MIAMI, FL. A restaurant on the ninth floor of a Miami high-rise accumulated 11 high-severity violations in a single inspection during the week of May 14, 2026, the worst single-facility tally among 15 South Florida restaurants cited for serious food safety failures across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.
The Worst of the Week
Mikes at Venetia on NE 15th Street drew citations for no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved or unknown sources, inadequate shell stock identification, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized. The inspector also cited an absent or non-functioning person in charge.
That combination, a missing manager, sick workers with no reporting requirement, and food arriving from sources that bypass federal inspection, is among the most serious clusters an inspector can document in a single visit.
Miami-Dade: The Heaviest Week
Eleven of the 15 facilities cited this week were in Miami-Dade County. Maman on SE 8th Street in Miami matched Mikes at Venetia's severity level with 10 high-priority violations of its own, including food from unapproved sources, inadequate shell stock records, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food in poor condition or adulterated, food not cooked to minimum required temperature, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned.
Vice City Pizza on SW 147th Avenue drew nine high-severity citations. Inspectors documented no employee health policy, improper handwashing, food in poor condition, food not cooked to minimum temperature, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled.
Moo on SW 42nd Street was cited for five high-severity violations, including toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used alongside no employee health policy and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items. Inspectors also found multi-use utensils not properly cleaned and single-use items being reused.
Motek Miami Beach on Collins Avenue accumulated four high-severity violations, including an employee not reporting illness symptoms and food not cooked to required minimum temperature. The Collins Avenue location sits in one of Miami Beach's busiest tourist corridors.
Sabores Latinos on Washington Avenue in Miami Beach drew eight high-severity citations. Inspectors noted no person in charge, no employee health policy, improper handwashing technique, food not cooked to minimum temperature, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and two separate chemical storage violations: toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used.
Ceviche Bar on Crandon Boulevard in Key Biscayne was cited for five high-severity violations, including time as a public health control not properly used and toxic chemicals improperly stored near food, in addition to no person in charge, no employee health policy, and employees not reporting illness symptoms.
Snappers Fish and Chicken on NW 7th Avenue drew two high-severity violations for inadequate handwashing and improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, plus a citation for single-use items being reused.
News Cafe at Oh Mexico Taco Shop on Ocean Drive was cited for improper handwashing technique and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, along with improper sewage or wastewater disposal, a finding that creates risk of fecal contamination throughout a facility.
Ocean Drive's Coco Beach drew one high-severity citation for toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and a citation for multi-use utensils not properly cleaned.
Tacology on South Miami Avenue was cited for no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, a violation that leaves high-risk diners, including pregnant women, elderly customers, and immunocompromised individuals, without the information they need to make safe choices.
Broward and Palm Beach: Three Flagged Facilities
Anthony's Runway 84 on State Road 84 in Fort Lauderdale finished the week with 10 high-severity violations, second only to Mikes at Venetia in the tri-county area. The citations included no person in charge, employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, food from unapproved sources, inadequate shell stock records, parasite destruction procedures not followed, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned.
TacoCraft Taqueria and Tequila Bar on North Ocean Drive in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea drew eight high-severity violations, including no person in charge, no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock records, food not cooked to minimum temperature, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic chemicals improperly stored.
Palm Beach County's lone entry this week was Motek Boca on Town Center Road in Boca Raton, with eight high-severity violations. Inspectors cited no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved sources, inadequate shell stock records, time as a public health control not properly used, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and required procedures for specialized processes not followed.
Chow Time Grill and Buffet on West Commercial Boulevard in Tamarac rounded out the Broward County findings with eight high-severity violations, including no person in charge, no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness, food from unapproved sources, time as a public health control not properly used, and toxic chemicals improperly stored.
What These Violations Mean
The most common high-severity finding this week was improper handwashing, cited in some form at Mikes at Venetia, Maman, Anthony's Runway 84, Vice City Pizza, Snappers Fish and Chicken, Motek Miami Beach, Motek Boca, Moo, Sabores Latinos, TacoCraft, Chow Time, and News Cafe at Oh Mexico Taco Shop. Handwashing failures are not minor procedural lapses. Pathogens including Norovirus, Salmonella, and E. coli transfer directly from hands to food, and improper technique means contamination occurs even when a worker appears to be washing.
Food from unapproved or unknown sources, cited at Mikes at Venetia, Maman, Anthony's Runway 84, Chow Time Grill and Buffet, and Motek Boca, carries a specific danger that goes beyond the food itself. When a supplier is unverified, there is no chain of records to follow if a customer gets sick. A Listeria or Salmonella outbreak tied to uninspected product can take weeks to trace, and by then the source is gone.
The shellfish traceability violations at Mikes at Venetia, Maman, Anthony's Runway 84, Motek Boca, and TacoCraft are closely related. Oysters, clams, and mussels are often consumed raw or barely cooked, and they filter large volumes of water, concentrating whatever pathogens or toxins are present. Tag records exist so that a single contaminated harvest can be recalled before it reaches more tables. Without those records, there is no recall possible.
Employees not reporting illness symptoms, documented at Mikes at Venetia, Motek Miami Beach, Anthony's Runway 84, Ceviche Bar, Chow Time, Motek Boca, and TacoCraft, is the violation most directly tied to multi-victim outbreaks. A single Norovirus-infected worker who handles food without restriction can expose dozens of customers in a single shift.
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 week's totals do show is a concentration of systemic failures at specific addresses. Mikes at Venetia, Maman, and Anthony's Runway 84 each accumulated 10 or more high-severity violations in a single visit, a count that reflects not just individual errors but an absence of the management infrastructure that prevents those errors from accumulating.
Anthony's Runway 84 on State Road 84 is a long-established Fort Lauderdale institution, which makes its 10 high-severity violations, including inadequate handwashing facilities and parasite destruction procedures not followed, a more striking finding than the same count at a newer location. A facility that has operated for years has had more time to build compliant systems, and more inspections in which to correct recurring problems.
The two Motek locations, Miami Beach and Boca Raton, were both cited this week for overlapping violation categories: no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness, improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock records, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. When the same categories appear at two locations of the same brand in the same week, the pattern points to a training or policy gap at the corporate level rather than an isolated incident at a single kitchen.
Sabores Latinos and News Cafe at Oh Mexico Taco Shop both operate on Miami Beach's most heavily trafficked tourist corridors, Ocean Drive and Washington Avenue. The sewage disposal citation at News Cafe, combined with the improper handwashing and contaminated food contact surfaces, drew violations at a location that serves a high volume of visitors who have no prior knowledge of the facility's inspection record.