MIAMI, FL. A Miami restaurant on NE 79th Street drew 11 high-severity violations in a single inspection last week, the highest count among 15 South Florida facilities cited for serious food safety failures during the week of October 6 through October 12, 2026.
The Worst of the Week
Ferraro's Kitchen at 1099 NE 79th Street accumulated 11 high-severity citations in one inspection, touching nearly every layer of food safety failure the state tracks. Inspectors found no person in charge present or performing duties, no employee health policy, and inadequate handwashing facilities. Separately, they documented improper handwashing technique by employees who were attempting to wash their hands.
The violations at Ferraro's went further than hygiene. Inspectors cited the restaurant for failing to follow parasite destruction procedures for fish, for food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, for food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and for improper use of time as a public health control.
Jenni's Panaderia Salvadorena Corp at 204 Washington Avenue in Homestead drew 10 high-severity violations. Among the most serious: food from an unapproved or unknown source, and inadequate shell stock identification records, meaning inspectors could not trace the origin of shellfish on the premises. The bakery also had no employee health policy, an employee who was not reporting illness symptoms, and improper handwashing technique.
Golden Corral at 33525 S Dixie Highway in Florida City matched Jenni's with 10 high-severity violations. The chain buffet had no person in charge, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, food from an unapproved source, no shellfish traceability records, unclean food contact surfaces, improper time-as-control procedures, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Blue Matisse Restaurant at 2505 NW 87th Avenue in Miami also reached 10 high-severity violations. Inspectors found food sourced from an unapproved or unknown supplier, no shellfish traceability records, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, no employee health policy, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, and no person in charge performing duties.
Havana 40 at 4421 SW 75th Avenue in Miami drew 10 high-severity violations across a wide range of categories. Inspectors cited the restaurant for food from an unapproved source, food in poor condition or adulterated, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, improper use of time as a public health control, unclean food contact surfaces, inadequate handwashing, and no employee health policy.
Sushi Sake MIMO at 5700 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami accumulated 10 high-severity violations, including toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled near food, inadequate shellfish traceability records, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items, and no employee health policy. The sushi restaurant also had an employee not reporting illness symptoms and unclean food contact surfaces.
Broward County
Three Broward County facilities appeared among the week's worst. El Paso 2 at 1800 N Federal Highway in Hollywood led the county with 10 high-severity violations. Inspectors found no person in charge, no employee health policy, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, food from an unapproved source, no shellfish traceability records, unclean food contact surfaces, and improper time-as-control procedures.
Bulla Gastrobar at 2747 NE 193rd Street in Aventura, a Spanish-style gastropub positioned near the Aventura Mall corridor, drew nine high-severity violations. Inspectors cited the restaurant for food from an unapproved source, failure to follow parasite destruction procedures, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, no employee health policy, and unclean food contact surfaces.
Pollo Tipico at 5011 S SR 7 in Davie also drew nine high-severity violations. The citation list included no person in charge, toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, inadequate shellfish traceability records, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, unclean food contact surfaces, and an employee not reporting illness symptoms.
The Remaining Miami-Dade Facilities
Tribute to Tobacco Road by Kush at 650 S Miami Avenue, a Brickell-area venue near the heart of Miami's downtown dining scene, drew three high-severity violations. Inspectors found an employee not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing by food employees, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized. The restaurant also had an intermediate citation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal.
La Granja Le Jeune at 1199 NW 42nd Avenue in Miami drew four high-severity violations, including no employee health policy, inadequate handwashing, unclean food contact surfaces, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Mr Cachapa Midtown LLC at 2055 NW 2nd Avenue in Miami drew three high-severity violations: an employee not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, and unclean food contact surfaces.
Honey Veil South Miami at 5748 Sunset Drive drew three high-severity violations, including food in poor condition or adulterated, failure to follow parasite destruction procedures for fish, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled near food.
Patacon Pisao at 13630 SW 120th Street in Miami drew one high-severity violation for an employee not reporting illness symptoms.
El Balcon de Las Americas at 7932 W Sample Road in Margate drew one high-severity violation for food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated.
What These Violations Mean
The most common high-severity violation across this week's 15 facilities was improper handwashing, whether inadequate facilities, inadequate technique, or employees skipping hand hygiene altogether. This showed up at Ferraro's Kitchen, La Granja Le Jeune, Tribute to Tobacco Road by Kush, Havana 40, Sushi Sake MIMO, Blue Matisse, El Paso 2, Bulla Gastrobar, Pollo Tipico, Mr Cachapa, and Jenni's Panaderia. Improper handwashing is the single most significant factor in spreading foodborne illness from kitchen workers to customers, and it is the pathway by which Norovirus, the leading cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States, moves from a sick or recently sick employee directly onto food.
The employee illness reporting failures documented at Tribute to Tobacco Road by Kush, Mr Cachapa, Jenni's Panaderia, Golden Corral, Blue Matisse, Sushi Sake MIMO, El Paso 2, Bulla Gastrobar, and Pollo Tipico represent a compounding risk. A worker who is sick but has no formal policy requiring them to report symptoms, and who is also not washing their hands properly, is operating as an uncontrolled transmission point for every customer they serve.
Food from unapproved or unknown sources, documented at Jenni's Panaderia, Golden Corral, Blue Matisse, Havana 40, El Paso 2, and Bulla Gastrobar, means inspectors could not verify that the food in those kitchens passed federal safety inspections. If a foodborne illness outbreak were traced to one of those facilities, investigators would have no supply chain record to follow.
The parasite destruction failures at Ferraro's Kitchen, Honey Veil South Miami, and Bulla Gastrobar apply specifically to fish served raw or lightly cooked. Without documented freezing at required temperatures, parasites including Anisakis and tapeworm larvae can survive in the fish and infect customers. For a sushi operation like Sushi Sake MIMO, which also lacked a consumer advisory for raw foods, customers eating raw fish had no way to know what protocols were or were not in place.
The Longer Record
The data provided does not include prior inspection counts for these facilities, which limits direct comparison of inspection history across the group. What the violation totals alone make clear is that several facilities accumulated serious citations across multiple independent violation categories in a single visit, which points to systemic failures rather than isolated oversights.
Ferraro's Kitchen stands apart on that measure. Eleven high-severity violations touching management absence, handwashing infrastructure, handwashing technique, parasite procedures, cooking temperatures, surface sanitation, and time controls do not accumulate accidentally. Each category requires a separate failure.
Golden Corral in Florida City is a chain location, and chain restaurants carry the weight of corporate training and standardized procedures. Ten high-severity violations at a buffet-format restaurant, where food sits in open warming trays for extended periods and time-as-control procedures are central to safe operation, represents a significant gap between what the brand's standards are on paper and what inspectors found.
Bulla Gastrobar in Aventura operates in a high-traffic, tourist-adjacent dining corridor. Nine high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved source and failure to follow parasite destruction procedures, at a restaurant that serves an upscale clientele who are unlikely to ask about sourcing documentation, is the kind of finding that does not appear on a menu.
