NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FL. Food at Sichuan Fish Restaurant Sichuan Cuisine on NE 163rd Street was not cooked to the required minimum temperature when state inspectors arrived on June 2, a high-severity violation that means pathogens like Salmonella, which survives in poultry below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, could have reached customers' plates. The restaurant was not emergency-closed.
Inspectors cited eight high-severity violations and six intermediate violations during that single visit, a total of 14 citations at a facility that has now accumulated 503 violations across 41 inspections on record.
What Inspectors Found
The shellfish violation is particularly notable for a restaurant built around fish and seafood. Inspectors found inadequate shell stock identification and records, meaning there was no documentation of where the shellfish came from. At a restaurant serving oysters, clams, or mussels, that gap in paperwork means no traceable supply chain if a customer falls ill.
The restaurant also had no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods, a separate high-severity citation. Customers who are elderly, pregnant, or immunocompromised are at elevated risk from raw shellfish and undercooked proteins, and without an advisory, they have no way to make an informed choice.
Two of the eight high-severity violations involved handwashing, both that employees were not washing their hands adequately and that the technique used was improper. The distinction matters: an employee who attempts to wash hands but uses incorrect technique still leaves pathogens on their hands before touching food.
Inspectors also cited food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, improper use of time as a public health control, and the absence of a person in charge performing supervisory duties. The intermediate violations included improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, single-use items being reused, inadequate cooling and cold holding equipment, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and improper use of wiping cloths.
What These Violations Mean
The undercooked food citation is one of the most direct risks in the June 2 report. When poultry or other proteins are pulled before reaching required internal temperatures, bacteria that would be killed by heat remain viable. Salmonella alone hospitalizes roughly 26,000 people in the United States each year, and the most common source is poultry that did not reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
The sewage violation compounds the picture. Improper wastewater disposal introduces fecal contamination risk throughout a kitchen, and when combined with improperly sanitized food contact surfaces and reused single-use items, multiple contamination pathways exist simultaneously in the same facility.
The shellfish traceability gap carries a specific consequence: if a customer gets sick from a raw oyster or clam served here, there is no record linking that shellfish to a specific harvest location, harvest date, or certified shipper. That documentation is the first tool regulators reach for during a foodborne illness investigation. Without it, the chain of evidence is broken before it begins.
The absence of an active person in charge is not a paperwork problem. CDC research shows establishments without active managerial control log three times more critical violations than those with engaged supervision. On June 2, that correlation was visible in the inspection report itself.
The Longer Record
Sichuan Fish Restaurant: Inspection History
The June 2 inspection is not an outlier. State records show Sichuan Fish Restaurant has been emergency-closed five times in its inspection history, three of them for rodent activity in a five-month span between December 2023 and April 2024. Each time, the restaurant reopened within two days.
The pattern of high-severity violations predates those closures. In July 2024, inspectors cited nine high-severity violations in a single visit. In January 2026, a separate inspection logged eight high-severity violations and two intermediate. The June 2 inspection matched that January count exactly.
Across 41 inspections on record, the facility has accumulated 503 total violations. Follow-up inspections on June 3 and June 4 showed the high-severity count dropping to three and then one, respectively, suggesting some corrections were made. The June 2 inspection, with eight high-severity citations including undercooked food, missing shellfish records, and no consumer advisory for raw dishes, did not result in an emergency closure order.