NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FL. Inspectors documented food not cooked to the required minimum temperature at Nick Caribbean Restaurant on West Dixie Highway on June 18, a violation that puts customers at direct risk of Salmonella and other pathogens that survive in undercooked poultry. The restaurant was not closed.
That finding was one of seven high-severity violations cited that day at the 14530 W Dixie Hwy location. Three intermediate violations accompanied them. Inspectors left the restaurant operating.
What Inspectors Found
The cooking temperature violation was not the only finding that pointed to food reaching customers in an unsafe state. Inspectors also cited food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, a primary vehicle for bacterial transfer between raw and ready-to-eat food. Cutting boards, prep surfaces, and utensils that are not properly sanitized can carry pathogens directly onto the next dish served.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled. Chemicals stored near food or without clear labeling can contaminate ingredients through spills, mislabeling, or cross-contact, and the resulting poisoning often mimics foodborne illness, making the source harder to trace.
Inspectors also cited inadequate handwashing by food employees. No employee health policy was on record, meaning the restaurant had no written system requiring sick workers to stay out of food handling. Required procedures for specialized food processes were not being followed. And the restaurant displayed no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items, leaving customers with no notice that certain dishes carried elevated risk.
What These Violations Mean
Undercooking is not a paperwork failure. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and a single serving from an undercooked bird can put a diner in the hospital. The absence of a consumer advisory compounds that risk: customers who are elderly, pregnant, or immunocompromised have no way of knowing a dish presents elevated danger if the restaurant does not disclose it.
The handwashing and health policy violations work together as a transmission system. Without a written employee health policy at Nick Caribbean Restaurant, a worker with Norovirus has no formal obligation to report symptoms or stay off the line. Norovirus spreads through contaminated hands to food surfaces to the next customer's plate. Improper handwashing is, according to public health researchers, the single most significant factor in spreading foodborne illness in restaurant settings.
Improperly stored toxic chemicals add a separate and acute risk. A mislabeled chemical bottle or a container stored above a prep surface creates a direct contamination pathway that has nothing to do with bacterial growth or cooking temperatures. It is immediate.
The intermediate violations, including equipment in poor repair and single-use items being reused, extend the contamination risk further. Cracked or corroded equipment harbors bacteria in places that cannot be effectively cleaned. Reused single-use items, whether gloves, cups, or foil, carry whatever contaminated them the first time directly into the next use.
The Longer Record
June 18 was not an anomaly. State records show Nick Caribbean Restaurant has accumulated 369 violations across 34 inspections on file. The restaurant was emergency-closed once before, in February 2024, after inspectors documented roach and rodent activity. It reopened the following day.
The pattern in the months surrounding this inspection is consistent. On June 16, two days before the June 18 visit, inspectors conducted two separate inspections and found 9 high-severity violations in one and 4 in the other. On June 19, the day after the inspection at the center of this story, inspectors returned and again found 7 high and 3 intermediate violations. The same totals, on consecutive days.
Going further back, the restaurant drew 7 high-severity violations in October 2025 and 4 in March 2026. Two inspections in mid-2025, in May and August, showed zero high-severity violations. Those clean visits now look like the exception in a record that otherwise reads as a sustained pattern of serious citations.
The 2024 emergency closure came after pest activity. The violations documented in June 2026 are different in character, centered on food handling, cooking, sanitation, and chemical storage, but the inspection frequency and violation counts reflect a facility that has been drawing serious citations at regular intervals for years.
Open for Business
State inspectors documented seven high-severity violations at Nick Caribbean Restaurant on June 18, 2026. They cited undercooking, unsanitized food contact surfaces, toxic chemical mishandling, inadequate handwashing, no employee health policy, no consumer advisory, and failures in specialized food processes.
They did not close it.