MIAMI BEACH, FL. Inspectors who walked into Parrilla @ 12 on Washington Avenue on June 12 found food sourced from unknown or unapproved suppliers, toxic chemicals stored or labeled improperly near food, and no person in charge present or performing duties. The restaurant, which sits at 1255 Washington Ave in the heart of Miami Beach, was cited for six high-severity violations and two intermediate violations. It was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation is among the most serious inspectors can cite. Food from unapproved or unknown suppliers has not passed USDA or FDA safety inspections, meaning there is no chain of custody if a customer becomes ill. At Parrilla @ 12, inspectors could not verify where some of the food on hand had come from.
Toxic chemicals stored or labeled improperly near food represent a direct contamination risk. A mislabeled chemical can be mistaken for a food-safe product. One improperly stored container near a prep surface is all it takes to introduce a poisoning risk into a meal.
The handwashing violation compounds both of those findings. Without functioning, accessible handwashing facilities, employees handling food from unknown sources, working on unsanitized surfaces, and reusing single-use items have no reliable way to break the contamination chain.
No manager was on duty or performing supervisory duties at the time of the inspection. According to CDC data cited in the violation record, establishments without active managerial control accumulate critical violations at three times the rate of those with a responsible person in charge.
What These Violations Mean
The food sourcing violation is not a paperwork problem. When a restaurant cannot document where its food came from, there is no way to trace the origin of an illness outbreak. If a customer at Parrilla @ 12 became sick after eating there on June 12, investigators would have no supplier records to pull. Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli are among the pathogens that approved sourcing requirements are specifically designed to screen out.
The improperly cleaned food contact surfaces violation at Parrilla @ 12 creates a second transmission route. Cutting boards, prep tables, and utensils that are not properly sanitized between uses can transfer bacteria from one food item to the next. Combined with the absence of functional handwashing facilities, those surfaces become a relay point for whatever contaminants entered the kitchen.
The missing consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods matters most for specific groups: pregnant women, elderly customers, young children, and anyone with a compromised immune system. A parrilla, by nature, serves grilled and often undercooked meats. Without a posted advisory, those customers have no way to make an informed choice about their order.
The chemical storage violation adds a risk that has nothing to do with bacteria. Improperly labeled or stored cleaning agents near food can cause acute poisoning. That risk is not theoretical, it is immediate and dose-dependent.
The Longer Record
The June 12 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Parrilla @ 12 has been inspected 26 times and has accumulated 263 total violations across its history. The pattern of high-severity citations is consistent and recent.
In December 2024, inspectors cited the restaurant for six high-severity and three intermediate violations, the same high-severity count as the June 12 inspection. In April 2025, they found four high-severity and four intermediate violations. In July 2025, a single inspection visit produced seven high-severity and two intermediate violations, the highest single-day count in the recent record.
Parrilla @ 12: Recent Inspection History
The restaurant does have one prior emergency closure on record, and it happened on the same date as the June 12 inspection. Inspectors found roach activity significant enough to order the restaurant shut. A follow-up inspection the next day, June 13, found one remaining high-severity violation, and the restaurant was allowed to reopen.
The roach activity that triggered the closure is not reflected in the six high-severity violations listed above. Those six violations, including the unapproved food source and the improperly stored chemicals, existed alongside the pest finding that actually prompted the shutdown order.
Open for Business
The six high-severity violations documented on June 12 did not, on their own, result in a closure order. The restaurant was permitted to remain open after the inspection, with the roach activity cited separately as the basis for the emergency closure that day.
As of the June 13 follow-up, one high-severity violation remained on record. The restaurant had reopened.
Two hundred sixty-three violations across 26 inspections. Six high-severity citations on a single afternoon in June. Food from a source inspectors could not verify, chemicals stored near that food, and no manager watching any of it. Parrilla @ 12 served customers through all of it.