MIAMI, FL. Dona Neli Restaurant 2 on SW 184th Street walked into the first week of September with 11 high-severity violations, the highest single-facility count inspectors recorded across Miami during the week of September 1, 2026, including citations for food from unapproved sources, employees not reporting illness symptoms, and inadequate shellfish traceability records.
The violations at Dona Neli were not isolated. Fifteen Miami restaurants drew high-severity citations during the seven-day stretch. Two were emergency-closed.
The Closures
Q'Onda Taqueria on SW 109th Court was emergency-closed on September 3 after inspectors documented roach and fly activity on the premises. The closure came alongside 8 high-severity violations, including food from unapproved sources, improperly stored toxic chemicals, and no person in charge present or performing duties.
Thyme Machine on SW 139th Court was emergency-closed on September 1, the first day of the inspection week, for temperature violations in storage. No URL was provided for Thyme Machine in state records reviewed for this report.
The Violations
IHOP at 12755 SW 88th Street drew 10 high-severity violations, the second-highest count of any facility this week. Inspectors cited the location for food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, inadequate handwashing facilities, food from unapproved sources, and missing shellfish identification records, among others. A consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods was also absent.
All You Need at 3301 NE 1st Avenue in Wynwood accumulated 9 high-severity violations, including a citation for parasite destruction procedures not followed, a violation that means fish or pork served at this location may not have been frozen or cooked to the temperatures required to kill Anisakis, tapeworm, or Trichinella. The location was also cited for food not cooked to minimum temperature and for misusing time as a public health control.
Q-Ban Cafe on SW 184th Street drew 9 high-severity violations. Inspectors found no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, food from unapproved sources, and improperly cleaned food contact surfaces. The facility was also cited for failing to maintain shellfish traceability records.
La Estacion Cafe at 1390 Brickell Avenue in the heart of Miami's financial district drew 9 high-severity violations. Citations included employees not reporting illness symptoms, food not cooked to minimum temperature, improperly stored toxic chemicals, and improper use of time as a public health control.
Adelita's House Cafe on NW 17th Avenue was cited for 8 high-severity violations, including a citation for no allergen awareness demonstrated. That means staff at this location could not adequately communicate to customers which menu items contain common allergens, a gap that has sent diners to emergency rooms in documented cases across the country.
Sea Siam at 12735 S Dixie Highway also drew 8 high-severity violations, including parasite destruction procedures not followed and required procedures for specialized processes not followed. Both citations are relevant for a Thai restaurant likely serving raw or lightly cooked fish preparations.
Amor di Pasta on NE 2nd Avenue had 7 high-severity violations, including no person in charge present, employees not reporting illness symptoms, and improper sewage or wastewater disposal. An improperly functioning sewage system creates a direct fecal contamination pathway through a facility.
El Tambo Restaurant on SW Kendall Drive drew 7 high-severity violations, including no allergen awareness and improperly stored toxic substances. Mayoral Sunset on SW 72nd Street matched that count, with citations for food in poor condition, food from unapproved sources, and missing consumer advisory language.
Cafe Honduras Maya at 2980 NW 7th Street drew 7 high-severity violations including food not cooked to required temperature, food from unapproved sources, and inadequate cooling equipment, a combination that means food at this location may have arrived outside the regulated supply chain and then been held at temperatures that allow bacterial growth.
Bagel Express on SW 88th Street drew 4 high-severity violations alongside improperly disposed sewage and single-use items being reused. Rinconcito de Alex El Paisa on SW 112th Street drew 3 high-severity violations and an intermediate citation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal. Sergio's Restaurant on SW 107th Avenue had the lowest high-severity count of the week, 3 violations, but among them was a citation for employees not reporting illness symptoms.
What These Violations Mean
The most common high-severity violation across this week's 15 facilities was improper handwashing technique, cited at Q'Onda Taqueria, Dona Neli, IHOP, All You Need, Q-Ban Cafe, La Estacion Cafe, Adelita's House Cafe, Sea Siam, El Tambo, Amor di Pasta, Cafe Honduras Maya, and Mayoral Sunset. The distinction matters: this is not a citation for skipping handwashing entirely. It means employees attempted to wash their hands but used a technique that leaves pathogens behind, making the act of washing functionally meaningless as a contamination barrier.
Food from unapproved sources, cited at Q'Onda Taqueria, Dona Neli, IHOP, All You Need, Q-Ban Cafe, La Estacion Cafe, Adelita's House Cafe, El Tambo, Cafe Honduras Maya, and Mayoral Sunset, is a traceability problem as much as a safety problem. When food enters a kitchen outside the licensed supply chain, there is no record of where it came from, no way to trace it if customers get sick, and no guarantee it passed federal inspection for Listeria, Salmonella, or E. coli contamination.
The employee illness violations at Q-Ban Cafe, Dona Neli, La Estacion Cafe, El Tambo, Amor di Pasta, and Sergio's Restaurant are the category that most directly precedes outbreaks. Norovirus, the leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States, spreads person-to-person and requires an infectious dose as small as 18 viral particles. A kitchen worker who reports to work with symptoms and handles ready-to-eat food without reporting that illness has a direct transmission route to every plate that leaves the kitchen.
The shellfish traceability violations at Dona Neli, IHOP, Q-Ban Cafe, La Estacion Cafe, and Sea Siam are among the most underappreciated citations on any inspection report. Oysters, clams, and mussels are filter feeders that concentrate bacteria and viruses from surrounding water. The tag system exists precisely because shellfish-related illness, including Vibrio and hepatitis A, is difficult to trace after the fact without harvest location records.
The Longer Record
Two facilities this week have the longest inspection histories in the data: Rinconcito de Alex El Paisa and Sergio's Restaurant each have 33 prior inspections on record. Rinconcito drew sewage disposal violations and single-use item reuse this week alongside its high-severity citations. Sergio's, with an equally long history, still drew a citation for employees not reporting illness symptoms, a foundational food safety failure that should have been addressed across three dozen prior inspection cycles.
Sea Siam has 31 prior inspections on record and drew 8 high-severity violations this week, including parasite destruction and specialized process failures. Bagel Express has 30 prior inspections and still carries citations for improperly cleaned food contact surfaces and reused single-use items. These are not facilities encountering the inspection process for the first time.
The outlier in the opposite direction is Cafe Honduras Maya on NW 7th Street, which has only 5 prior inspections on record, the fewest of any facility in this week's data, and already drew 7 high-severity violations. That includes inadequate cooling equipment, a structural problem that cannot be corrected by changing employee behavior alone.
Q-Ban Cafe has 18 prior inspections, the second-fewest among the higher-violation facilities, but still accumulated 9 high-severity citations this week. The emergency-closed Q'Onda Taqueria, with 27 prior inspections, had a person in charge not present when inspectors arrived on September 3, the same visit that documented the pest activity triggering the closure.
As of the close of this inspection week, state records do not indicate whether Thyme Machine on SW 139th Court, emergency-closed on September 1 for temperature violations in storage, had passed a follow-up inspection and been permitted to reopen.
