DAVIE, FL. A state inspector visiting Shimuja on SW 148th Avenue on July 15 found that the restaurant was not following parasite destruction procedures, a violation that means customers eating raw or lightly cooked fish could have been exposed to live parasites, including Anisakis roundworms and tapeworm larvae. That was one of eight high-severity violations documented that day. The restaurant was not closed.
The inspection also found that no person in charge was present or performing supervisory duties, that at least one employee had not reported illness symptoms as required, and that handwashing technique among staff was improper. Inspectors documented inadequate shell stock identification records, meaning the oysters, clams, or other shellfish on the menu could not be traced to their source. Food was not being cooked to required minimum temperatures. No consumer advisory was posted to warn diners about the risks of raw or undercooked items. Toxic substances were improperly identified, stored, or used somewhere on the premises.
One intermediate violation rounded out the inspection: multi-use utensils were not being properly cleaned.
The Violations
The parasite destruction violation is particularly significant at a restaurant that appears to serve raw fish. Florida food code requires that fish intended for raw consumption be frozen to specific temperatures for a set period of time to kill parasites. Without that step, a customer ordering sashimi or a raw-fish roll has no assurance that the fish on the plate was ever rendered parasite-safe.
The shell stock records violation compounds that concern. When shellfish arrive without proper identification tags and harvest records, there is no way to trace them back to a specific growing area if a customer becomes ill. Health officials investigating a potential outbreak would have nowhere to start.
The consumer advisory violation closes the loop. Even if a restaurant serves raw items, a posted advisory gives informed diners the chance to make their own choice. On July 15, no such advisory was visible at Shimuja.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of parasite destruction failures and missing shell stock records creates a layered risk for anyone who ate raw seafood at Shimuja around the time of this inspection. Parasites like Anisakis can cause severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and in some cases require surgical removal. They are killed by proper freezing or thorough cooking. When neither step is verified, the risk is real and unmitigated.
The illness reporting violation is a different kind of danger. When food workers who are symptomatic, whether with norovirus, Salmonella, or hepatitis A, continue handling food without reporting their condition, they become a direct transmission route to every customer they serve. Norovirus in particular is highly contagious and can be transferred to food by a sick worker with a single touch.
The absent manager finding is not a paperwork issue. CDC research consistently shows that restaurants without an active, knowledgeable person in charge at the time of inspection accumulate significantly more critical violations than those with engaged supervisory staff. On July 15, no one was effectively in charge at Shimuja when the inspector arrived.
Improperly cleaned multi-use utensils, the one intermediate violation, add a final layer. Bacterial biofilms form on utensil surfaces within 24 hours of inadequate cleaning, and those biofilms protect pathogens from sanitizers, meaning the problem compounds with each service.
The Longer Record
The July 15 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Shimuja has been inspected 30 times and has accumulated 176 total violations across that history. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern of high-severity violations is consistent and recent. In February 2026, five months before this inspection, the restaurant logged 9 high-severity and 3 intermediate violations. In August 2025, it logged 5 high-severity violations. In December 2024, a two-day inspection sequence produced 4 high-severity violations on one day and 1 high-severity violation the next. In March 2025, there were 4 high-severity and 2 intermediate violations.
The only clean inspection in the recent record was May 2024, when the restaurant logged zero high-severity and zero intermediate violations. That result stands alone.
The day after the July 15 inspection, a follow-up visit on July 16 found 1 high-severity violation remaining. Seven of the eight high-severity violations from the day before had been resolved, at least on paper, within 24 hours. The parasite destruction procedures, the shell stock records, the consumer advisory, the illness reporting gap, the absent manager: all of it was documented on a Tuesday.
Shimuja remained open through all of it.
