MIAMI, FL. Fifteen restaurants across Miami-Dade and Broward counties collected 141 high-severity violations during the week of July 8, 2026, with a single Homestead restaurant accounting for 13 of them, the worst single-facility count in this week's inspection records.
The Worst of the Week
Mayamex Restaurant on N Krome Avenue in Homestead drew 13 high-severity and 5 intermediate violations. The citation list included food from an unapproved or unknown source, food in poor condition, inadequate shell stock identification, and parasite destruction procedures not followed, alongside a finding that no person in charge was present or performing duties during the inspection.
Cuba Lives Restaurant on W 12th Avenue in Hialeah followed with 12 high-severity violations. Inspectors cited the restaurant for food from an unapproved source, inadequate shell stock records, and three separate handwashing failures: employees not washing hands, using improper technique, and no person in charge present to enforce either.
Cilantro Asian Bistro on W SR 84 in Davie also drew 12 high-severity violations, the only Broward County facility in the top tier this week. The citation list included inadequate handwashing facilities, meaning the infrastructure to wash hands was itself insufficient, combined with documented failures in both handwashing frequency and technique. Parasite destruction procedures were also cited.
Shois Restaurant on NW 112th Avenue in Miami logged 11 high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved source and food in poor condition. No person in charge was present, and inspectors documented both improper handwashing and improper technique.
Poke and Tea on Old Cutler Road in Cutler Bay collected 11 high-severity violations without a "person in charge" citation, meaning someone was nominally present but the violations still accumulated. The list included food from an unapproved source, food in poor condition, no shell stock identification, and parasite destruction procedures not followed.
Sushi Sake on SW 42nd Street in Miami drew 11 high-severity violations. One citation stood apart: time as a public health control not properly used, meaning food was being held in the temperature danger zone without the documentation required to make that practice legal under state rules.
Maison Valentine on 15th Street in Miami Beach sits in one of the most tourist-heavy corridors in South Florida. Inspectors cited it for 10 high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved source, food in poor condition, no shell stock identification, and inadequate handwashing facilities.
Happy's Stork Lounge and Rasoi Indian Kitchen on 79th Street Causeway in North Bay Village also drew 10 high-severity violations. Among them: food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, a finding that puts Salmonella and similar pathogens directly on the table.
The Rest of the List
Bonsai Sushi Bar Restaurant on NW 58th Street in Doral collected 9 high-severity violations. One finding was rare in this week's data: toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, a citation that points to cleaning or sanitizing products stored in proximity to food or preparation surfaces.
La Granja Chicken Steak and Seafood on Stirling Road in Davie, the second Broward County facility flagged this week, drew 9 high-severity violations including food not cooked to the required minimum temperature and time as a public health control not properly used.
Porto Alegre Brazilian Grill Restaurant on E 8th Avenue in Hialeah logged 9 high-severity violations, including parasite destruction procedures not followed and time as a public health control not properly used.
Maman on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami drew 9 high-severity violations. Inspectors cited food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic chemicals improperly stored, a combination that covers both cooking failures and the failure to warn customers about the risk.
Rey's Pizza on NW 122nd Street in Hialeah Gardens collected 9 high-severity violations including food not cooked to the required minimum temperature and time as a public health control not properly used.
Big Crazy Taco on N Krome Avenue in Homestead drew 4 high-severity violations, the lowest count among the 15 facilities flagged this week. The citations included inadequate handwashing, parasite destruction procedures not followed, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Pho Tastic on SW 88th Street in Miami drew 3 high-severity violations, the fewest of any facility on this week's list. Inspectors cited no employee health policy, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled.
What These Violations Mean
The most common high-severity violation across all 15 facilities this week was the absence of an employee health policy, cited at Mayamex, Cuba Lives, Cilantro Asian Bistro, Shois, Poke and Tea, Sushi Sake, Maison Valentine, Happy's Stork Lounge, Bonsai Sushi Bar, Porto Alegre, Maman, Rey's Pizza, and Pho Tastic. Without a written policy, there is no mechanism to keep a sick worker out of the kitchen. Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million illnesses per year in the United States, spreads most efficiently through exactly this gap.
Food from unapproved or unknown sources, cited at Mayamex, Cuba Lives, Shois, Poke and Tea, Sushi Sake, Maison Valentine, Happy's Stork Lounge, Bonsai Sushi Bar, La Granja, Porto Alegre, Maman, and Rey's Pizza, strips away the traceability chain that investigators rely on when people get sick. If an outbreak occurs and the origin of the food is unknown, health officials cannot trace it to a farm, distributor, or processing facility. The recall system breaks down entirely.
Parasite destruction failures, cited at Mayamex, Big Crazy Taco, Cilantro Asian Bistro, Poke and Tea, and Porto Alegre, are particularly significant given the volume of raw and lightly cooked fish served across this week's list. Fish parasites including Anisakis survive in undercooked or improperly frozen seafood. The required treatment is specific: freezing fish to minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit for seven days, or minus 31 degrees for 15 hours. Skipping that step is not a paperwork failure.
Undercooking citations at Happy's Stork Lounge, La Granja, Maman, and Rey's Pizza represent one of the most direct pathogen transmission routes in food safety. Salmonella in poultry is destroyed at 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Below that threshold, it survives. Each of those four facilities was cited this week for not meeting required minimum cooking temperatures.
The Longer Record
The data this week does not include prior inspection counts for individual facilities, which limits a full comparative history. What the violation totals alone can show is a pattern of systemic failure rather than isolated incidents. Thirteen of the 15 facilities on this week's list are in Miami-Dade County, with only Cilantro Asian Bistro and La Granja representing Broward. No Palm Beach County facilities appear in this week's high-severity data.
Several of the violations documented this week, particularly the combination of no person in charge, no employee health policy, and no illness reporting, tend to cluster together at facilities where management oversight has eroded rather than where a single procedural step was missed. That cluster appeared at Mayamex, Cuba Lives, Shois, Sushi Sake, Happy's Stork Lounge, Bonsai Sushi Bar, Porto Alegre, Maman, and Rey's Pizza, nine of the 15 facilities flagged this week.
Maison Valentine's location on 15th Street in Miami Beach, a block from Lincoln Road and within walking distance of dozens of hotels, puts it in a corridor where the customer base includes a high proportion of elderly visitors, international tourists, and people with compromised immune systems, exactly the populations most vulnerable to the violations inspectors documented there this week. The facility drew 10 high-severity citations. Whether prior inspections flagged similar issues at that address is a question the state's full inspection record would answer.
