MIAMI, FL. A state inspector visiting Snappers Fish and Chicken at 18312 NW 7 Ave on August 31 found that food was not being cooked to required minimum temperatures, a violation that means Salmonella and other pathogens can survive in poultry served directly to customers. The restaurant was not closed.
That single finding was one of seven high-severity violations documented during the visit, alongside three intermediate violations. State records show the facility has now accumulated 812 total violations across 53 inspections on record, and has never been emergency-closed.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooked food violation is the most direct threat to anyone who ate at Snappers that day. At a fish and chicken restaurant, the failure to reach required minimum temperatures means that whatever Salmonella or other heat-sensitive pathogens were present in the raw product were not killed before the food reached a plate.
Inspectors also cited an employee for not reporting symptoms of illness. That violation sits alongside two separate handwashing citations: inadequate handwashing facilities, meaning the physical infrastructure to wash hands properly was not in place, and improper handwashing technique, meaning that even when employees attempted to wash their hands, they were not doing it correctly.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled. At a restaurant where food contact surfaces were simultaneously cited for not being properly cleaned or sanitized, the proximity of unlabeled or misplaced chemicals to food preparation areas compounds the contamination risk considerably.
The facility also lacked a required consumer advisory for any raw or undercooked items on the menu. Without that disclosure, a pregnant customer, an elderly diner, or anyone with a compromised immune system has no way of knowing they are ordering something that carries an elevated risk.
Improper sewage or wastewater disposal rounded out the intermediate violations, alongside multi-use utensils not properly cleaned and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of an illness non-reporting violation with two separate handwashing failures is what epidemiologists call a direct transmission pathway. If a sick employee does not report symptoms, continues working, and then fails to wash hands correctly or cannot wash hands at all because the facility lacks adequate infrastructure, the route from that employee to a customer's food is essentially unobstructed. Norovirus, which spreads through exactly this chain, can sicken dozens of people from a single infected food handler.
The undercooked food violation at a chicken-focused restaurant is not abstract. Salmonella survives in poultry below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A customer who ordered fried chicken from Snappers on August 31 had no way of knowing whether the piece they received had reached that threshold.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces and multi-use utensils compound every other violation. Bacterial biofilms form on poorly sanitized surfaces within 24 hours and resist standard cleaning once established. In a kitchen where handwashing is also compromised, those surfaces become a persistent reservoir for whatever pathogens employees or raw proteins introduce.
The improper sewage disposal citation is the one that most readers might underestimate. Raw sewage contains fecal coliform bacteria and can contaminate a facility broadly if wastewater is not routed and contained correctly. In a kitchen where food contact surfaces are already cited as unsanitized, a sewage handling failure is not a peripheral concern.
The Longer Record
Fifty-three inspections. Eight hundred and twelve total violations. Zero emergency closures. That is the full arc of Snappers Fish and Chicken's inspection history as state records show it.
The August 31 visit is not an outlier. On September 4, 2025, inspectors documented 7 high-severity and 4 intermediate violations. On May 18, 2026, the facility was inspected twice in a single day: the first visit produced 7 high and 4 intermediate violations, the second produced 9 high and 3 intermediate violations. A follow-up two days later, on May 20, still found 2 high and 1 intermediate violation.
The pattern in the violation categories is consistent across years. High-severity findings appear in the 2024 inspections as well: 7 high and 4 intermediate on July 15, 2024, and 5 high and 4 intermediate on November 13, 2024. The facility has never, in 53 recorded inspections, been ordered to close.
The violations documented on August 31 are not a new low for this address. They are the continuation of a record that stretches back across multiple years and hundreds of citations, in a restaurant that, as of the date of that inspection, remained open for business.
