MIAMI, FL. Inspectors visiting Shorty's Bar-B-Que on South Dixie Highway on September 16, 2026 found that food was not being cooked to required minimum temperatures, a violation that state records flag as a leading cause of foodborne illness, and the restaurant was not closed.
That single finding was one of seven high-severity violations documented during that visit. The other six included improper handwashing technique, failure to follow parasite destruction procedures, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked items, and two separate citations for toxic chemicals that were improperly stored or labeled. Five intermediate violations accompanied the high-severity citations, covering sewage disposal, multi-use utensils, cooling equipment, reused single-use items, and inadequate ventilation.
Despite all of it, Shorty's remained open.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooked food citation is worth pausing on. State records note that Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit and can cause severe illness, particularly in children and the elderly. A barbecue restaurant serving food that has not reached required temperatures is not a technical paperwork problem.
The parasite destruction citation adds a separate layer of concern. Without proper freezing or cooking protocols, parasites including Anisakis and Trichinella can survive in fish and pork and be passed directly to customers. At a restaurant whose identity is built around smoked meats, that citation is not incidental.
Two distinct violations involving toxic chemicals appeared in the same inspection. One cited improper storage or labeling; the other cited improper identification, storage, and use. State records describe the risk as acute poisoning through contamination or mislabeling. Both violations appeared in a single visit.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of undercooking and no consumer advisory is particularly significant. When a restaurant serves food that may be raw or undercooked without posting a consumer advisory, customers who are pregnant, elderly, immunocompromised, or caring for young children have no way of knowing they face elevated risk. State code requires the advisory precisely because those groups can develop severe complications from pathogens that a healthy adult might shake off in a day or two.
The handwashing technique violation is easy to dismiss as minor. It is not. State health records draw a clear distinction between attempting to wash hands and actually removing pathogens. An employee who goes through the motion of handwashing without proper technique leaves bacteria on their hands and transfers it directly to food and surfaces. At Shorty's, that violation appeared alongside improperly cleaned food contact surfaces and multi-use utensils that were not properly cleaned, creating overlapping contamination routes.
The sewage disposal citation is the one that tends to stop people. Improper sewage or wastewater disposal creates the risk of fecal contamination spreading through a facility. It is classified intermediate rather than high-severity, but the underlying risk, raw sewage near food preparation areas, is not an intermediate problem.
Inadequate cooling equipment rounds out the picture. A restaurant that cannot maintain proper cold temperatures, and whose food is also not being cooked to required minimums, has failures at both ends of the temperature safety window simultaneously.
The Longer Record
September 16 was not an outlier. The day before, September 15, 2026, inspectors had documented 11 high-severity and 7 intermediate violations at the same location, the single worst inspection in the recent record. The September 16 visit, with 7 high and 5 intermediate violations, came the following day.
State records show 38 inspections on file for Shorty's, with 605 total violations across that history. In the twelve months before September 2026, inspectors visited the South Dixie Highway location repeatedly and found serious violations each time. The November 2025 visits, on consecutive days, produced 7 high and 7 intermediate violations on November 12, followed by 5 high and 4 intermediate on November 13. The September 2025 pair followed the same pattern: 9 high and 6 intermediate on September 18, then 4 high and 4 intermediate the following day.
The pattern of back-to-back inspections suggests the state was conducting follow-up visits to verify corrections. The violation counts on those follow-up days did not drop to zero.
Shorty's has never been emergency-closed, according to state records. Not after the 11 high-severity violations on September 15. Not after the 9 high-severity violations in September 2025. Not after 605 documented violations across 38 inspections.
The Restaurant Remained Open
After the September 16 inspection, with seven high-severity violations documented including undercooking, parasite risk, chemical mishandling, and contaminated surfaces, Shorty's Bar-B-Que on South Dixie Highway remained open for business.
State records show no emergency closure has ever been issued for this location.
