MIAMI, FL. A Brickell Avenue nightspot, a Bal Harbour bistro, and a Westchester pizza shop each accumulated nine or more high-severity health violations during the week of May 19, leading a list of 15 South Florida restaurants cited for serious food safety failures across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.
The Violations
Maman at 98 SE 8th Street in Miami led all facilities this week with 10 high-severity violations. Inspectors cited the restaurant for obtaining food from unapproved or unknown sources, for food in poor condition or adulterated, and for failing to follow parasite destruction procedures. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, food was not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and employees demonstrated both inadequate handwashing and improper technique. Shell stock identification records were also found to be inadequate.
B and B Bistro/Bakery at 1023 Kane Concourse in Bal Harbour drew nine high-severity citations. No person in charge was present or performing duties during the inspection. Inspectors also found inadequate handwashing facilities, improper hand and arm washing technique, food from unapproved sources, parasite destruction failures, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, undercooked food, and no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked items.
Vice City Pizza at 2615 SW 147th Avenue in Miami also tallied nine high-severity violations. The restaurant had no employee health policy, inadequate handwashing practices, food in poor condition, improperly sanitized food contact surfaces, undercooked food, no consumer advisory, and toxic chemicals stored or labeled improperly.
Sabores Latinos at 860 Washington Avenue on Miami Beach collected eight high-severity violations, including two separate chemical safety failures: toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Inspectors also found no person in charge, no employee health policy, improper handwashing technique, unsanitized food contact surfaces, undercooked food, and no consumer advisory.
Chow Time Grill and Buffet at 6997 W Commercial Boulevard in Tamarac accumulated eight high-severity violations, one of the more alarming being that an employee was not reporting symptoms of illness. The buffet-format restaurant, where food sits in open trays accessible to large numbers of customers, also had no employee health policy, no person in charge, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved sources, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, improper use of time as a public health control, and toxic chemicals stored or labeled improperly.
Moon Thai and Japanese at 16311 SW 88th Street in Miami drew eight high-severity violations and six intermediate violations, the highest combined total of any facility this week. Inspectors cited the restaurant for employee illness reporting failures, improper handwashing, inadequate shell stock records, unsanitized food contact surfaces, improper time controls, no consumer advisory, and two separate toxic substance violations.
TacoCraft Taqueria and Tequila Bar at 4400 N Ocean Drive in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, a beachside tourist corridor, was cited for eight high-severity violations. The inspection found no person in charge, no employee health policy, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock identification records, undercooked food, no consumer advisory, and improperly stored toxic chemicals.
Bahamas Fish Market and Restaurant #2 at 13399 SW 42nd Street in Miami had seven high-severity violations, including food in poor condition, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, improper time controls, no consumer advisory, and two chemical storage or labeling failures.
Across the Counties
Flight West at 5894 Sunset Drive in South Miami drew seven high-severity violations, including food from unapproved sources, food in poor condition, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, no person in charge, improper time controls, and improperly identified or stored toxic substances.
Naked Taco at 1111 Collins Avenue on Miami Beach, another tourist-area address, was cited for seven high-severity violations. Inspectors noted improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock records, parasite destruction failures, unsanitized food contact surfaces, improper time controls, no consumer advisory, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled.
In Broward County, Don Marko Pizza and Pasta at 5945 S University Drive in Davie had six high-severity violations. The inspection found no person in charge, no employee health policy, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, unsanitized food contact surfaces, and improperly identified or stored toxic substances.
In Palm Beach County, Sole Mio Kitchen and Bar at 8794 Boynton Beach Boulevard in Boynton Beach was cited for six high-severity violations, including food from unapproved sources, parasite destruction failures, no consumer advisory, and improperly stored toxic chemicals.
CMX Wellington Cask and Shaker at 10312 W Forest Hill Boulevard in Wellington drew six high-severity violations, including no person in charge, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock records, undercooked food, and improperly handled toxic substances.
Chateau ZZ's at 1500 Brickell Avenue in Miami was cited for six high-severity violations, including food from unapproved sources, parasite destruction failures, undercooked food, no consumer advisory, no employee health policy, and improperly identified or used toxic substances. The restaurant also drew an intermediate violation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal.
El Riconcito Colombiano at 3027 Forest Hill Boulevard in Palm Springs had two high-severity violations, both in the illness-reporting category: no person in charge and an employee not reporting symptoms. An intermediate violation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal was also cited.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved or unknown sources, cited at Maman, B and B Bistro/Bakery, Chow Time Grill and Buffet, Flight West, Sole Mio Kitchen and Bar, and Chateau ZZ's, means inspectors found food on-site that bypasses USDA and FDA inspection chains. When food enters a kitchen without traceability, there is no way to identify the source if customers become ill, no recall pathway, and no verification that the product was handled safely before it arrived.
Parasite destruction failures, documented at Maman, B and B Bistro/Bakery, Naked Taco, Sole Mio Kitchen and Bar, and Chateau ZZ's, represent a specific gap in raw-fish safety. Fish served raw or lightly cooked must be frozen to specific temperatures for specific durations to kill parasites including Anisakis and tapeworm larvae. When that step is skipped, the risk transfers directly to the customer.
The illness-reporting failures at Chow Time Grill and Buffet, Moon Thai and Japanese, TacoCraft, Flight West, Sole Mio Kitchen and Bar, CMX Wellington Cask and Shaker, and El Riconcito Colombiano are among the most acutely dangerous patterns in this week's data. A buffet environment like Chow Time's, where a single sick employee can contaminate food that hundreds of customers then serve themselves, makes this violation especially consequential. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness in the United States, spreads from food worker to customer through exactly this pathway.
The two separate chemical violation categories at Sabores Latinos, Moon Thai and Japanese, and Bahamas Fish Market and Restaurant #2 indicate that inspectors found both improperly labeled or stored cleaning chemicals and separately documented improper identification, storage, or use of toxic substances. These are not duplicate citations for the same issue. They reflect two distinct failure points in chemical safety, either of which can result in acute poisoning if a substance contaminates food or surfaces.
The Longer Record
The data this week does not include prior inspection counts for individual facilities. What the record does show is a concentration of repeat violation categories across multiple inspections in the same establishments. Moon Thai and Japanese at 16311 SW 88th Street drew 14 total violations this week, the highest single-facility count in the tri-county area. A restaurant accumulating eight high-severity and six intermediate citations in one visit is not describing isolated oversights.
The geographic clustering in Miami-Dade is notable. Nine of the 15 facilities flagged this week are in Miami-Dade County, including two on Miami Beach tourist corridors: Sabores Latinos on Washington Avenue and Naked Taco on Collins Avenue. Both drew shellfish traceability violations in addition to other high-severity citations, a pattern that matters particularly in venues where raw oysters and ceviche are menu staples and where customer turnover is high.
TacoCraft in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea sits on the same oceanfront strip that draws heavy tourist traffic throughout the spring season. The combination of no person in charge, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items describes a kitchen operating without the basic oversight structures that catch problems before they reach customers.
Chateau ZZ's on Brickell Avenue, one of Miami's highest-density dining and nightlife corridors, was cited for improper sewage or wastewater disposal in addition to its six high-severity food safety violations. That combination, contaminated water and untracked food sources, remained unresolved in the inspection record at the close of the reporting week.