MIAMI GARDENS, FL. Back in March 2026, state inspectors walked into GK on NW 7th, a retail bakery with food service in Miami-Dade County, and found the hand wash sink in the food prep area blocked by pots and pans, a second hand sink in the food service area being used to rinse tongs instead of for hand washing, and no probe thermometer anywhere in the establishment to check whether food was being held at safe temperatures.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services inspection, conducted March 23, 2026, documented 14 total violations. None were classified as priority violations, but four were marked as priority foundation, meaning they represent failures in the basic systems and knowledge that prevent more serious problems from developing.
What Inspectors Found
The blocked hand sink was not a minor oversight. Inspectors noted pots and pans were stacked in front of the prep area sink, and the food service area sink was being actively used to rinse tongs rather than for hand washing. Both sinks were cleared or redirected during the inspection.
The back receiving door presented a different kind of problem. According to the inspection record, it remained open for the entire duration of the inspector's visit, leaving the establishment open to insects and rodents through an unprotected outer opening.
Inside the walk-in freezer, inspectors found multiple buckets filled with food items stored directly on the floor, along with heavy soil buildup on the floor surface and cardboard laid down in place of proper flooring material. The buckets were removed from the floor during the inspection. The soil buildup and cardboard were not corrected on site.
In the food service area, scoops and tongs stored next to the hot holding case and rice cookers were found sitting in a container of water measured at 85 degrees Fahrenheit. At that temperature, the water itself becomes a medium that can support bacterial growth rather than a sanitary storage method. New scoops and tongs were placed in an empty container during the visit.
The Undated Food and the Missing Thermometer
Bags of rice prepared 24 hours before the inspection were stored in the reach-in cooler in front of the oven without date markings. A container of heavy whipping cream, opened two days prior, was also stored in the same cooler without a date mark. Both items were labeled during the inspection.
The absence of a probe thermometer was not corrected during the visit. Inspectors documented that no thermometer was available for assessing, receiving, or checking the temperature of any temperature-controlled safety foods in the establishment.
The inspection record also noted that the bakery had no written procedures for responding to vomit or diarrheal events, no certified food protection manager certificate on site, and no hand wash reminder signs posted at either hand washing sink in the prep or service areas.
Several containers of sugar and spices above and under the prep table in front of the stove were not labeled with a common name. Spoon handles were found resting inside those same containers. Both issues were corrected during the visit.
What These Violations Mean
The blocked hand sink and the missing thermometer are the two findings that carry the most direct public health weight. Hand sinks that cannot be easily reached, or that are being repurposed for other tasks, reduce the likelihood that employees wash their hands when they should, particularly after handling raw ingredients or transitioning between tasks. In a retail bakery that sells ready-to-eat food directly to customers, that gap is a direct contamination route.
The missing probe thermometer meant that at the time of inspection, no one at GK on NW 7th had a reliable way to confirm that refrigerated foods were being held below 41 degrees Fahrenheit or that hot-held items like rice were staying above 135 degrees. Temperature-controlled safety foods that drift into the danger zone between 41 and 135 degrees can support the growth of pathogens including Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus. The scoops stored in 85-degree water illustrated exactly that kind of drift.
The missing date marks on the rice and the heavy whipping cream matter because ready-to-eat foods held in refrigeration have a defined shelf life beyond which disposal is required. Without date marks, there is no way to enforce that limit or to trace when a product was prepared if a customer becomes ill.
The absence of any written vomit and diarrhea cleanup procedures points to a gap in staff training on contamination response, a foundational requirement for any food service establishment.
The Longer Record
The FDACS inspection data for GK on NW 7th shows one inspection on record, the March 23, 2026 visit that produced this report. With only a single inspection on file, there is no prior history to compare against, and no way to characterize the 14 violations as part of a longer pattern or as a departure from an otherwise clean record.
What the single inspection does show is a facility where several basic systems were not in place at the same time: no thermometer, no food protection manager certificate, no date-marking on multiple ready-to-eat items, no hand wash signage, and no written emergency procedures. The inspection was classified as requiring a check back, meaning a follow-up visit was expected.
The cardboard on the walk-in freezer floor, the heavy soil buildup in that same space, and the missing probe thermometer were not resolved during the March visit.