FORT LAUDERDALE, FL. Inspectors visiting Freda's Dominican Cuisine on Powerline Road last week documented seven high-severity violations in a single inspection, the highest single-visit count among the 15 Fort Lauderdale restaurants cited during the week of June 24, 2026. Among the findings: food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, food in poor or adulterated condition, shellfish with no traceability records, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items, and no demonstrated allergen awareness. Inspectors also noted improper handwashing technique.
That combination, food of unknown origin served undercooked with no allergen disclosure and no shellfish records, represents a layered set of risks that compound one another.
What Inspectors Found Across the City
Embarcadero 41 at 350 SE 2nd Street drew four high-severity citations, including an employee not reporting symptoms of illness, improper handwashing technique, food from an unapproved source, and shellfish with no adequate identification records. Inspectors also noted improperly cleaned multi-use utensils and inadequate toilet facilities.
WhatSub on NE 32nd Street was cited for four high-severity violations as well: improper handwashing technique, inadequate shellfish records, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. The chemical storage finding is a distinct category of risk, separate from food handling, and its presence alongside undercooking and inadequate sanitation infrastructure points to broad operational gaps.
Wilton Wing & Pizza on NE 4th Avenue also accumulated four high-severity violations. Inspectors found no written employee health policy, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, and food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized. No intermediate violations were noted, but the four high-severity findings touch the most direct transmission routes from worker to food to customer.
New York Marina Deli on SE 17th Street was cited for food in poor condition, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and improper use of time as a public health control. Inspectors also flagged inadequate ventilation and multi-use utensils not properly cleaned.
Carrabba's Italian Grill at 1430 SE 17th Street drew three high-severity violations: food not cooked to required minimum temperature, improper use of time as a public health control, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. Inspectors also noted improper sewage or wastewater disposal and inadequate ventilation.
Wan's 4G on North Federal Highway was cited for improper handwashing technique, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals. The absence of a consumer advisory is a particular concern at any establishment serving raw or lightly prepared items.
Bagels & Co on SW 7th Street drew three high-severity violations: improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, improper use of time as a public health control, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. Improper waste disposal was the intermediate finding.
Pura Vida Miami on North Federal Highway was cited for improper handwashing technique, inadequate shellfish identification records, and improper use of time as a public health control, along with improperly cleaned multi-use utensils.
Flow Cafe at 221 SW 1st Avenue had no intermediate violations but drew three high-severity citations: no written employee health policy, food from an unapproved or unknown source, and inadequate shellfish identification records.
El Balcon de las Americas on East Commercial Boulevard was cited for no person in charge present or performing duties, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, and food not cooked to required minimum temperature. No intermediate violations were recorded.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe on Cordova Road drew two high-severity violations, inadequate shellfish records and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, alongside improperly cleaned utensils and equipment in poor repair.
Black Jack's Rum Bar & Grille on NE 3rd Avenue was cited for two distinct handwashing failures: inadequate handwashing facilities and improper handwashing technique. That pairing means the infrastructure for proper hygiene was missing and the technique was wrong even where facilities existed.
Inter Miami CF at 1350 NW 55th Street drew two high-severity violations, an employee not reporting illness symptoms and improper handwashing technique, plus improperly cleaned multi-use utensils.
Coral Ridge Yacht Club Point on Yacht Club Boulevard was cited for improper handwashing technique and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, along with improperly cleaned multi-use utensils.
What These Violations Mean
The shellfish traceability failures documented at five facilities this week, Freda's Dominican Cuisine, Embarcadero 41, WhatSub, Pura Vida Miami, and Flow Cafe, carry a specific consequence that goes beyond the individual meal. Oysters, clams, and mussels are frequently consumed raw or lightly cooked, and without harvest tags and dealer records, there is no way to trace an illness back to the source bed if a customer gets sick. That traceability gap is the difference between a contained recall and a prolonged outbreak.
The improper handwashing technique citations, which appeared at nine of the fifteen facilities, are not paperwork violations. Studies show that improper technique leaves measurable pathogen loads on hands even after a wash attempt. At Black Jack's Rum Bar & Grille, inspectors found both inadequate facilities and improper technique, meaning workers had nowhere adequate to wash and were doing it wrong anyway.
Food from unapproved or unknown sources, cited at Freda's Dominican Cuisine, Embarcadero 41, and Flow Cafe, means those ingredients bypassed USDA and FDA inspection entirely. If a customer becomes ill, investigators have no supplier records to pull. The violation is not about freshness; it is about the complete absence of a safety chain.
The toxic chemical storage violations at WhatSub, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Wan's 4G, and Bagels & Co represent a different category of acute risk. Mislabeled or improperly stored chemicals near food preparation areas can cause poisoning through direct contamination, not through bacterial growth over time, but immediately, with a single exposure.
The Longer Record
Wilton Wing & Pizza on NE 4th Avenue carries 50 prior inspections on record, the longest documented history of any facility cited this week. Four high-severity violations in this inspection, including no employee health policy and no illness reporting, are not findings from a new operation still learning its obligations. They are findings from a facility that has been inspected more than four dozen times.
Wan's 4G has 32 prior inspections on record and was still cited for improper handwashing and improperly stored chemicals. Bagels & Co has 27 prior inspections and drew the same chemical storage violation alongside improperly cleaned food contact surfaces. Coral Ridge Yacht Club Point has 25 prior inspections and was cited for improper handwashing technique, a violation that appears in the records of facilities regardless of how long they have been operating.
El Balcon de las Americas has 26 inspections on record and this week drew a finding that no person in charge was present or performing duties. CDC data links the absence of active managerial control directly to higher rates of critical violations. A facility with that inspection history that still cannot produce a functioning person in charge during an inspection is a facility where the management gap is structural.
Freda's Dominican Cuisine, Embarcadero 41, and Black Jack's Rum Bar & Grille each have only two prior inspections on record, making them among the newest facilities in this week's data. Freda's seven high-severity violations in what appears to be an early inspection, including food from unapproved sources and no allergen awareness, raise the question of whether the operational foundation was in place before the doors opened.
WhatSub and Pura Vida Miami each have eight prior inspections. Both were cited again this week for shellfish traceability failures, the same category of violation that requires active recordkeeping, not equipment or infrastructure, just documentation. After eight inspections, neither facility had it in order.
Freda's Dominican Cuisine on Powerline Road, with two inspections on record and seven high-severity violations in the most recent visit, has not yet had a follow-up inspection date listed in state records.
