MIAMI, FL. A state inspector walked into KOW Comfort Restaurant at 14429 SW 42 St on April 29 and found food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, a violation that means live pathogens, including Salmonella in poultry, could reach a customer's plate. The restaurant was not closed.
That single violation was one of seven high-severity citations issued that day, along with two intermediate violations. State records show the facility remained open and operating after the inspection.
What Inspectors Found
The parasite destruction citation is among the most specific. When fish, pork, or wild game is served without proper freezing or cooking protocols, parasites including Anisakis and Trichinella can survive and infect customers. The violation does not require a visible sign of a problem, only that the documented procedures for eliminating that risk were not being followed.
Inspectors also cited food contact surfaces as not properly cleaned or sanitized. Cutting boards, prep surfaces, and utensils that carry bacteria from one food item to the next are a primary vehicle for cross-contamination, and the citation indicates those surfaces were not meeting the standard required to break that chain.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled. When cleaning agents or other chemical products are kept near food without proper labeling or separation, the contamination risk is direct and acute, and mislabeled containers compound the danger if an employee grabs the wrong bottle.
The restaurant also had no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods. That advisory exists specifically to warn elderly customers, pregnant women, young children, and anyone with a compromised immune system that certain items carry elevated risk. Without it, those customers have no way to make an informed choice.
What These Violations Mean
The undercooked food citation is not a paperwork issue. Salmonella survives in poultry held below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and the symptoms, including severe diarrhea, vomiting, and fever, can last for days. For elderly diners or anyone immunocompromised, the consequences can be far more serious. KOW Comfort Restaurant received this same category of violation on multiple prior inspections.
The employee health policy violation compounds the risk. Without a written policy requiring sick workers to stay out of the kitchen, there is no documented system for preventing a Norovirus-infected employee from preparing food. Norovirus is responsible for nearly half of all foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States, and it spreads efficiently through food handled by someone who is symptomatic.
Improper handwashing technique is distinct from simply not washing hands. An employee who goes through the motions but does not wash long enough, or misses key areas, still transfers pathogens to food. The citation at KOW Comfort indicates that even when handwashing was attempted, it was not being done correctly.
The inadequate cooling equipment citation means the restaurant's cold-holding systems were not capable of keeping food at safe temperatures. Food sitting above 41 degrees Fahrenheit enters what food safety regulators call the danger zone, the temperature range where bacteria multiply rapidly.
The Longer Record
The April 29 inspection was not an aberration. State records show KOW Comfort Restaurant has been inspected 26 times and has accumulated 344 total violations across its history. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
The most recent prior inspection, on September 12, 2025, produced exactly the same count: 7 high-severity violations and 2 intermediate. The inspection before that, in February 2025, found 8 high-severity violations. Going back to March 2024, inspectors cited 12 high-severity violations in a single visit, followed the same day by a separate inspection that added one more.
The only inspection in recent years that produced no violations was October 31, 2023. Every inspection since has included at least two high-severity citations, and most have included far more.
The Pattern
Across the six inspections from March 2024 through April 2026, KOW Comfort Restaurant has accumulated 43 high-severity violations. The categories rotate, but the volume does not decline.
The parasite destruction violation, the food temperature violation, and the food contact surface citation are not obscure technical requirements. They are among the most fundamental standards in commercial food service, and they reappear in the record here with regularity.
State records show the restaurant has received zero emergency closure orders across 26 inspections and 344 total violations.
On April 29, 2026, after an inspector documented seven high-severity violations including undercooked food and chemical storage failures, KOW Comfort Restaurant remained open for business.