MIAMI, FL. Inspectors flagged 15 restaurants across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties for three or more high-severity violations during the week of July 18, 2026, with two locations each accumulating 12 high-severity citations and a third close behind at 11.
The Worst of the Week
Manila Kantina Asian Food and Grocery on East Flagler Street in Miami drew 12 high-severity violations, the most of any facility this week. Among the citations: employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate and improperly executed handwashing, food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, missing shellfish traceability records, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, and food not cooked to required minimum temperatures.
Huang's China Buffet on West 18th Avenue in Hialeah matched that count with 12 high-severity violations of its own. Inspectors cited the absence of a person in charge, no written employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved sources, food in poor condition, and missing shellfish identification records.
Tropical Chinese Restaurant on Bird Road in Miami logged 11 high-severity violations. The citations included no person in charge, employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved sources, missing shellfish traceability records, unclean food contact surfaces, food not cooked to temperature, and time used improperly as a public health control.
Downtown Miami and the Flagler Street Corridor
Two restaurants in or near downtown Miami drew heavy citation totals within blocks of each other.
Cacique Lunch on West Flagler Street accumulated 10 high-severity and 5 intermediate violations. Inspectors cited no person in charge, employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, missing shellfish records, parasite destruction procedures not followed, unclean food contact surfaces, food not cooked to temperature, and improper use of time as a public health control.
Manila Kantina sits at 245 East Flagler, Cacique Lunch at 112 West Flagler. Both drew double-digit high-severity totals in the same inspection week.
Across the Tri-County Area
Fritanga Monte Limar on SW 72nd Street in Miami was cited for 10 high-severity violations, including no person in charge, employees not reporting illness symptoms, food in poor condition, unclean food contact surfaces, food not cooked to temperature, improper use of time controls, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic chemicals improperly stored.
Lil Greenhouse Grill on NW 3rd Avenue in Miami drew 10 high-severity citations. Inspectors documented employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing, food from unapproved sources, food in poor condition, unclean food contact surfaces, food not cooked to temperature, improper time controls, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Rinconcito Latino Cafe and Restaurant on SW 42nd Street in Miami also reached 10 high-severity violations. The record shows employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved sources, missing shellfish records, unclean food contact surfaces, food not cooked to temperature, and improper time controls.
Los Mejores Tamales de Miami on East 16th Street in Hialeah was cited for 10 high-severity violations, including no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved sources, missing shellfish records, unclean food contact surfaces, food not cooked to temperature, and improper time controls.
Koi Endless Gourmet Grill and Sushi on Okeechobee Boulevard in Royal Palm Beach was the lone Palm Beach County entry with 10 high-severity violations. Inspectors cited no person in charge, no written employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved sources, missing shellfish traceability records, and unclean food contact surfaces.
Donde Yubra Latin Food-Restaurant on North University Drive in Coral Springs was the only Broward County facility in this week's group, drawing 8 high-severity violations: inadequate handwashing, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved sources, food in poor condition, food not cooked to temperature, improper time controls, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic substances improperly stored.
Delicias Restaurant on SW 56th Street in Miami drew 5 high-severity citations, including no employee health policy, improper handwashing technique, food in poor condition, unclean food contact surfaces, and toxic chemicals improperly stored.
Caribe Cafeteria Restaurant on SW 137th Avenue in Miami was cited for 4 high-severity violations: improper handwashing technique, unclean food contact surfaces, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic chemicals improperly stored. Inspectors also flagged improper sewage or wastewater disposal as an intermediate violation.
Tiffanie Restaurant on 167th Street in North Miami Beach drew 4 high-severity violations, including employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, unclean food contact surfaces, and food not cooked to temperature.
Tacology at South Miami Avenue in Miami was cited for 3 high-severity violations: inadequate handwashing, unclean food contact surfaces, and food not cooked to temperature.
Sergio's Restaurant on Bird Road in Miami drew 3 high-severity violations: unclean food contact surfaces, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic chemicals improperly stored.
What These Violations Mean
The single most common high-severity citation across this week's 15 facilities was food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, appearing at 13 of them. Cutting boards, prep tables, slicers, and similar surfaces that touch food directly become transfer points for bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli when they are not properly cleaned between uses. The problem appeared at facilities ranging from a downtown Miami lunch counter to a Hialeah buffet to a Royal Palm Beach sushi restaurant.
Eleven facilities this week were cited for employees not reporting illness symptoms. When a food worker with Norovirus or Salmonella continues handling food without reporting symptoms, the transmission pathway is direct and immediate. Norovirus is responsible for roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, and a single infected food handler can expose hundreds of customers. Huang's China Buffet, Koi Endless Gourmet Grill and Sushi, and Lil Greenhouse Grill were among the facilities where this violation appeared alongside missing employee health policies, meaning no formal system existed to prompt workers to report in the first place.
Six facilities this week were cited for food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers: Manila Kantina, Huang's China Buffet, Tropical Chinese Restaurant, Lil Greenhouse Grill, Rinconcito Latino Cafe, Koi Endless Gourmet Grill and Sushi, Los Mejores Tamales de Miami, and Donde Yubra. When food enters a restaurant through an unregulated channel, it bypasses federal and state safety inspections entirely. If a customer becomes ill, investigators have no supply chain to trace.
Five facilities were also cited for parasite destruction procedures not followed or inadequate shellfish traceability records, including Manila Kantina, Cacique Lunch, Tropical Chinese Restaurant, Rinconcito Latino, and Los Mejores Tamales. Shellfish consumed raw or lightly cooked carry elevated risk of Vibrio and other pathogens; without tag records linking the product to a licensed harvester, there is no way to trace a contaminated batch after someone gets sick.
The Longer Record
The data does not include prior inspection counts for these facilities, which limits the ability to say with precision which locations are chronic underperformers and which are accumulating citations early in their inspection histories. What the records do show is the distribution of violations across a single week: 13 of the 15 flagged facilities are in Miami-Dade County, with the remaining two split between Palm Beach and Broward.
The concentration along specific corridors is notable. Tropical Chinese Restaurant and Sergio's Restaurant both operate on Bird Road in Miami, and both drew high-severity citations this week, though for different violation categories. The two Flagler Street restaurants, Manila Kantina and Cacique Lunch, together logged 22 high-severity violations between them in the same inspection window.
Koi Endless Gourmet Grill and Sushi in Royal Palm Beach stands out as the only facility outside Miami-Dade in the double-digit high-severity range, with 10 citations including no person in charge, no employee health policy, inadequate handwashing infrastructure, and food from unapproved sources. All four of those violations point toward systemic management failures rather than isolated lapses.
Huang's China Buffet in Hialeah drew 12 high-severity violations and also lacked adequate handwashing facilities, meaning the physical infrastructure to support basic hygiene was absent. That citation, combined with no person in charge and no written employee health policy, describes a facility where the systems meant to prevent illness were not in place at the time of inspection.
