CORAL GABLES, FL. State inspectors walked into RoSteakhouse at 121 Alhambra Plaza on September 29, 2026, and found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, meaning no USDA or FDA inspection trail existed for ingredients being served to customers that day.
That was one of ten high-severity violations documented in a single visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The shellfish traceability violation compounded the sourcing problem. Oysters, clams, and mussels served raw or lightly cooked carry a higher baseline risk of Vibrio and norovirus than most other proteins. Without shell stock identification records, there is no way to trace a sick customer's illness back to a specific harvest lot, harvester, or date.
Inspectors also documented food not cooked to the required minimum temperature. For a steakhouse, that finding cuts to the core of the operation.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled near food. That violation sits alongside the food sourcing and temperature findings as the three most acute immediate hazards in the September 29 report.
Three separate handwashing violations were cited in the same inspection: employees not washing adequately, employees using improper technique, and handwashing facilities themselves found to be inadequate. All three in a single visit. No person in charge was present or performing duties when inspectors arrived.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved sources is not a paperwork problem. It means the ingredients arriving at RoSteakhouse bypassed the federal inspection system designed to screen for Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli before product reaches a kitchen. If a customer gets sick and investigators need to trace the source, there is no chain of custody to follow.
The shellfish records violation narrows that traceability gap even further for one of the highest-risk food categories on any menu. Shellfish filter water and concentrate whatever pathogens are present in their harvest environment. The tag system exists precisely because outbreaks can be traced to a single harvest bed on a single day, but only if the records exist.
Undercooking at a steakhouse, paired with no consumer advisory posted for customers, left diners with no information to make an informed choice. Pregnant women, elderly customers, and anyone with a compromised immune system face the sharpest consequences from undercooked proteins, and the September 29 inspection found no notice warning them.
Three simultaneous handwashing failures describe a kitchen where the most basic contamination barrier had broken down completely. Inadequate facilities make proper hygiene structurally impossible. Improper technique means that even when employees try to wash their hands, pathogens survive the attempt. Both problems existed at RoSteakhouse at the same time, with no manager present to catch or correct either one.
The Longer Record
RoSteakhouse has four inspections on record, with 31 total violations documented across those visits. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
The September 29, 2026 inspection is by far the worst in that record. The prior visit, on March 31, 2026, produced four high-severity violations and two intermediate violations, which was already a significant finding. Before that, a September 2025 inspection found no high-severity violations at all.
The trajectory from zero high-severity violations in September 2025 to four in March 2026 to ten in September 2026 describes a kitchen moving in one direction. The most recent follow-up inspection, conducted October 9, 2026, found only one high-severity violation and one intermediate violation, suggesting rapid correction after the September visit. But the September 29 inspection happened, and the restaurant served customers throughout.
Open for Business
Florida's emergency closure authority exists for situations where inspectors determine an immediate threat to public health cannot be corrected on the spot. Ten high-severity violations at RoSteakhouse on September 29, including food from unknown sources, undercooking, improperly stored toxic chemicals, and a complete breakdown of handwashing infrastructure, did not meet that threshold.
The restaurant remained open that day.
