MIAMI, FL. A Homestead deli accumulated 13 high-severity violations in a single inspection last week, including food sourced from unapproved suppliers, no employee illness-reporting policy, and no person in charge on the premises, making it the worst-performing restaurant in a seven-day stretch that saw 15 South Florida restaurants collectively log 125 high-severity citations.
The Worst of the Week
Royal Palm Grill & Deli on North Krome Avenue in Homestead drew 13 high-severity violations, the most of any facility inspected this week across all three counties. Inspectors cited no person in charge on the premises, no written employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, and food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers. They also documented inadequate shellfish traceability records and failure to follow parasite destruction procedures for fish.
On Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, Havana Beach collected 12 high-severity violations. Inspectors found no person in charge, inadequate handwashing facilities, food from unapproved sources, food in poor condition, undercooked food, and improper use of time as a public health control. The facility sits on one of the most heavily trafficked tourist corridors in Florida.
Marabu, inside the Brickell City Centre complex at 701 South Miami Avenue, also logged 12 high-severity violations. The list included no person in charge, employees not reporting illness, food from unapproved sources, missing shellfish identification records, and failure to follow parasite destruction procedures.
Miami Beach and the Rest of Miami-Dade
Coyote on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach drew 10 high-severity violations, among them food in poor condition, food not cooked to minimum required temperature, improper use of time as a public health control, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. The Collins Avenue location puts it in the heart of South Beach's hotel and nightlife district.
Mi Lindo Ecuador on Northwest 26th Street in Miami accumulated 11 high-severity violations and 7 intermediate ones, the highest intermediate count of any facility this week. Inspectors cited employees not reporting illness, food from unapproved sources, food in poor condition, missing shellfish records, and improperly cleaned food contact surfaces.
Supermachi Grill & Bar on Northwest 2nd Street in Miami logged 9 high-severity violations, including no person in charge, employees not reporting illness, food from unapproved sources, and missing shellfish identification records.
Two restaurants on Crandon Boulevard in Key Biscayne were cited the same week. El Gran Inka drew 9 high-severity violations, including food from unapproved sources, undercooked food, no consumer advisory for raw items, and toxic chemicals improperly stored. A few blocks away, Lighthouse Cafe was cited for 4 high-severity violations, including inadequate handwashing and toxic chemicals stored or labeled improperly.
In Hialeah, two restaurants on East 4th Avenue were inspected within the same reporting period. La Rampa Restaurant drew 9 high-severity violations, including food in poor condition, undercooked food, and toxic chemicals improperly stored. One block away, El Imperio de la Comida logged 8 high-severity violations, including food from unapproved sources, undercooked food, and toxic substances improperly identified or used.
Lolita Restaurant Corp on Southwest 8th Avenue in Miami was cited for 8 high-severity violations, including employees not washing hands properly, food not cooked to minimum temperature, and toxic chemicals improperly stored. Mikes at Venetia, a ninth-floor restaurant at 555 Northeast 15th Street, drew 7 high-severity violations and an intermediate citation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal. Acai Express on Main Street in Miami collected 7 high-severity violations, including food from unapproved sources, failure to follow parasite destruction procedures, and toxic chemicals improperly stored.
Palm Beach County
The two Palm Beach County facilities in this week's data both fell on the serious end of the scale. Brandon's at 2842 South Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach drew 8 high-severity violations, including no person in charge, employees not reporting illness, no allergen awareness demonstrated, and two separate toxic substance citations covering both improper storage and improper identification and use. The South Ocean Boulevard address places it directly on the barrier island in one of the wealthiest zip codes in the country.
Long Island Bagel & Deli on State Road 7 in Boca Raton logged 6 high-severity violations, including food not cooked to minimum temperature, food in poor condition, improper handwashing technique, and toxic chemicals improperly stored. Inspectors also cited single-use items being improperly reused.
What These Violations Mean
The most widespread high-severity violation this week, appearing at nearly every facility on this list, was some combination of no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, and inadequate handwashing. At Royal Palm Grill, Marabu, Supermachi Grill, Mi Lindo Ecuador, Mikes at Venetia, and several others, all three failures appeared together. That combination is the most direct transmission route for Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States every year. A worker who is sick, has no written policy requiring them to report it, and does not wash their hands properly before handling food is a near-complete chain of transmission.
Food from unapproved sources, cited at Royal Palm Grill, Havana Beach, Marabu, Mi Lindo Ecuador, Supermachi Grill, El Gran Inka, El Imperio de la Comida, and Acai Express, carries a specific and serious consequence: if a customer gets sick, investigators cannot trace the food back to its origin. Approved suppliers are required to maintain records linking product to a specific farm, processor, or distributor. Food that enters a kitchen outside that system has no paper trail.
Parasite destruction failures, cited at Royal Palm Grill, Marabu, and Acai Express, apply to fish served raw or undercooked. The procedure requires fish to be frozen to specific temperatures for specific durations before service. Without it, parasites including Anisakis, which can embed in the stomach lining, survive to the plate.
Toxic chemical and substance violations appeared at Coyote, Lighthouse Cafe, Long Island Bagel, El Gran Inka, La Rampa, El Imperio de la Comida, Lolita, Mikes at Venetia, Acai Express, and Brandon's. That is ten of the fifteen facilities. Chemicals stored near food or mislabeled create the conditions for acute poisoning that can be indistinguishable from foodborne illness until a pattern of cases is investigated.
The Longer Record
The data does not include prior inspection counts for these facilities, which limits direct comparison of chronic versus new violators. What the violation profiles do reveal is a pattern of foundational failures, not isolated lapses. A restaurant that simultaneously lacks a person in charge, has no employee illness policy, sources food from unapproved suppliers, and fails to follow parasite destruction procedures is not experiencing a bad week. Those are structural gaps that accumulate over time.
The concentration of violations on two specific blocks in Hialeah, East 4th Avenue, where La Rampa and El Imperio de la Comida were both cited in the same reporting period, suggests inspectors were conducting area-focused sweeps. Both facilities shared overlapping violation categories: undercooked food, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and toxic substance handling failures.
The Key Biscayne cluster is also notable. Two restaurants on Crandon Boulevard, El Gran Inka and Lighthouse Cafe, were cited the same week. El Gran Inka's 9 high-severity violations included food from unapproved sources and no consumer advisory for raw items, a combination that is particularly acute in a Peruvian restaurant where ceviche, prepared with raw fish, is a core menu item.
Brandon's on South Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach remains the only facility this week cited for no allergen awareness, a violation that affects the 32 million Americans with diagnosed food allergies. That citation appeared alongside two separate toxic substance violations at the same location.