MIAMI, FL. Inspectors visiting Totoritas Restaurant on NW 36th Street this week documented 11 high-severity violations in a single visit, the highest count among 15 Miami facilities cited for serious food safety failures between September 21 and September 27, 2026.
The list at Totoritas included no person in charge present or performing duties, no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing, improper handwashing technique, inadequate shellstock identification records, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and food not cooked to required minimum temperatures. That is eight distinct high-severity categories at one address on NW 36th Street, each representing a separate breakdown in the facility's food safety system.
The Week's Worst Findings
Dunkin Donuts 07 on Biscayne Boulevard drew 10 high-severity violations, the second-highest count of the week. Among the citations: food from an unapproved or unknown source, parasite destruction procedures not followed, and food not cooked to required minimum temperatures. Those three violations together describe a facility where the origin of the food cannot be verified, parasites in fish or other proteins may not have been eliminated, and the cooking process itself is not finishing the job.
Rio Grande Churrascaria on SW 26th Street accumulated 5 high-severity and 6 intermediate violations. Inspectors cited the restaurant for food from an unapproved or unknown source, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and improper sewage or wastewater disposal. That last item, sewage disposal, appeared alongside the food sourcing violation at the same facility, a combination that puts contamination risk at both ends of the food handling process.
China Buffet on SW 67th Avenue drew 9 high-severity violations. The citation list included time as a public health control not properly used, inadequate shellstock identification records, and food not cooked to required minimum temperatures. A buffet format, where food sits in open trays for extended periods, makes the time-control violation particularly significant.
Burger King 5 on NW 27th Avenue was cited for 9 high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved or unknown source and parasite destruction procedures not followed. Those citations are unusual for a national chain location, where corporate supply chains are typically the mechanism that prevents unapproved sourcing.
Don Criollito on SW 132nd Court also drew 9 high-severity violations. Inspectors found food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated, alongside food from an unapproved source and parasite destruction procedures not followed. Food described as adulterated or mislabeled combined with an unverifiable supply chain represents a layered sourcing problem at that address.
Brisa de Espana on NW 26th Street received 9 high-severity citations. Inspectors noted inadequate handwashing facilities, meaning the physical infrastructure for hand hygiene was itself deficient, alongside food from an unapproved source and parasite destruction procedures not followed.
Casa Nane on SW 2nd Avenue drew 8 high-severity violations, including time as a public health control not properly used, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. Dunkin Donuts #20 on NE 2nd Avenue also reached 8 high-severity violations, with inspectors noting no allergen awareness demonstrated alongside food not cooked to required minimum temperatures.
Whisk Gourmet Food and Catering on SW 56th Avenue drew 6 high-severity violations. The citation for inadequate handwashing facilities, not just improper technique but physically insufficient facilities, appeared alongside a citation for no person in charge present or performing duties.
China Lee Restaurant on SW 8th Street received 6 high-severity violations, including toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled and no allergen awareness demonstrated. Fritanga Cañita on SW 26th Street drew 3 high-severity violations, including required procedures for specialized processes not followed, a citation that applies when facilities use smoking, curing, fermenting, or reduced-oxygen packaging without documented safety controls.
Manta Restaurant on NW 25th Street drew 2 high-severity violations and improper sewage or wastewater disposal at the intermediate level. El Meson del Paraiso on SW 120th Street received 2 high-severity violations, including toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Me Kong Chinese Restaurant on S Dixie Highway drew 5 high-severity violations, including improperly reused single-use items at the intermediate level.
What These Violations Mean
The most frequently cited high-severity violation this week was improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, appearing at twelve of the fifteen facilities. Cutting boards, prep tables, and slicing equipment that are not properly sanitized carry bacteria from one food item to the next. At a facility like Totoritas, where inspectors also found food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, that transfer happens and then the cooking step does not finish the job.
Food from unapproved or unknown sources was cited at Rio Grande Churrascaria, Dunkin Donuts 07, Burger King 5, Don Criollito, and Brisa de Espana. The issue is traceability. When a facility sources food outside the regulated supply chain, there is no inspection record, no lot number, and no way to trace an illness back to its origin if customers get sick. At Don Criollito, that citation appeared alongside food described as in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated, meaning the sourcing problem and the product quality problem existed at the same time.
Parasite destruction procedures not followed was cited at Dunkin Donuts 07, Burger King 5, Don Criollito, and Brisa de Espana. When fish, pork, or wild game is served without adequate freezing or cooking to eliminate parasites, organisms including Anisakis in fish and Trichinella in pork can survive to cause illness. That citation at a Dunkin Donuts location, a chain not typically associated with raw fish service, raises questions about what products triggered the finding.
Employees not reporting illness symptoms was cited at Rio Grande Churrascaria, Totoritas, China Buffet, Burger King 5, Brisa de Espana, Casa Nane, and Dunkin Donuts #20. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, spreads most efficiently through an infected food worker who continues to handle food. A written employee health policy, absent at several of these same facilities, is the mechanism that requires workers to report symptoms before they reach the prep line.
The Longer Record
Me Kong Chinese Restaurant on S Dixie Highway has 35 prior inspections on record, the most of any facility cited this week. That volume of inspections represents years of regulatory contact, and this week's visit still produced 5 high-severity violations including inadequate handwashing and improperly cleaned food contact surfaces.
Rio Grande Churrascaria and Totoritas each carry 34 prior inspections. At Totoritas, 34 prior inspections preceded a week in which inspectors found 11 high-severity violations across nearly every foundational category of food safety: management presence, employee health, handwashing, shellstock records, surface sanitation, and cooking temperatures. China Buffet has 32 prior inspections and drew 9 high-severity violations this week. Don Criollito has 29 prior inspections on record.
Casa Nane, by contrast, has only 7 prior inspections, the fewest of any facility in this week's data. It still drew 8 high-severity violations, including no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness, improper handwashing technique, undercooking, time-control failures, and improperly stored toxic chemicals. A facility that new to the inspection record accumulating that many serious citations in a single visit has not established the baseline safety practices that more established operations are still failing to maintain.
Dunkin Donuts #20 on NE 2nd Avenue has 17 prior inspections and drew 8 high-severity violations this week, including no allergen awareness demonstrated. Allergen failures are among the most acutely dangerous citation types because a single exposure can trigger anaphylaxis. Whether that facility has been cited for allergen failures in prior visits is not reflected in the current record.
