HOLLYWOOD, FL. State inspectors visited Mi Fondita Cafeteria Restaurant Inc. on Johnson Street on June 25 and documented that the restaurant was serving food from unapproved or unknown sources, a violation that means inspectors could not confirm where the food came from or whether it had passed any federal safety inspection before it reached customers' plates.
That was one of eight high-severity violations recorded that day. The restaurant remained open.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation and the undercooking violation appeared on the same inspection report. Together, they describe a kitchen where the origins of the food could not be verified and where that food was not being cooked to temperatures that kill the pathogens it might carry.
Inspectors also cited the restaurant for inadequate handwashing by employees, improper handwashing technique, and inadequate handwashing facilities, three separate violations that collectively describe a kitchen where hand hygiene was failing at every level: the infrastructure, the practice, and the method.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Single-use items were being reused. The restaurant had no written employee health policy, meaning there was no formal system in place to keep sick workers out of the kitchen. And no consumer advisory was posted to warn customers that some menu items were served raw or undercooked.
What These Violations Mean
The unapproved food source violation is one of the most serious a restaurant can receive, not because it proves contamination, but because it makes contamination impossible to trace. Food that enters a kitchen through approved, licensed suppliers is inspected at multiple points along the supply chain. Food from unknown or unapproved sources has no such record. If a customer gets sick, investigators have nowhere to start.
The undercooking violation compounds that risk directly. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. When food from an unverifiable source is also not being cooked to the temperatures required to kill what it might contain, the two violations do not simply add together, they multiply the exposure.
The handwashing failures documented at Mi Fondita on June 25 represent three distinct breakdowns. The facilities were inadequate, meaning the physical infrastructure for proper hygiene was not in place. Employees were not washing their hands properly. And when they did attempt to wash, the technique was wrong. Studies show that improper technique leaves pathogens on hands even after a washing attempt, meaning the act of washing itself was not providing protection.
No written employee health policy means the restaurant had no documented procedure for identifying and removing sick workers from food preparation. Norovirus, one of the most common causes of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, spreads primarily through infected food handlers. A policy that exists only informally, or not at all, offers no reliable barrier.
The Longer Record
The June 25 inspection was not an anomaly. It was the latest entry in a pattern that runs back years.
Mi Fondita has 38 inspections on record and 305 total violations documented across that history. The restaurant was emergency-closed once before, in October 2024, after inspectors found roach activity. It was allowed to reopen the following day.
The inspection record since that closure does not show improvement. On November 12, 2025, inspectors cited the restaurant for 7 high-severity violations and 2 intermediate violations. On July 30, 2025, the tally was 5 high-severity and 1 intermediate. On January 2, 2025, three months after the roach closure, inspectors documented 6 high-severity violations and 2 intermediate violations.
The September 2024 inspection, conducted the month before the roach closure, produced 9 high-severity violations, the highest single-visit count in the recent record. The June 2026 inspection, with 8 high-severity violations, is the second-highest in that span.
There have been clean inspections in this record. On January 3, 2025, the day after a 6-high-severity visit, inspectors returned and found zero high-severity and zero intermediate violations. On October 15, 2024, the day after the roach closure, the restaurant met standards. Those follow-up visits reflect what the restaurant can look like when it has just been cleaned for a re-inspection. The question the longer record raises is what it looks like on an ordinary day.
Still Open
Florida allows inspectors to emergency-close a restaurant when conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. Roach activity triggered that closure in October 2024.
Eight high-severity violations on June 25, 2026, including food from an unknown source, undercooking, and a complete breakdown of handwashing infrastructure and practice, did not.
Mi Fondita Cafeteria on Johnson Street in Hollywood was open for business after the inspection.
