MIAMI, FL. Inspectors visiting La Bodega Restaurant on SW 88th Street last week documented 11 high-severity violations in a single visit, including food sourced from unapproved suppliers, inadequate shellfish traceability records, and no written employee health policy, the worst single-facility tally among 15 Miami-Dade restaurants cited for serious violations the week of April 22, 2026.
The Worst of the Week
La Bodega's record included violations in nearly every critical category inspectors track: no person in charge performing supervisory duties, employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, food in poor condition, and shellfish served without the traceability records that allow health officials to trace an outbreak back to its source.
GO-GO on Alton Road in Miami Beach was not far behind, drawing 10 high-severity violations. Inspectors found no person in charge, employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing, food from unapproved sources, unsanitized food contact surfaces, and a failure to properly use time as a public health control, meaning food was allowed to sit in the temperature danger zone without documentation or corrective action.
Paseo Catracho on SW 8th Street drew 9 high-severity violations, including food from unapproved sources, toxic chemicals stored improperly near food, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items, and no person in charge present. Inspectors also cited the Calle Ocho restaurant for inadequate shellfish records.
Beach, Brickell, and Hialeah
New Campo Argentino on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach drew 9 high-severity violations, including a failure to follow parasite destruction procedures for fish, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and no consumer advisory for raw items. Collins Avenue restaurants draw heavy tourist traffic, and inspectors also cited the restaurant for food from unapproved sources and improperly stored toxic chemicals.
Two Hialeah restaurants on West 16th Avenue, less than two blocks apart, both drew serious citations. La Jato Restaurant at 3970 W 16 Ave accumulated 9 high-severity violations: no person in charge, no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, shellfish records missing, unsanitized food contact surfaces, no consumer advisory, and improperly stored chemicals. El Talisman Restaurant at 3887 W 16 Ave drew 8 high-severity violations, including food in poor condition, employees not washing hands adequately, no employee health policy, and toxic substances improperly identified and stored.
Sovereign of Miami LLC on NE 3rd Avenue drew 8 high-severity violations, including food not cooked to minimum temperatures, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food in poor condition, and time as a public health control not properly documented. The facility also lacked a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked food.
Rey's Pizza #6 on SW 137th Avenue drew 8 high-severity violations. Inspectors found food from unapproved sources, food not cooked to required temperatures, unsanitized food contact surfaces, employees not washing hands, and both improperly labeled chemicals and toxic substances improperly stored, two separate chemical-safety citations in a single visit.
MIA Market at 140 NE 39th Street, located in the Design District, drew 8 high-severity violations including no person in charge, food from unapproved sources, food not cooked to minimum temperatures, and food in poor condition.
Sushi Bombs on NW 77th Court in Miami Lakes drew 8 high-severity violations: no person in charge, employees not reporting illness, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved sources, food in poor condition, shellfish records inadequate, unsanitized food contact surfaces, and improperly stored chemicals.
The Chinese Restaurant on SW 112th Street drew 9 high-severity violations including no employee health policy, inadequate handwashing facilities, employees not reporting illness, food from unapproved sources, shellfish traceability records missing, and no consumer advisory.
Ming Yuan Restaurant on NW 2nd Avenue drew 4 high-severity violations, including two separate chemical-safety citations and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Vale Food Company Brickell on South Miami Avenue drew 4 high-severity violations including no employee health policy, parasite destruction procedures not followed, no consumer advisory, and improperly stored chemicals, plus an intermediate citation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal.
El Gallito Grill on SW 8th Avenue and Lo D'Alex on SW 8th Street each drew one high-severity violation for improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, along with identical intermediate citations for reusing single-use items and inadequate ventilation.
What These Violations Mean
The most alarming pattern this week is the cluster of facilities where employees were not required to report illness symptoms and no written health policy existed. La Bodega, GO-GO, Paseo Catracho, La Jato, El Talisman, Sushi Bombs, The Chinese Restaurant, and Vale Food Company all drew one or both of these violations. A food worker with Norovirus who handles ready-to-eat food can infect dozens of customers in a single shift. Without a written policy, there is no mechanism to remove that worker from the line.
The food-from-unapproved-sources violation, documented at La Bodega, GO-GO, Paseo Catracho, New Campo Argentino, The Chinese Restaurant, Sushi Bombs, Rey's Pizza, and MIA Market, carries a specific traceability consequence. When a customer gets sick, investigators trace the illness back through the supply chain. Food purchased outside licensed and inspected distributors has no paper trail. If an outbreak occurs at any of these eight facilities, health officials have no way to determine which supplier was the source or whether other restaurants received the same contaminated product.
Shellfish records were missing or inadequate at La Bodega, GO-GO, Paseo Catracho, Sushi Bombs, The Chinese Restaurant, La Jato, and Sovereign of Miami. Oysters, clams, and mussels are often consumed raw. State rules require shellstock tags to remain with each batch through service so that a specific harvest lot can be identified if customers develop illness. No tag means no traceability.
New Campo Argentino, Sovereign of Miami, and Vale Food Company were all cited for failing to follow parasite destruction procedures, which require fish intended for raw service to be frozen to specific temperatures for a set duration before it reaches a customer's plate. Without that step, parasites including Anisakis, a worm that can embed in the stomach lining, survive into the finished dish.
The Longer Record
Several facilities on this week's list are not new to state inspectors. Ming Yuan Restaurant on NW 2nd Avenue carries one of the longer inspection histories in this data set, suggesting inspectors have visited the location repeatedly over a period of years. The presence of dual chemical-safety violations and a missing consumer advisory in the most recent visit indicates the facility has not resolved compliance gaps across multiple inspection cycles.
The Chinese Restaurant on SW 112th Street also has a substantial inspection record, and this week's 9 high-severity citations, including the full cluster of handwashing failures, no health policy, no illness reporting, and food from unapproved sources, represent a serious accumulation for a facility that has been inspected before.
MIA Market in the Design District and Vale Food Company in Brickell both carry newer inspection histories relative to other facilities on this list. MIA Market drew 8 high-severity violations in what appears to be among its earlier inspections, including no person in charge and food not cooked to minimum temperatures. For a newer operation, that volume of critical findings at an early stage is a pattern worth watching.
GO-GO on Alton Road sits in a dense residential and commercial corridor on Miami Beach, a location that draws consistent foot traffic. Its 10 high-severity violations this week included the full suite of management and handwashing failures. No owner or manager response to the inspection findings appears in the public record.