MIAMI, FL. Four Miami restaurants were ordered shut within a four-day stretch last week, including a Brickell-area taco spot closed for roach activity and two separate locations closed for rodent activity, as state inspectors documented high-severity violations across 15 facilities during the week of May 12, 2026.
The Closures
Tacology at 700 South Miami Ave was ordered closed on May 15 after inspectors documented roach activity at the Brickell-area restaurant. It was the third emergency closure in the span of three days.
Two days earlier, on May 13, CMX Brickell Stone Sports Bar at 701 South Miami Ave was shut for rodent activity, just one address away. On May 12, Club de la Milanesa at 3250 NE 1 Ave had been closed for rodent activity as well. A fourth closure, Quore Gelato at 7535 N Kendall Dr, was ordered shut May 14 for unlicensed activity.
The Violations
The week's highest violation count belonged to Mikes at Venetia at 555 NE 15 St, a ninth-floor restaurant that drew 11 high-severity citations. Inspectors cited the facility for having no person in charge present or performing duties, no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing, and improper handwashing technique. The citation list continued: food from unapproved or unknown sources, inadequate shell stock identification records, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
That is eight categories of high-severity failure at a single facility in a single visit.
Snappers Fish and Chicken at 18312 NW 7 Ave drew nine high-severity violations, including employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved sources, inadequate shellfish traceability records, unsanitized food contact surfaces, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Sticky Rice Lao Thai and Sushi at 12895 SW 42 St also accumulated nine high-severity citations, including a finding that parasite destruction procedures were not followed, food was not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and time as a public health control was not properly used. Inspectors also cited food in poor condition or adulterated and no person in charge present.
Ficelle Boulangerie and Patisserie / Le Bistro by Ficelle at 1440 NW N River Dr matched that total with nine high-severity violations, including food from unapproved sources, inadequate shellfish records, unsanitized food contact surfaces, no employee health policy, and time as a public health control not properly used.
Dona Paulina I at 8263 SW 40 St drew eight high-severity violations, among them toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, toxic substances improperly identified or used, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Delicias de Espana 2 at 7384 SW 40 St and El Gallego Spanish Food at 7171-7173 SW 8 St each drew eight high-severity violations. Both were cited for food from unapproved sources, inadequate shellfish traceability, no consumer advisory, and time-as-a-public-health-control failures. El Gallego was also cited for food not cooked to required minimum temperatures and unsanitized food contact surfaces.
Rosa Sky at 115 SW 8 St, Level 22 received six high-severity citations, including food in poor condition or adulterated, toxic substances improperly stored or used, unsanitized food contact surfaces, and no consumer advisory. The rooftop venue had no intermediate violations on the report.
DC Pie Co. at 1010 Brickell Avenue drew five high-severity violations alongside a citation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal, one of the more acute infrastructure findings of the week. No person in charge was present, no employee health policy existed, employees were not reporting illness symptoms, handwashing technique was improper, and food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned.
Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Bar and Grill Bayside at 401 Biscayne Blvd was cited for five high-severity violations, including no person in charge, food in poor condition, inadequate shellfish records, and unsanitized food contact surfaces.
El Novillo Restaurant at 6830 SW 40 St drew three high-severity violations, including food from unapproved sources and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled.
What These Violations Mean
The most consequential cluster this week involved handwashing failures at Mikes at Venetia, Snappers Fish and Chicken, Sticky Rice, Ficelle, Dona Paulina I, Delicias de Espana 2, DC Pie Co., Margaritaville, and Rosa Sky. Improper handwashing is the single most direct route by which pathogens move from a food worker's hands to a customer's plate. The citations at these facilities were not just for skipping handwashing entirely but in several cases for using improper technique, meaning attempts were made but pathogens were left behind.
At Mikes at Venetia, Snappers Fish and Chicken, Ficelle, Delicias de Espana 2, El Gallego, and El Novillo, inspectors also flagged food from unapproved or unknown sources. When food bypasses licensed suppliers, there is no chain of traceability. If a customer gets sick, investigators cannot identify the source, cannot issue a recall, and cannot stop others from being exposed.
The shellfish traceability failures at Mikes at Venetia, Snappers, Ficelle, Delicias de Espana 2, El Gallego, and Margaritaville carry a specific risk profile. Oysters, clams, and mussels are frequently eaten raw or lightly cooked, and the tag system that tracks each harvest batch to its source exists precisely because shellfish filter large volumes of water and can concentrate pathogens like Vibrio and norovirus. Without those tags, there is no way to trace an illness back to a contaminated harvest lot.
At Sticky Rice, the parasite destruction failure is the most acute individual finding of the week. Certain fish served raw or undercooked, including species commonly used in sushi, require documented freezing at specific temperatures for specific durations before service. When that step is skipped, parasites including Anisakis survive and can cause severe gastrointestinal injury in customers.
The Longer Record
Snappers Fish and Chicken carries the longest inspection history of any facility cited this week, with 51 prior inspections on record. Nine high-severity violations this week, including inadequate handwashing facilities and food from unapproved sources, are not the findings of a new or inexperienced operation.
Dona Paulina I has 29 prior inspections, Delicias de Espana 2 has 31, and El Novillo has 27. All three were cited again this week for violations in categories, including food sourcing and chemical storage, that appear across their extended records.
Ficelle Boulangerie and Le Bistro by Ficelle has only 14 prior inspections, making it one of the newer operations in this week's data. Nine high-severity violations, including food from unapproved sources and no employee health policy, at that stage of a facility's record suggests foundational compliance problems that were not corrected early.
Rosa Sky and Margaritaville Bayside each have only 8 prior inspections on record. Both drew multiple high-severity violations this week, including food in poor condition and unsanitized food contact surfaces at Rosa Sky, and no person in charge at Margaritaville. Neither has had enough inspections to show a pattern, but both are accumulating serious citations in their earliest visits.
Club de la Milanesa was emergency-closed for rodent activity on May 12 and carries 26 prior inspections. The sole violation on its inspection report this week was no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, but the emergency closure record stands separate from that citation.