MIAMI BEACH, FL. State inspectors visiting Goodtime Cafe at 601 Washington Ave. on September 8 found toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used inside an operating restaurant kitchen, one of six high-severity violations documented that day. The facility was not closed.
Not one of the six violations was intermediate or minor. All six were high-severity citations, the category Florida regulators reserve for conditions most likely to cause foodborne illness or direct harm to customers.
What Inspectors Found
The toxic substances citation is the kind that can produce immediate harm, not illness that develops hours later. Cleaning chemicals stored near or improperly labeled around food preparation areas can contaminate food directly, and the risk is not theoretical.
The inspector also cited the cafe for having no employee health policy, or an inadequate one. That means nothing in writing required a sick worker to stay home or report symptoms before handling food.
Food contact surfaces, the cutting boards, prep tables, and utensils that touch food directly, were found not properly cleaned or sanitized. The inspector further cited the cafe for misusing time as a public health control, a specific technique where food is intentionally held outside safe temperature ranges for a defined window. When that window is not tracked or documented correctly, food can remain in the bacterial growth zone far longer than intended.
The sixth violation: no consumer advisory on the menu for raw or undercooked items. Customers who are elderly, pregnant, or immunocompromised rely on that notice to make informed choices about dishes like rare beef or undercooked eggs.
What These Violations Mean
The absence of a person in charge actively performing duties is not a paperwork problem. CDC data cited in the inspection record links establishments without active managerial control to three times the rate of critical violations. When no one is accountable in real time, the other five violations on this list become easier to understand.
The employee health policy violation is one of the most direct transmission risks in a food service setting. Norovirus alone accounts for roughly 20 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States annually, and infected food workers are a primary vehicle. A written policy that requires workers to report symptoms or stay home when sick is a basic structural control. Goodtime Cafe, according to this inspection, did not have one in adequate form.
The time-as-public-health-control violation compounds the surface sanitation problem. If cutting boards and prep surfaces are not properly sanitized, and food is simultaneously being held outside safe temperature ranges longer than documented, the conditions for bacterial multiplication are stacked. Neither violation is catastrophic alone. Together, they describe a kitchen where multiple safeguards failed on the same day.
The consumer advisory violation means that anyone who ate a dish containing raw or undercooked protein on September 8 made that choice without the warning state law requires. For a healthy adult, the risk may be low. For a pregnant diner or someone with a compromised immune system, it is not.
The Longer Record
The September 8 inspection was the fourteenth on record for this facility. Across those 14 inspections, inspectors have documented 70 total violations. The cafe has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern in the recent history is not a sudden decline. On July 31, just 39 days before this inspection, inspectors found four high-severity violations at the same address. That visit produced no closure either. Before that, January 2025 produced five high-severity and four intermediate violations, the highest combined count in the facility's recorded history until this month.
The inspections from late 2023 through mid-2024 showed cleaner results, with single intermediate violations or none at all. That stretch makes the acceleration since January 2025 more notable. In the last four inspections on record, the cafe has accumulated 15 high-severity violations.
The two inspections in 2026 alone, January 6 and July 31, preceded September's visit. January was clean. July brought four high-severity violations. September brought six. No closure followed any of them.
Open for Business
Florida's emergency closure authority is triggered when an inspector determines that conditions pose an immediate threat to public health serious enough that continued operation cannot be allowed. Six high-severity violations at Goodtime Cafe on September 8 did not meet that threshold, according to the state's determination.
The cafe at 601 Washington Ave. remained open after inspectors left.
