MIAMI BEACH, FL. An inspector visiting Falsa Limonada at 825 Washington Ave on August 17 found that food was not being cooked to the required minimum temperature, a violation that state records classify as a direct pathway for pathogen survival, including Salmonella in poultry, which survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. The restaurant was not closed.
That finding was one of seven high-severity violations documented during the inspection, plus one intermediate violation. State inspectors left the restaurant operating.
What Inspectors Found
The shellfish records violation is one of the more specific findings. Inspectors noted inadequate shell stock identification, meaning there were no proper records tying the shellfish on hand to a certified harvester or harvest date. Oysters, clams, and mussels are consumed raw or lightly cooked, and without that documentation there is no way to trace an illness outbreak back to a source.
Inspectors also cited the restaurant for food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and for multi-use utensils that had not been properly cleaned. Both findings point to the same underlying failure: surfaces that touched food during one preparation cycle were not adequately decontaminated before the next.
The person in charge was either not present or not performing duties, according to the inspection record. That finding sat alongside a citation for no written employee health policy, meaning there was no formal mechanism to keep sick workers out of the kitchen.
What These Violations Mean
The undercooking violation is the most direct threat to anyone who ate at Falsa Limonada around the time of the August 17 inspection. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and the consequences range from severe gastrointestinal illness to hospitalization. A customer who ordered a chicken dish and received it undercooked would have had no way of knowing.
The missing consumer advisory compounds that risk. When a restaurant serves raw or undercooked items, state rules require a notice on the menu alerting customers, particularly those who are elderly, pregnant, immunocompromised, or very young. Without that advisory at Falsa Limonada, those customers had no informed choice.
The improper handwashing citation is not about skipping the sink entirely. It means that even when employees made an attempt to wash their hands, the technique was inadequate, leaving pathogens on their hands before they touched food or surfaces. Combined with improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, the inspection record describes a kitchen where contamination had multiple pathways.
The absence of a written employee health policy means the restaurant had no formal requirement that workers report illness or stay home. Norovirus, one of the most common sources of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, spreads efficiently through a single sick employee handling food.
The Longer Record
Falsa Limonada: Recent Inspection Pattern
The August 17 inspection was not an aberration. State records show 37 inspections on file for Falsa Limonada, with 303 total violations accumulated across that history. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
Five of the eight most recent inspections produced at least four high-severity violations. The February 2026 visit generated nine high-severity findings, the June 2026 visit generated eight, and the July 2025 visit also generated eight. The August 2026 inspection, at seven high-severity violations, fits squarely within that band.
The single clean inspection in the recent record came on January 24, 2025, when inspectors found zero high-severity and zero intermediate violations. Three weeks later, on February 3, inspectors returned and documented five high-severity and four intermediate violations.
That pattern, a brief clean inspection followed by an immediate return to high violation counts, appears more than once in the record. It raises a question the inspection data alone cannot answer: whether corrections made for one visit were sustained beyond it.
The restaurant has accumulated 303 violations across 37 inspections and has never been ordered to close. After the August 17 visit, with seven high-severity findings including undercooked food and no shellfish traceability records, it remained open for business.
