MIAMI, FL. Three Miami-Dade restaurants each accumulated 11 high-severity violations during a single inspection the week of October 3, 2026, a tally that placed them among the worst-performing facilities across the entire South Florida tri-county region in that stretch.
The Worst of the Week
La Munequita Restaurant on NE 2nd Avenue drew citations for eight distinct high-severity categories, including no employee health policy, food from an unapproved or unknown source, food in poor condition or adulterated, and failure to cook food to required minimum temperatures. Inspectors also noted the person in charge was not present or not performing duties, and that employees were not reporting symptoms of illness.
La Granja Le Jeune on NW 42nd Avenue matched that total with 11 high-severity violations of its own. The citation list included food from an unapproved or unknown source, inadequate shell stock identification records, no employee health policy, and both inadequate handwashing by employees and improper handwashing technique, cited as separate violations. The person in charge was also flagged as absent or not performing duties.
Ferraro's Kitchen on NE 79th Street rounded out the trio at 11 high-severity violations. Inspectors cited inadequate handwashing facilities, meaning the physical infrastructure for hand hygiene was itself deficient, along with improper handwashing technique, no employee health policy, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and a failure to follow parasite destruction procedures for fish.
More Miami-Dade Findings
Sushi Sake Mimo on Biscayne Boulevard drew 10 high-severity violations, including inadequate shell stock identification records, time as a public health control not properly used, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. A sushi restaurant serving raw fish without a consumer advisory leaves diners with no warning about elevated risks.
Blue Matisse Restaurant on NW 87th Avenue also reached 10 high-severity violations. Inspectors cited inadequate handwashing facilities, food from an unapproved or unknown source, inadequate shell stock identification records, and no employee health policy. The person in charge was again flagged as absent or not performing duties.
Havana 40 on SW 75th Avenue accumulated 10 high-severity violations including food from an unapproved or unknown source, food in poor condition or adulterated, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and time as a public health control not properly used. Both inadequate handwashing and improper handwashing technique were cited as separate violations.
Jenni's Panaderia Salvadorena Corp on Washington Avenue in Homestead drew 10 high-severity violations, a striking total for a bakery operation. Inspectors cited food from an unapproved or unknown source, inadequate shell stock identification records, time as a public health control not properly used, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Knife Steak House on NW 107th Avenue in Doral drew four high-severity violations, two of them chemical-related: toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. A steakhouse that also lacks a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods and has improperly cleaned food contact surfaces rounds out a citation list that covers contamination from multiple directions.
Crazy Poke on NW 24th Street was cited for four high-severity violations including food from an unapproved or unknown source, a particularly serious finding for a poke concept where raw fish is a core menu item. Inspectors also cited employee illness reporting failures and inadequate handwashing.
Mr Cachapa on NW 2nd Avenue drew three high-severity violations, including improper handwashing technique and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
Tribute to Tobacco Road by Kush on South Miami Avenue was cited for three high-severity violations, among them an employee not reporting symptoms of illness and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized. Inspectors also noted improper sewage or wastewater disposal, an intermediate violation.
Honey Veil South Miami on Sunset Drive drew three high-severity violations including parasite destruction procedures not followed and food in poor condition or adulterated.
Broward County
In Broward County, La Union Restaurant of Fla on South State Road 7 in Margate drew five high-severity violations in a single inspection. The citation list included toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, inadequate handwashing, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
El Balcon de las Americas on West Sample Road in Margate drew one high-severity violation for food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated.
What These Violations Mean
The most widespread category across this week's inspections was the cluster of employee illness and handwashing violations, documented at La Munequita Restaurant, La Granja Le Jeune, Ferraro's Kitchen, Sushi Sake Mimo, Blue Matisse Restaurant, Havana 40, Jenni's Panaderia, Crazy Poke, Mr Cachapa, and Tribute to Tobacco Road by Kush. When a food worker does not report illness symptoms, or washes hands improperly, or works at a facility that has no written health policy requiring disclosure, that worker becomes a direct transmission route for Norovirus and other pathogens. These are not paperwork violations. They describe the conditions under which a single sick employee can infect dozens of customers.
Food from unapproved or unknown sources, cited at La Munequita Restaurant, La Granja Le Jeune, Crazy Poke, Blue Matisse Restaurant, Havana 40, and Jenni's Panaderia, means inspectors could not verify where the food came from. Food that bypasses USDA or FDA inspection has no traceability. If a customer becomes ill, investigators cannot trace the contaminated product back through the supply chain to find others at risk.
The parasite destruction violations at Ferraro's Kitchen and Honey Veil South Miami carry a specific hazard. Fish served raw or lightly cooked, including sushi-grade preparations, must be frozen to kill parasites such as Anisakis before service. Without documentation that this step occurred, there is no way to confirm the fish on the plate was safe.
Chemical storage violations at La Union Restaurant of Fla, Knife Steak House, and Sushi Sake Mimo represent a different category of risk entirely. Improperly stored or unlabeled chemicals near food preparation areas can contaminate food directly, and mislabeled chemicals can be mistaken for food-safe substances by staff.
The Longer Record
The data this week does not include prior inspection counts for each facility, which limits direct comparison of chronic versus newer violators. What the violation totals alone reveal is a concentration of serious citation clusters among Miami-Dade establishments, with 13 of the 15 flagged facilities located in that county.
The breadth of violation types at the top three facilities, La Munequita Restaurant, La Granja Le Jeune, and Ferraro's Kitchen, is notable. Each reached 11 high-severity citations not by accumulating minor variations of one problem but by failing across multiple independent categories: management presence, illness policy, handwashing infrastructure, food sourcing, cooking temperatures, and surface sanitation. That pattern, failures across unrelated systems in a single visit, is consistent with facilities where oversight has broken down at a structural level rather than in one area.
Jenni's Panaderia Salvadorena Corp in Homestead presents a distinct case. A bakery operation reaching 10 high-severity violations, including inadequate shell stock identification records, raises questions about what is being served beyond baked goods, and whether the operation's scope has expanded beyond what its food safety practices currently support.
La Granja Le Jeune was cited for inadequate shell stock identification records alongside food from an unapproved or unknown source. Both violations in combination mean inspectors found shellfish on the premises with no documentation of where it came from and no tags to trace it if a customer reports illness. That combination, at a facility that also lacked a responsible person in charge during the inspection, was unresolved as of the inspection records reviewed.
