MIAMI, FL. Raccoon Coffee on Biscayne Boulevard drew 11 high-severity violations during the week of September 13, 2026, including citations for employees not reporting illness symptoms, no employee health policy, improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock records, parasite destruction failures, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and food held in the temperature danger zone without proper time controls.
The Biscayne Boulevard cafe shares that 11-violation mark with Mitricolor on SW 152nd Street. Mitricolor's list included the same illness-reporting and health-policy failures, plus inadequate shell stock identification and a citation for not properly using time as a public health control, a method that requires precise documentation to substitute for refrigeration.
The Week's Worst Findings
Three restaurants tied for the week's highest violation count. New York/Roma Pizza and Pasta on SE 2nd Avenue also reached 11 high-severity citations, and its list included two that the other two did not: food from an unapproved or unknown source, and food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated.
Food from an unapproved source is among the most serious findings inspectors can document. It means ingredients entered the kitchen through channels that bypass federal safety inspections, with no traceability if someone gets sick.
Old Cutler Inn on Old Cutler Road drew 10 high-severity violations, including a citation that the person in charge was not present or not performing duties. That citation appeared alongside failures in employee health policy, illness reporting, handwashing frequency, handwashing infrastructure, parasite destruction, minimum cooking temperatures, and consumer advisory posting. Old Cutler Inn has only four prior inspections on record.
Conch Heaven on NW 27th Avenue accumulated 9 high-severity violations and 7 intermediate ones, the highest intermediate count of any facility this week. The intermediate violations stack on top of high-severity citations for inadequate handwashing facilities, improper technique, parasite destruction failures, unsanitized food contact surfaces, missing consumer advisory, and improperly stored toxic chemicals.
Caffe Portofino on S. Dixie Highway drew 9 high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved source, inadequate shell stock identification, and a citation that the person in charge was absent or not performing duties. Shahs of Kabob on SW 12th Street also reached 9 high-severity violations, with food from an unapproved source, inadequate shell stock records, unsanitized food contact surfaces, and undercooking all cited in the same inspection.
Arepa.Bar on NW 36th Street and Casola's Pizzeria and Sub Shop on SW 17th Avenue each drew 9 high-severity violations. Casola's stood out for a citation that no allergen awareness was demonstrated, the only facility among the 15 to receive that finding. Food allergies trigger 30,000 emergency room visits annually in the United States, and a kitchen that cannot identify allergens in its own dishes has no reliable way to protect a customer who discloses a life-threatening allergy.
Osteria Vecchio Piemonte on SW 72nd Street drew 8 high-severity violations. Shorty's Bar-B-Que on S. Dixie Highway drew 7. Casa Juan on NW 7th Street drew 6, with improperly disposed sewage among its intermediate violations.
Tran An on NE 82nd Street drew 4 high-severity violations. Victory Restaurant and Lounge on NE 1st Avenue drew 3. Tutto Pasta on SW 3rd Avenue drew 1 high-severity violation, a food contact surface sanitation failure, alongside intermediate citations for sewage disposal and ventilation.
What These Violations Mean
The illness-reporting failures at Raccoon Coffee, Mitricolor, Old Cutler Inn, Conch Heaven, New York/Roma Pizza and Pasta, Arepa.Bar, and Casola's Pizzeria are not paperwork problems. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness in the United States, can be shed by a worker who feels only mild symptoms and spreads through food contact to dozens of customers in a single shift. A written employee health policy is the mechanism that tells workers when to stay home and what symptoms to report. Without one, the decision is left to individual judgment under the financial pressure of showing up for a shift.
The handwashing violations documented this week compound that risk. Inspectors cited improper technique at Raccoon Coffee, Mitricolor, New York/Roma, Old Cutler Inn, Conch Heaven, Shorty's Bar-B-Que, Casa Juan, Caffe Portofino, Shahs of Kabob, Osteria Vecchio Piemonte, Casola's Pizzeria, and Tran An. Improper technique means a handwashing attempt was made but pathogens remained on the hands. At Old Cutler Inn, inspectors found not only technique failures but also inadequate handwashing infrastructure, meaning the physical means to wash hands correctly was not in place.
The food source violations at New York/Roma Pizza and Pasta, Caffe Portofino, Shahs of Kabob, Arepa.Bar, and Osteria Vecchio Piemonte carry a specific consequence that goes beyond the individual meal. When food enters a kitchen from an unapproved supplier, there is no invoice trail, no USDA or FDA inspection record, and no recall pathway if a contamination event occurs. If a customer becomes ill, investigators cannot trace the ingredient back to its origin.
Parasite destruction failures at Shorty's Bar-B-Que, Mitricolor, Raccoon Coffee, Old Cutler Inn, Conch Heaven, Arepa.Bar, and Casola's Pizzeria mean that fish, pork, or wild game served at those restaurants was not subjected to the freezing or cooking protocols required to kill Anisakis larvae or Trichinella. These are not theoretical risks. Anisakiasis causes severe abdominal pain and requires endoscopic removal of larvae in serious cases.
The Longer Record
Casola's Pizzeria and Sub Shop has 45 prior inspections on record, the longest history of any facility cited this week, and it drew 8 high-severity violations in September 2026, including illness-reporting failures and toxic substance mishandling. Forty-five inspections is a substantial body of contact between a facility and state regulators. The allergen awareness citation, found nowhere else in this week's data, raises a specific question about whether that gap has been present across prior visits.
Conch Heaven has 42 prior inspections on record and this week produced the week's highest intermediate violation count alongside 9 high-severity findings. Shorty's Bar-B-Que carries 38 prior inspections, and its week included toxic chemical storage failures, parasite destruction failures, and a sewage disposal citation among its intermediate violations. Victory Restaurant and Lounge has 32 prior inspections; even its relatively shorter citation list this week included undercooking and improperly stored chemicals.
Old Cutler Inn presents the sharpest contrast. Four prior inspections, and already 10 high-severity violations in a single week, including the absence of a responsible person in charge, no employee health policy, and no functional handwashing infrastructure. A facility that new accumulating violations at that rate, in that range of categories, is not making early adjustment errors. It is operating with foundational gaps.
Mitricolor and Raccoon Coffee each carry 26 prior inspections. Both drew 11 high-severity violations this week. Whether those prior inspections documented similar failures in illness reporting, health policy, and parasite destruction is a question the longer inspection records would answer.
