MIAMI BEACH, FL. State inspectors walked into Palace on Ocean Drive on June 19 and found food from unapproved or unknown sources being used in the kitchen, a violation that means some of what customers were served that day had bypassed federal safety inspections entirely.
That was one of seven high-severity violations documented in a single visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The shellfish violation compounded the sourcing problem. Inspectors cited inadequate shell stock identification and records, meaning oysters, clams, or mussels on the menu could not be traced to a certified harvester. That traceability gap matters most in an outbreak: without the records, health officials cannot identify where contaminated shellfish came from or pull it from other restaurants before more people get sick.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled near food. Inspectors also documented that employees were using improper hand and arm washing technique, meaning handwashing attempts were being made but pathogens were not being reliably removed.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, creating a direct transfer route for bacteria between prep cycles. Inspectors further found that time was not being used properly as a public health control, meaning food was sitting in the temperature danger zone, between 41 and 135 degrees, without adequate tracking of how long it had been there.
The restaurant posted no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved sources is not a paperwork problem. USDA and FDA inspections exist to screen for Listeria, Salmonella, and other pathogens before food reaches a kitchen. When a restaurant bypasses that chain, there is no way to know what was screened, what wasn't, or where the food originated if someone becomes ill.
The shellfish traceability violation sits directly on top of that risk. Shellfish are filter feeders that concentrate whatever is in the water around them, including norovirus and Vibrio bacteria. State rules require certified harvest tags to be kept on file precisely because shellfish-linked outbreaks require rapid source identification. Palace had neither adequate records nor, apparently, an approved source for at least some of what it was serving.
The improper handwashing technique violation is distinct from not washing hands at all. It means employees were going through the motions without the result. Combined with food contact surfaces that were not properly sanitized, the kitchen had two active cross-contamination pathways running simultaneously.
The missing consumer advisory is a legal requirement for any menu item served raw or undercooked. Pregnant women, elderly customers, and people with compromised immune systems are at significantly elevated risk from raw shellfish and undercooked proteins. Without the advisory, those customers had no way to make an informed choice.
The Longer Record
June 19 was not an outlier. State records show Palace has been inspected 35 times and has accumulated 375 total violations across that history. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
The eight most recent inspections tell a consistent story. In June 2025, inspectors found 10 high-severity violations in a single visit. That was followed by six high-severity violations in October 2025, four in December 2025, and eight in March 2026. The March visit, three months before the current inspection, produced the highest recent count.
There has not been a single inspection in the past two years that came back clean of high-severity violations. The lowest recent count was two high-severity violations in January 2025. Every other visit in that stretch landed at four or higher.
The categories cycling through the record include food sourcing, temperature control, and surface sanitation, the same categories present in the June 19 inspection. These are not new problems showing up for the first time. They are problems that inspectors have documented, that the facility has been put on notice about, and that have continued to appear.
Open for Business
Palace sits on Ocean Drive, one of the most heavily trafficked stretches of Miami Beach, drawing tourists, locals, and weekend visitors in volume. The June 19 inspection documented seven high-severity violations, including food from an unknown source, shellfish with no traceability records, and chemicals stored near food.
The restaurant was not closed.