DORAL, FL. Toxic chemicals were stored improperly near food, shellfish arrived without the traceability records required to identify the source if a customer got sick, and employees were observed using handwashing technique that inspectors flagged as inadequate, all during a single visit to a Doral restaurant that walked away with no closure order.
State inspectors visited Sabor Venezolano at 10722 NW 74th Street on August 26 and documented six high-severity violations and four intermediate violations. The restaurant remained open.
What Inspectors Found
The chemical storage violation sits at the top of the list for immediate customer risk. Improperly stored or unlabeled toxic chemicals near food create a direct contamination route, one that produces acute poisoning with no visible warning in the food itself.
The shellfish traceability failure is a different category of danger. Without adequate shell stock identification records, there is no way to trace oysters, clams, or mussels back to their harvest source if a customer falls ill. That gap matters most during a shellfish-related outbreak, when days or hours can determine how many other people are exposed before a recall is issued.
No person in charge was present or performing duties during the inspection. Inspectors also found no written employee health policy, meaning there is no documented system for keeping sick workers out of food preparation.
Food contact surfaces, the cutting boards, prep tables, and equipment faces that touch food directly, were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Inspectors also cited improper sewage or wastewater disposal, inadequate cooling equipment, multi-use utensils that had not been properly cleaned, and insufficient ventilation and lighting.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no person in charge and no employee health policy is not a paperwork problem. CDC data shows that establishments without active managerial control record three times as many critical violations as those with a designated, engaged manager on site. The person-in-charge requirement exists precisely because violations cluster in their absence.
Without a written employee health policy, a worker with Norovirus, Hepatitis A, or Salmonella has no formal obligation to report symptoms or stay home. Norovirus alone accounts for an estimated 20 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States each year, and direct transmission from a sick food worker to a customer is one of its most common routes.
Improper handwashing technique compounds that risk. Even when an employee makes an attempt to wash their hands, incorrect technique, insufficient time, skipping certain surfaces, leaves pathogens behind. Studies show proper handwashing eliminates more than 99 percent of transient bacteria. Improper technique can leave the hands nearly as contaminated as before washing.
The inadequate cooling equipment citation at Sabor Venezolano means the facility lacked the mechanical capacity to hold food at or below the required 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Food sitting in the temperature range between 41 and 135 degrees, the zone where bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli multiply rapidly, can become dangerous within two hours. Without functioning equipment, that clock runs continuously.
The Longer Record
The August inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Sabor Venezolano has accumulated 214 total violations across 26 inspections on record.
The pattern runs deep. In October 2024, inspectors documented 10 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate violations in a single visit. Two months later, a January 2025 inspection produced 6 high-severity and 4 intermediate violations, an identical severity count to this August's findings. In October 2023, inspectors visited twice within three weeks, finding 7 high-severity violations on October 3 and 8 high-severity violations on October 24.
The July 2025 inspection history tells its own story. On July 14, inspectors found 5 high-severity violations and 2 intermediate violations. The following day, July 15, a follow-up inspection recorded 1 high-severity violation, suggesting some corrections were made. By August 2026, the high-severity count was back to 6.
Sabor Venezolano has never been emergency-closed in any of those 26 inspections.
Still Open
The August 26 inspection produced six high-severity violations, including toxic chemical storage near food, missing shellfish traceability records, a facility operating without a person in charge, no employee health policy, food contact surfaces that were not properly sanitized, and employees using improper handwashing technique.
The restaurant was not closed.
