HIALEAH, FL. Food workers at La Carne Asada on Palm Avenue were not reporting illness symptoms to management at the time of a July 20 inspection, according to state records. That violation, combined with eight other high-severity citations documented the same day, left the restaurant open and serving customers.
The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation recorded nine high-severity violations and one intermediate violation during the July 20 visit. The facility was not emergency-closed.
What Inspectors Found
The illness reporting violation sits at the center of the July 20 record. State inspectors noted that employees were not reporting symptoms of illness, and that the restaurant had no written employee health policy in place. Those two violations compound each other: without a policy, workers have no formal obligation to report, and without reporting, a sick employee can work an entire shift handling food.
Inspectors also cited improper hand and arm washing technique. That means handwashing attempts were made but executed incorrectly, leaving pathogens on workers' hands before food contact.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled near food. The inspector also noted that parasite destruction procedures were not being followed, a violation that applies when a menu includes fish, pork, or other items that require specific freezing or cooking protocols to kill parasites before serving.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Inspectors cited time as a public health control not being properly used, meaning food was held in the temperature danger zone beyond the permitted window without being discarded. The restaurant also lacked a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items on the menu.
No person in charge was present or performing duties during the inspection.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no employee health policy and employees not reporting illness symptoms is, according to CDC data, the primary driver of multi-victim foodborne outbreaks. Norovirus, which causes approximately 20 million illnesses in the United States annually, spreads most efficiently when a symptomatic food worker continues handling ready-to-eat items. At La Carne Asada on July 20, both the policy and the reporting were absent simultaneously.
Improper handwashing technique is distinct from not washing hands at all. Studies show that incorrect technique, including insufficient time, skipping soap, or not reaching all surfaces of the hands, leaves enough pathogen load to transfer to food. The citation at La Carne Asada means the handwashing step was performed but did not function as a safety control.
The parasite destruction violation is specific to certain proteins. When a kitchen fails to follow required freezing or cooking protocols for fish or pork, parasites including Anisakis and Trichinella can survive to the plate. Customers who ate fish or pork dishes at La Carne Asada on or before July 20 had no way of knowing whether those protocols were in place.
Improperly stored or labeled chemicals near food carry a direct poisoning risk. Mislabeled containers or chemicals stored adjacent to food prep surfaces can result in accidental contamination that is difficult to detect before consumption.
The Longer Record
The July 20 inspection was not the first time state records showed serious problems at this address. La Carne Asada has accumulated 288 total violations across 30 inspections on record, a figure that places the July visit within a documented pattern rather than an isolated event.
The inspection on February 11, 2026, produced 12 high-severity and 6 intermediate violations, the highest single-visit count in the recent record. A follow-up the next day, February 12, still showed 1 high-severity and 2 intermediate violations. The June 4, 2026 inspection, six weeks before July 20, recorded 7 high-severity and 3 intermediate violations.
The pattern holds further back. October 9, 2025, produced 10 high-severity and 4 intermediate violations. A follow-up on October 10 showed 3 high and 1 intermediate still unresolved. The February 4, 2025 inspection logged 6 high-severity violations.
The restaurant has never been emergency-closed in its inspection history on record, despite cycling through high-severity violation counts repeatedly across multiple years. The one clean inspection in the recent record, February 6, 2025, showed zero high-severity or intermediate violations. That date falls between two inspections that together documented 18 high-severity violations.
Open for Business
State inspectors left La Carne Asada open after the July 20 visit, despite documenting nine high-severity violations that included sick workers not reporting illness, no employee health policy, improperly stored toxic chemicals, and no person in charge on the premises.
The restaurant's 288 total violations across 30 inspections span years of documented failures in the same core categories: management oversight, employee illness controls, and food safety procedures.
As of the July 20 inspection date, La Carne Asada remained open.
