SOUTH MIAMI, FL. State inspectors visited Old Lisbon on Sunset Drive on September 21, 2026, and found that food was not being cooked to the minimum required temperature, a violation that inspectors flag as a direct pathway for pathogens like Salmonella to survive and reach a customer's plate. The restaurant was not closed.
The September 21 inspection produced six high-severity violations and three intermediate violations. That combination, at a restaurant with 264 total violations across 22 inspections on record, was enough to document but not enough to trigger an emergency closure.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooking violation was not the only finding that put customers at direct risk. Inspectors also cited the restaurant for failing to properly use time as a public health control. When a kitchen opts to track time instead of temperature for food held in the danger zone, that system has to be managed precisely. At Old Lisbon in September, it was not.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, creating a cross-contamination pathway between whatever was prepared earlier and whatever came next. Cutting boards, prep surfaces, and similar equipment are the most direct route for bacteria to move from one food item to another without any visible sign that anything has gone wrong.
Inspectors also found that employees were not washing their hands correctly. The citation is not about whether workers washed their hands at all, but whether the technique was sufficient to actually remove pathogens. An incomplete wash leaves contamination on hands that then transfers to food.
No consumer advisory was posted for raw or undercooked items. Customers who ordered dishes that carry inherent risk, including the elderly, pregnant women, or anyone with a compromised immune system, had no way of knowing from the menu that a risk existed.
The person in charge was either not present or not performing their duties. That single failure tends to correlate with everything else on the list.
The intermediate violations added a separate layer of concern. Inspectors cited improper sewage or wastewater disposal, a finding that introduces the possibility of fecal contamination spreading through the facility. They also noted inadequate ventilation and lighting, and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities, which affects whether employees have the basic infrastructure to maintain hygiene in the first place.
What These Violations Mean
The undercooking violation is among the most consequential a restaurant can receive. Salmonella in poultry, for example, is not killed below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A customer who eats a piece of chicken that did not reach that temperature has consumed a live pathogen with no visible warning. The restaurant's kitchen, not the customer, is the last line of defense, and on September 21 that line was not holding.
The improper handwashing citation compounds the risk. Studies show that a handwashing attempt using incorrect technique, wrong duration, skipping soap, or failing to reach all surfaces, can leave as much contamination on hands as no wash at all. At Old Lisbon, inspectors found that employees were going through the motion without the result.
The sewage disposal violation is the one that tends to alarm public health officials most in combination with food preparation. Raw sewage carries E. coli, Hepatitis A, and a range of other pathogens. When wastewater is not properly contained and removed, those pathogens can reach prep surfaces, equipment, and food without any obvious sign of contamination.
The absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items is a legal requirement, not a suggestion. Without it, a diner with a suppressed immune system ordering a dish served rare has no way to make an informed choice. The restaurant made that choice for them.
The Longer Record
Twenty-two inspections. Two hundred sixty-four violations. Zero emergency closures.
That is the full inspection record for Old Lisbon as of September 2026. The September 21 visit was not an outlier. The February 2026 inspection produced seven high-severity violations and two intermediate ones. The September 2025 inspection produced nine high-severity violations and four intermediate ones. The March 2025 inspection produced eight high-severity violations and one intermediate. The pattern holds across years.
The August 2023 inspection produced ten high-severity violations and four intermediate ones, the highest single-inspection total in the available record. That visit was followed by inspections in November 2023, March 2024, and August 2024, each of which found between four and seven high-severity violations. No closure followed any of them.
A restaurant accumulating this volume of high-severity violations across this many inspections without a single emergency closure is not unusual under Florida's enforcement framework, but it is the kind of record that warrants attention. The violations documented in September 2026 were not the worst Old Lisbon has produced. They were close to average for this address.
Still Open
Old Lisbon remained open after the September 21 inspection. Customers who visited in the days that followed did so without any public notice that six high-severity violations, including undercooked food and improper sewage disposal, had been documented inside.
The inspection record is public. The restaurant's history on Sunset Drive spans 22 inspections and more than 264 violations. The doors stayed open.
