HIALEAH, FL. State inspectors walked into the LongHorn Steakhouse at 1360 W 49th Street on September 23, 2026, and found that some of the food being served to customers could not be traced to any approved or verified source.
That single finding, food from an unapproved or unknown origin, means the steaks, shellfish, or other ingredients in question bypassed the federal safety inspections that exist to screen for Listeria, Salmonella, and other pathogens before food reaches a dining room. Inspectors documented it as a high-severity violation. It was one of seven.
What Inspectors Found
Inspectors also cited the restaurant for failing to follow parasite destruction procedures. LongHorn Steakhouse menus include fish and meat items, and the citation means the facility was not properly freezing or cooking certain proteins to the temperatures and durations required to kill parasites like Anisakis in fish or Trichinella in pork.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled near food, a violation that carries the risk of acute chemical poisoning if a mislabeled or mishandled product contaminates a food surface or ingredient. Shellfish identification records were also inadequate, meaning that if a customer became ill after eating oysters or clams, there would be no reliable record to trace the batch back to its harvest source.
The restaurant had no written employee health policy, no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods, and inspectors found that time was not being properly used as a public health control. That last citation means food was being held in the temperature danger zone, between 41 and 135 degrees, without the tracking required to ensure it was discarded before bacteria could multiply to dangerous levels.
On the intermediate side, inspectors documented improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils that were not properly cleaned, inadequate cold-holding equipment, single-use items being reused, and equipment in poor repair.
What These Violations Mean
The food from an unapproved source violation is, in many ways, the most consequential finding on the list. Federal and state inspections of licensed food suppliers exist to catch contamination before it reaches a kitchen. When a restaurant sources food outside that system, there is no chain of documentation. If a customer gets sick, investigators have nothing to trace.
The parasite destruction failure compounds that risk directly. A steakhouse that is not following verified freezing or cooking protocols for fish and meat is serving customers proteins that may contain live parasites. Anisakis larvae, for example, can cause severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and allergic reactions. The consumer advisory violation means customers who might have chosen to avoid raw or undercooked items were never given the information to make that choice.
The sewage disposal violation is in a different category but no less serious. Improper disposal of wastewater in a food preparation environment creates a pathway for fecal contamination to reach food contact surfaces, utensils, and ingredients. Combined with the finding that multi-use utensils were not properly cleaned, that contamination pathway had multiple entry points.
Improperly stored toxic chemicals near food need only one incident to cause harm. A mislabeled bottle used in place of a food-safe cleaner, or a chemical stored above an open food container, can contaminate a meal without any visible sign.
The Longer Record
The September 23 inspection was not an aberration. State records show this location has been inspected 20 times and has accumulated 136 total violations across its history, with no emergency closures on record.
High-severity violations have appeared at every inspection going back through the available records. The four visits in 2024 alone produced 14 high-severity and 8 intermediate violations combined. The December 2025 inspection turned up 3 high-severity violations, and the April 2025 inspection produced 4.
The September 23 visit, with 7 high-severity citations, is the worst single inspection in the recent record by a significant margin. A follow-up inspection the very next day, September 24, found 1 high-severity and 1 intermediate violation remaining, suggesting some corrections were made overnight. But the underlying pattern, high-severity citations at every visit across two-plus years, had not changed.
Open for Business
Florida law gives inspectors the authority to order an emergency closure when conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. On September 23, 2026, inspectors documented seven high-severity violations at this LongHorn Steakhouse, including food from an unapproved source, failed parasite destruction, and improperly stored toxic chemicals.
The restaurant was not closed.
