MIAMI, FL. Food at Descorche on SW 27th Avenue was not cooked to required minimum temperatures when a state inspector visited on August 18, 2026, a violation that puts customers at direct risk of consuming live pathogens. The restaurant also had toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled near food, no written employee health policy, and no one in charge performing managerial duties. Seven high-severity violations in a single inspection. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooking violation is the most direct hazard. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and a kitchen without a person in charge performing duties is a kitchen where no one is confirming that temperatures were ever hit.
The chemicals citation compounds that picture. Improperly stored or unlabeled toxic chemicals near food create a poisoning risk that has nothing to do with bacteria, and everything to do with whether a product gets mislabeled or spills onto a prep surface.
Inspectors also cited employees for improper handwashing technique. That is distinct from simply skipping handwashing. It means workers were going through the motion but leaving pathogens on their hands, and then touching food.
Three intermediate violations rounded out the report: multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no person in charge and no employee health policy is particularly dangerous. CDC data shows that establishments without active managerial control accumulate critical violations at roughly three times the rate of those with oversight in place. At Descorche, both conditions existed simultaneously on August 18.
The employee health policy violation is not a paperwork problem. Without a written policy, sick employees have no formal requirement to report illness or stay home. Norovirus, which accounts for approximately 20 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States annually, spreads through exactly this route: an employee who feels mildly unwell, with no policy telling them to stay off the line, preparing food for customers.
The food contact surfaces violation works in the same direction. Cutting boards, prep tables, and utensils that are not properly cleaned and sanitized transfer bacteria from one food to another, or from a contaminated surface directly to a dish. At Descorche, both the surfaces and the utensils were cited, and the person who should have been monitoring both was either absent or not doing the job.
The consumer advisory violation matters specifically for vulnerable customers. Elderly diners, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems face acute risk from raw or undercooked items. Without a posted advisory, they have no way to make an informed choice. That advisory was missing when the inspector arrived.
The Longer Record
The August 2026 inspection is not the worst single visit in Descorche's history, but it fits a pattern that the records show clearly. The facility has 16 inspections on record and 82 total violations documented across them.
The March 2024 inspection produced 8 high-severity violations. September 2024 produced 4 more. January 2025 brought another 3 high-severity citations, and September 2025 added 3 more. The November 2025 inspection found nothing. Two January 2026 inspections, likely a routine visit and a callback, found 2 high-severity violations combined. Then August 2026 arrived with 7.
The facility has never been emergency-closed. In the years this record spans, inspectors have documented dozens of high-severity violations across multiple categories, returned, and documented more. No single inspection appears to have produced a sustained correction in the areas that keep reappearing.
The August 18 inspection documented seven high-severity violations. Descorche remained open that day, and the records do not show an emergency closure order was issued.
