MIAMI LAKES, FL. State inspectors walked into King & I Thai Restaurant on NW 77th Court on April 21 and documented food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, a finding that means pathogens like Salmonella can survive in poultry and reach a customer's plate alive. The restaurant was not closed.

That single violation was one of nine high-severity citations issued that day, along with three intermediate violations, for a total of twelve. Florida's inspection system distinguishes high-severity violations as those most directly linked to foodborne illness and outbreak risk. King & I Thai collected nine of them in a single visit.

What Inspectors Found

1HIGHFood not cooked to required minimum temperaturePathogen survival risk
2HIGHEmployee not reporting symptoms of illnessOutbreak enabler
3HIGHInadequate handwashing by food employeesContamination pathway
4HIGHImproper hand and arm washing techniqueTechnique failure
5HIGHFood in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulteratedFood quality hazard
6HIGHInadequate shell stock identification/recordsShellfish traceability gap
7HIGHFood contact surfaces not properly cleaned/sanitizedCross-contamination vehicle
8HIGHPerson in charge not present or not performing dutiesManagement failure
9HIGHNo consumer advisory for raw/undercooked foodsInformed choice violation
10MEDImproper sewage or waste water disposalFecal contamination risk
11MEDMulti-use utensils not properly cleanedBacterial biofilm risk
12MEDInadequate ventilation and lightingAir quality concern

The inspector found no person in charge present or performing duties. CDC data links the absence of active managerial control to three times more critical violations at a given facility, and the April 21 inspection makes that correlation visible: without oversight in place, eight additional high-severity problems went unaddressed.

Employees were not reporting symptoms of illness. That citation sits alongside two separate handwashing violations, one for inadequate handwashing overall and a second for improper technique, meaning that even when employees attempted to wash their hands, they were not doing it correctly.

The inspector also cited food contact surfaces as not properly cleaned or sanitized, and documented food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated. Shellfish sold or served at the restaurant lacked adequate shell stock identification records, meaning there is no paper trail to trace the source of those shellfish if a customer becomes ill. The restaurant also had no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods, leaving customers with no notice that certain menu items carry elevated risk.

On the intermediate side, the inspector documented improper sewage or wastewater disposal, improperly cleaned multi-use utensils, and inadequate ventilation and lighting.

What These Violations Mean

The undercooked food violation is the most direct threat to anyone who ate at King & I Thai on or before April 21. Salmonella survives in poultry cooked below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A customer who ordered a chicken dish and received it undercooked had no way of knowing, and the restaurant posted no advisory warning them of the risk.

The handwashing citations compound that threat. Improper handwashing is the single most significant factor in spreading foodborne illness from food workers to customers. Two separate violations, one for inadequate handwashing and one for incorrect technique, mean employees were transferring whatever was on their hands to food and surfaces throughout the kitchen. The food contact surface citation confirms those surfaces were not being cleaned adequately between uses.

The illness reporting violation is what epidemiologists call an outbreak enabler. A food worker who is sick with norovirus and does not report it can infect dozens of customers in a single shift. There is no mechanism at this restaurant, according to the inspection record, to stop that from happening.

The shellfish traceability gap matters in a specific and serious way. Shellfish consumed raw or lightly cooked are among the highest-risk foods in any kitchen. If a customer gets sick from contaminated oysters or clams served at King & I Thai, the missing shell stock records mean investigators cannot determine where those shellfish came from or who else may have received the same contaminated batch.

The Longer Record

King & I Thai: Recent Inspection History

April 20269 high-severity, 3 intermediate violations. Restaurant remained open.
November 20257 high-severity, 1 intermediate violation.
March 20257 high-severity, 0 intermediate violations.
October 20249 high-severity, 2 intermediate violations.
June 20242 high-severity, 2 intermediate violations.
December 20235 high-severity, 1 intermediate violation.
March 20236 high-severity, 0 intermediate violations.
August 20226 high-severity, 2 intermediate violations.

The April 21 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show 26 inspections on file for King & I Thai, with 283 total violations documented across that history. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.

Every one of the eight most recent inspections on record produced at least five high-severity violations. The October 2024 inspection also produced nine high-severity citations, matching the April 2026 count exactly. The November 2025 and March 2025 inspections each produced seven.

The pattern does not show a restaurant that falls short occasionally and corrects course. It shows a restaurant that has produced high-severity violation counts in the range of five to nine across every recent inspection cycle, in some cases returning to the same violation categories, including handwashing and management failures, inspection after inspection.

King & I Thai has accumulated 283 documented violations across 26 inspections without a single emergency closure on record.

After the April 21 inspection, the restaurant remained open.