NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FL. Inspectors found toxic chemicals improperly stored near food at Nick Caribbean Restaurant on West Dixie Highway on June 19, 2026, one of seven high-severity violations documented that day. The restaurant was not closed.
That same visit turned up food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, food contact surfaces that had not been properly cleaned or sanitized, and employees handling food without adequate handwashing. Seven high-severity violations in a single inspection. The restaurant continued to operate.
What Inspectors Found
The chemical storage violation is among the most acute risks a food facility can generate. Cleaning agents, sanitizers, and pesticides stored near or above food preparation areas can contaminate food directly, and mislabeled chemicals have caused acute poisoning cases when workers or customers came into contact with them.
The undercooked food violation compounds that risk. In Caribbean cuisine, poultry dishes are common. Salmonella survives in chicken cooked below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and a single undercooked serving can sicken an entire table.
Inspectors also cited the restaurant for not following required procedures for specialized processes, a violation that applies to methods like smoking, curing, and reduced-oxygen packaging. Those processes carry specific temperature and time requirements because they create conditions where dangerous bacteria can multiply rapidly if controls are not in place.
Three intermediate violations accompanied the seven high-severity findings: single-use items being reused, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and equipment in poor repair. Equipment with cracks, chips, or corroded surfaces cannot be effectively sanitized, giving bacteria places to survive between cleanings.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of inadequate handwashing and no employee health policy represents a direct transmission pathway for foodborne illness. Norovirus, one of the most common causes of food-related illness in the United States with roughly 20 million cases annually, spreads when a sick employee handles food without washing hands or is not required by policy to report illness and stay home. At Nick Caribbean Restaurant, both failures were present on the same day.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, the third high-severity violation, are how bacteria move from one food to another. A cutting board used for raw poultry that is not properly sanitized before being used for vegetables or cooked meat becomes a transfer point. That violation, combined with undercooking, means pathogens had both a vehicle and a survival route.
The consumer advisory violation matters specifically for vulnerable diners. Elderly customers, pregnant women, young children, and anyone with a compromised immune system face elevated risk from raw or undercooked foods. Without a posted advisory, those customers cannot make an informed choice about what they order.
The reuse of single-use items, gloves, cups, utensils, or foil not designed for repeated contact with food, adds another contamination layer. Items designed for one use accumulate bacteria on their surfaces after that use, and reusing them transfers that contamination to food.
The Longer Record
The June 19 inspection was not an isolated event. It was the third inspection in four days to find serious violations at this address. On June 16, inspectors visited twice: one visit found four high-severity and two intermediate violations; a second visit the same day found nine high-severity and four intermediate violations. That second June 16 inspection triggered an emergency closure for roach and rodent activity. The restaurant was allowed to continue operating after the June 19 inspection despite matching the same seven high-severity count as the prior closure visit.
The facility has 34 inspections on record and 369 total violations documented across its history. That is an average of more than 10 violations per inspection visit. The restaurant was also emergency-closed in February 2024, also for roach and rodent activity, and reopened the following day.
The pattern across the most recent inspection dates is consistent. The October 2025 visit found seven high-severity and three intermediate violations, the same counts as June 19. The March 2026 visit found four high-severity and two intermediate violations. Two visits in the spring of 2025 found zero high-severity violations, suggesting the restaurant is capable of meeting standards, but those clean visits have not held.
A restaurant with two prior emergency closures, 369 documented violations across 34 inspections, and three consecutive multi-day inspection failures in June 2026 remained open and serving customers after the most recent visit.