MIAMI, FL. Inspectors visiting Rice Mediterranean Kitchen / Doghouse at 50 SW 10th Street on June 16 found that the restaurant had not followed proper parasite destruction procedures, a violation that means fish served to customers may have contained live parasites, including Anisakis and tapeworm, capable of causing serious illness.

That was one of six high-severity violations documented in a single inspection. The restaurant remained open.

What Inspectors Found

1HIGHParasite destruction not followedFish served with live parasite risk
2HIGHFood not cooked to minimum temperaturePathogen survival risk
3HIGHFood contact surfaces not sanitizedCross-contamination vehicle
4HIGHTime as public health control misusedTemperature danger zone exposure
5HIGHNo consumer advisory for raw/undercooked foodsVulnerable customers not warned
6HIGHToxic chemicals improperly stored or labeledAcute poisoning risk
7INTImproper sanitizing solution or proceduresPathogens left alive on surfaces
8INTInadequate cooling and cold holding equipmentTemperature control failure
9INTSingle-use items improperly reusedContamination from reused disposables
10INTInadequate ventilation and lightingGrease vapor and air quality risk

The undercooked food violation compounds the parasite finding directly. Poultry that does not reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit can carry live Salmonella. At a Mediterranean kitchen where fish and meat are both prepared, two separate high-severity violations pointing to temperature failures in cooking and parasite elimination represent a compounding risk on the same plate.

Inspectors also cited the restaurant for food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Cutting boards, prep surfaces, and utensils that carry bacteria from one food to the next are one of the most common physical pathways for a foodborne illness outbreak to start.

Toxic chemicals were stored or labeled improperly, a violation that carries acute risk. Mislabeled or improperly stored cleaning chemicals near food can contaminate a dish without any visible sign.

The restaurant also lacked a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked menu items. That notice is the one mechanism that gives customers with weakened immune systems, pregnant women, the elderly, and young children the information they need to make a different choice.

What These Violations Mean

The parasite destruction failure is the violation that most directly affected every customer who ordered fish. When fish is not properly frozen at required temperatures before serving, parasites that live in the flesh, including Anisakis roundworm and various tapeworm species, survive into the finished dish. Cooking can eliminate them, but the undercooked food violation documents that cooking temperatures were also a problem here. Both safeguards failed at the same time.

The improper use of time as a public health control adds a third layer. When a kitchen opts to track time rather than temperature as its safety mechanism, food is permitted to sit in the bacterial growth zone, between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit, for a defined window before it must be discarded. If that tracking is not done correctly, food that should have been thrown out stays in service. Combined with inadequate cold holding equipment, also cited as an intermediate violation, there was no reliable backup system keeping food cold if the time records slipped.

The sanitizer violation ties the surface-cleaning failure together. Inspectors found both that food contact surfaces were not properly sanitized and that the sanitizing solution or procedures were inadequate. That means the chemical meant to kill bacteria left on surfaces after washing was either too weak to do its job or applied incorrectly. Any surface cleaned under those conditions remained a contamination source throughout service.

Reusing single-use items, also cited here, creates a contamination pathway that is difficult to trace. Gloves, foil, or utensils designed for one use carry whatever they touched the first time into the next contact.

The Longer Record

Rice Mediterranean Kitchen: Inspection History

June 20266 high, 4 intermediate violations. Restaurant remained open.
March 20268 high, 6 intermediate violations. Highest single-inspection count on record.
March 20254 high, 2 intermediate violations.
September 20249 high, 3 intermediate violations.
August 20243 high, 0 intermediate violations.
April 20240 high, 0 intermediate violations. Only clean inspection on record in recent history.
March 20241 high, 1 intermediate violations.
October 20233 high, 1 intermediate violations.

The June 16 inspection was the 26th on record for this location. Across those inspections, the facility has accumulated 160 total violations. It has never been emergency-closed.

The pattern across recent visits is consistent. In September 2024, inspectors found 9 high-severity violations. In March 2026, they found 8. The June 2026 visit, with 6 high-severity violations, fits directly into that band. There is no trajectory toward improvement visible in the record.

April 2024 stands out as an anomaly: zero high-severity violations, zero intermediate. That inspection is the only one in the recent run without a single serious citation. Every inspection before and after it found high-severity violations.

The restaurant has never been ordered closed despite six separate inspections showing four or more high-severity violations. The June 16 visit added 10 violations to that record. When inspectors left the building that afternoon, Rice Mediterranean Kitchen was still serving customers.