SOUTH MIAMI, FL. Inspectors who visited Shahs of Kabob at 5975 72nd Street on August 18, 2026 found that the restaurant had no adequate records to trace its shellfish back to their source, meaning that if a customer got sick from oysters, clams, or mussels, there would be no way to identify where the shellfish came from or pull them from the food supply.
That was one of seven high-severity violations documented in a single inspection. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The handwashing violation is worth reading carefully. Inspectors did not cite staff for skipping handwashing entirely. They cited staff for doing it wrong, meaning employees were washing their hands and still leaving pathogens on them before handling food.
Food contact surfaces, the cutting boards, prep tables, and utensils that touch what customers eat, were cited as not properly cleaned or sanitized. That is a direct pathway for bacteria to move from one food item to another.
The restaurant was also cited for failing to follow required procedures for specialized food processes. Techniques like smoking, curing, or reduced-oxygen packaging require precise controls because they create conditions where dangerous bacteria, including Clostridium botulinum, can thrive if the process goes wrong. Inspectors found those controls were not in place.
Six intermediate violations accompanied the seven high-severity findings. Those included multi-use utensils that were not properly cleaned, single-use items being reused, wiping cloths handled improperly, inadequate ventilation and lighting, toilet facilities in inadequate condition, and equipment in poor repair.
What These Violations Mean
The shellfish traceability failure is not a paperwork problem. Oysters, clams, and mussels are among the highest-risk foods served in any restaurant because they are eaten raw or barely cooked. Shellfish can carry Vibrio bacteria and norovirus, and when someone gets sick, investigators need those harvest records to trace the source and stop others from being exposed. Without them, a foodborne illness investigation hits a wall.
The consumer advisory violation compounds that risk directly. Shahs of Kabob had no posted advisory warning customers that raw or undercooked foods carry elevated risk. Elderly diners, pregnant women, and anyone with a compromised immune system are most vulnerable, and they had no way of knowing from the menu that they needed to be cautious.
The time-as-public-health-control violation means the restaurant was using time, rather than refrigeration, to keep certain foods safe during service, which is a permitted method under state code. But it requires strict tracking of when food enters and exits the temperature danger zone. Inspectors found that tracking was not happening properly, meaning food could have been sitting in the range where bacteria multiply most rapidly, between 41 and 135 degrees, for an unknown length of time.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces and reused single-use items, cited together in the same inspection, describe a kitchen where contamination barriers were breaking down at multiple points simultaneously.
The Longer Record
The August 18 inspection was not an aberration. State records show 25 inspections on file for Shahs of Kabob, with 249 total violations accumulated across that history.
The restaurant was inspected again on August 19, the day after the violations were documented, and inspectors found five high-severity and two intermediate violations still present. A third inspection on August 21 found four high-severity and one intermediate violation remaining. That is three consecutive inspection days with high-severity findings.
The pattern extends well before August. In November 2025, inspectors documented seven high-severity and four intermediate violations in a single visit, a tally identical to this month's opening inspection. The month before that, in July 2025, five high-severity violations were cited. In December 2024, five more. In March 2025, three high-severity violations.
High-severity violations have appeared in every inspection on record going back through the data. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
Still Open
Florida's inspection system allows restaurants to remain open after high-severity violations if inspectors determine an immediate public health emergency does not exist. The distinction matters to regulators. It does not change what was found on August 18 at Shahs of Kabob: seven high-severity violations, including food with no traceability, a handwashing technique failure, improperly cleaned surfaces in contact with food, and no warning to customers eating raw items.
Two days after that inspection, with follow-up visits still finding high-severity violations, the restaurant at 5975 72nd Street was still serving customers.
