MIAMI, FL. Food from unapproved or unknown sources was on the list when state inspectors walked into Shiraz Bistro & Market at 9630 SW 77 Ave on August 25, one of seven high-severity violations documented that day. The restaurant never closed.
The inspection turned up a total of 11 violations, seven of them high-severity and four intermediate. Under Florida's food safety framework, high-severity violations are the ones most directly linked to illness. Shiraz had seven of them in a single visit.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation is among the most serious a restaurant can receive. Food from unapproved or unknown sources has not passed USDA or FDA inspection, which means there is no documentation of where it came from, how it was handled, or whether it is safe. If someone gets sick, investigators have no chain of custody to trace.
The cooking temperature violation compounds that risk directly. Food not cooked to the required minimum temperature means pathogens that should have been destroyed by heat were not. Salmonella in poultry, for instance, survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Inspectors also cited improperly cleaned and sanitized food contact surfaces, a primary route for bacterial transfer between raw and ready-to-eat foods. That violation appeared alongside two separate handwashing failures: inadequate handwashing facilities and improper technique. Those two citations together mean employees both lacked the infrastructure to wash their hands correctly and were not doing so properly when they tried.
The citation for no person in charge present or performing duties rounds out a picture of a kitchen operating without active oversight on the day inspectors arrived.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of unapproved food sources and undercooked food is not theoretical risk. It is a direct pathway to illness. When food bypasses the regulatory supply chain, there is no way to verify it was produced, stored, or transported safely. When that food is then undercooked, any pathogens it carries survive to reach the customer's plate.
Handwashing failures amplify every other violation. Improper technique, documented here alongside inadequate facilities, means that even when employees attempted hand hygiene between tasks, the effort was insufficient to remove pathogens. Studies consistently show that most foodborne illness transmission in restaurant settings involves contaminated hands.
The sewage and waste disposal violations documented at Shiraz on August 25 add a separate contamination vector. Improper sewage disposal creates the possibility of fecal contamination spreading through the facility, and improperly managed waste draws pests. Combined with the improper use of wiping cloths, which can spread contamination from surface to surface rather than removing it, the August inspection describes a facility where multiple hygiene systems were failing at once.
The absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods is a narrower but significant concern. Customers who are elderly, pregnant, or immunocompromised are at elevated risk from undercooked proteins, and the advisory requirement exists precisely to let them make an informed decision. Without it, they cannot.
The Longer Record
The August 25 inspection did not happen in isolation. State records show 26 inspections on file for Shiraz Bistro & Market, with 301 total violations documented across that history.
The pattern in recent years is consistent. On December 11, 2025, inspectors found 8 high-severity and 3 intermediate violations. On August 14, 2025, the count was 8 high-severity and 3 intermediate, followed by a reinspection the next day that still produced 4 high and 2 intermediate. The March 2025 visit logged 4 high and 2 intermediate. The October 2024 inspection turned up 3 high and 5 intermediate violations.
Going further back, the August 2023 inspection produced 6 high-severity violations. The facility has never received an emergency closure order across all 26 inspections on record.
That last fact is worth sitting with. Shiraz has accumulated 301 documented violations, including multiple inspections with 8 high-severity citations in a single visit, and has never been ordered to close. The August 25 inspection, with its 7 high-severity violations including food from unapproved sources and undercooked food, did not change that.
Still Open
Florida's emergency closure authority is triggered when an inspector determines that conditions present an immediate threat to public health. The state did not exercise that authority after the August 25 inspection at Shiraz Bistro & Market.
The restaurant remained open.
The violations on file that day included food of unknown origin being served to customers, food not cooked to the temperatures required to kill pathogens, and a kitchen without adequate management oversight. State records show those conditions existed, were documented, and the facility continued operating.
Across 26 inspections and 301 total violations, it always has.
