MIAMI BEACH, FL. State inspectors visiting Motek Miami Beach at 2701 Collins Ave on May 18, 2026 found food coming from unapproved or unknown sources, a violation that means some ingredients served to customers had bypassed every federal safety inspection designed to catch Listeria, Salmonella, and other pathogens before they reach a plate.
That was one of ten high-severity violations documented that day. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The unapproved food source violation was not the only finding tied to what customers were eating. Inspectors also cited the restaurant for food not cooked to the required minimum temperature. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and undercooking is consistently among the leading causes of foodborne illness outbreaks nationwide.
Shellfish traceability was also flagged. Inspectors cited inadequate shell stock identification and records, meaning the oysters, clams, or mussels served at Motek that day could not be traced back to a certified harvest site if a customer became ill.
Three separate violations pointed to the same breakdown in basic hygiene. Inspectors found inadequate handwashing facilities, improper hand and arm washing technique, and food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Together, those three citations describe a kitchen where pathogens can move from surface to hand to food without interruption.
No manager was actively performing supervisory duties when inspectors arrived, the records show.
What These Violations Mean
The food sourcing violation is among the most serious a restaurant can receive, and not only because of what it might contain. When food enters a kitchen from an unapproved or unknown source, there is no chain of custody. If a customer gets sick, health investigators have no paperwork to follow. The same logic applies to the shellfish records violation: oysters and clams are frequently consumed raw, and the harvest tag is the only tool public health officials have to identify a contaminated bed before more people are exposed.
The illness reporting failures compound that risk. Inspectors found no written employee health policy and documented that employees were not reporting symptoms of illness. Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million infections in the United States each year, spreads most efficiently through food handled by a symptomatic worker who has no policy requiring them to stay home or report to a manager.
The handwashing failures matter because proper technique is the single most effective barrier between a sick worker and a customer's food. Inspectors cited both the facilities themselves as inadequate and the technique used at those facilities as improper. That combination means the barrier was not functioning.
Time as a public health control, when used correctly, is an alternative to refrigeration for certain foods during service. When it is not properly documented or followed, food can sit in the bacterial growth zone, between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit, for hours longer than is safe, with no temperature record to show when the clock started.
The Longer Record
The May 2026 inspection was not an anomaly. Motek Miami Beach has 24 inspections on record with a cumulative 236 violations documented across that history.
The most direct comparison is October 7, 2025, when inspectors cited the restaurant for 11 high-severity and 3 intermediate violations. A follow-up inspection the next day, October 8, found 3 high-severity violations remaining. The May 2026 visit, with 10 high-severity citations, lands in the same tier as that prior inspection.
The December 2024 and October 2024 inspections tell a similar story. On October 2, 2024, inspectors found 8 high-severity and 6 intermediate violations. A follow-up the following day showed 1 high and 2 intermediate violations. The pattern across multiple inspection cycles is a spike of serious violations, a corrective follow-up, and then a return to serious violations months later.
Motek Miami Beach has never been emergency-closed in its inspection history, despite several visits that produced double-digit high-severity violation counts.
Open for Business
Florida law gives inspectors the authority to order an emergency closure when conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. Ten high-severity violations, including food from unapproved sources, undercooking, shellfish without traceability records, and a kitchen without functioning handwashing infrastructure, did not meet that threshold on May 18, 2026.
Motek Miami Beach remained open that day.