled croqueta or fish sandwich at this location on or before August 24 would have had no way of knowing the risk.
The adulterated or mislabeled food violation matters for a different reason. When food is misrepresented, there is no reliable way to trace an illness back to its source if someone gets sick. That traceability gap is exactly what makes outbreaks harder to contain.
Improperly sanitized food contact surfaces are how pathogens move from one food item to another. A cutting board used for raw chicken that is not properly sanitized before being used for a pressed Cuban sandwich becomes a transfer point. That chain of contamination is invisible to customers and, on this visit, was apparently not being interrupted.
The handwashing failures, both the infrastructure and the technique, mean that even when employees attempted to wash their hands, the attempt was not sufficient to remove pathogens. The absence of a person in charge during the inspection correlates directly with this kind of cascading failure. CDC data cited in the inspection record shows establishments without active managerial control accumulate critical violations at three times the rate of those with engaged supervision.
The Longer Record
The August 2026 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Cuban Guys Sandwiches & More has been inspected 26 times and has accumulated 144 total violations across its history. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern of high-severity violations runs back at least three years. In August 2024, inspectors cited 8 high-severity and 3 intermediate violations, the worst single inspection in the recent record. Two months later, in October 2023, a visit found 5 high-severity violations with no intermediates. A follow-up two days later, on October 18, found zero violations, suggesting rapid corrective action, but the pattern resumed.
The January 2026 inspection, seven months before this one, produced 3 high-severity and 1 intermediate violation. The September 2025 visit found 2 high and 2 intermediate. High-severity violations have appeared in six of the eight most recent inspections on record.
The facility has cycled through periods of compliance and non-compliance repeatedly. What the record does not show is a sustained stretch of clean inspections that would suggest the underlying problems had been resolved.
Still Open
Florida's emergency closure authority is triggered when inspectors determine an imminent hazard to public health exists. Six high-severity violations, including a parasite-destruction failure, adulterated food, unsanitized food contact surfaces, and no person in charge, did not meet that threshold on August 24.
The restaurant at 3174 West 76th Street in Hialeah remained open after the inspection.
