MIAMI, FL. A Hialeah restaurant racked up 12 high-severity violations in a single inspection last week, including food sourced from unapproved suppliers and three separate handwashing failures, leading a wave of citations that swept across 15 South Florida restaurants from September 5 through September 11, 2026.
The Worst of the Week
Trigo on W 49th Street in Hialeah led the region with 12 high-severity violations. Inspectors cited the restaurant for having no person in charge present or performing duties, no written employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, and food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers. Three distinct handwashing failures were documented: inadequate handwashing by employees, inadequate handwashing facilities, and improper hand and arm washing technique.
Food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated was also on the list.
Surry Hills Coffee on NE 2nd Avenue in Miami drew 11 high-severity violations, including inadequate shell stock identification records, parasite destruction procedures not followed for fish or other applicable items, and time as a public health control not properly used. Food contact surfaces were cited as not properly cleaned or sanitized.
Pincho on W 12th Avenue in Hialeah accumulated 10 high-severity violations. Inspectors found employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing, improper handwashing technique, food in poor condition, missing shell stock records, unclean food contact surfaces, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and time as a public health control not properly used.
El Turco on NE 39th Street in Miami also reached 10 high-severity violations. The list included no person in charge, no employee health policy, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, food in poor condition, unclean food contact surfaces, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled.
Broward and Palm Beach
Broward County's most serious finding came at Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine on N SR 7 in Hollywood, which collected 10 high-severity violations. No person in charge was present. Inspectors also found no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness, inadequate handwashing facilities, no shell stock identification records, unclean food contact surfaces, food not cooked to minimum required temperature, and time as a public health control not properly used.
Sicilian Oven Wood Fired Pizza on W Sample Road in Coral Springs drew nine high-severity violations, including no person in charge, employees not reporting illness, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, missing shell stock records, unclean food contact surfaces, food not cooked to required temperature, and time as a public health control not properly used.
Palm Beach County's sole entry this week was Poppies Restaurant and Deli on Linton Boulevard in Delray Beach, which recorded three high-severity violations: no person in charge, employees not reporting illness symptoms, and time as a public health control not properly used.
The Rest of Miami-Dade
La Boulangerie Boul'Mich on Sunset Drive in Coral Gables received nine high-severity violations. Inspectors cited the bakery for having no person in charge, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved or unknown sources, missing shell stock identification records, unclean food contact surfaces, food not cooked to required temperature, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Salumeria 104 on NE 1st Avenue in Miami drew nine high-severity violations and six intermediate violations, the highest intermediate count of any facility this week. Toxic chemicals were improperly stored or labeled. Inspectors also found no person in charge, improper handwashing technique, missing shell stock records, unclean food contact surfaces, food not cooked to required temperature, time as a public health control not properly used, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Porterhouse Bar and Grill on Collins Avenue in Sunny Isles Beach collected nine high-severity violations, including food from unapproved or unknown sources and missing shell stock records. The Collins Avenue location sits in a heavily trafficked tourist corridor.
Dunkin Donuts No. 86 on NE 1st Avenue in Florida City drew eight high-severity violations, among them two separate chemical storage citations: toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Inspectors also found no allergen awareness demonstrated, a violation that carries acute risk for the 32 million Americans living with food allergies.
Primo's Restaurant and Lounge on N Bayshore Drive in Miami recorded eight high-severity violations, including parasite destruction procedures not followed and food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated. Shell stock identification records were also inadequate.
Naked Farmer on Giralda Avenue in Coral Gables drew eight high-severity violations, including food from unapproved or unknown sources, no allergen awareness demonstrated, and required procedures for specialized processes not followed. That last citation applies to operations such as smoking, curing, fermenting, or reduced-oxygen packaging, which carry distinct microbial risks when protocols are skipped.
Mr. Baker on NW 167th Street in Miami Gardens received five high-severity violations, including food not cooked to required minimum temperature and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled.
Sabor Venezolano Kendall on SW 88th Street in Miami drew one high-severity violation, for no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, along with one intermediate citation for inadequate ventilation and lighting.
What These Violations Mean
The most frequently cited high-severity violation this week was improper handwashing, appearing in some form at Trigo, Surry Hills Coffee, Pincho, El Turco, Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine, La Boulangerie Boul'Mich, Sicilian Oven, Salumeria 104, Porterhouse Bar and Grill, and Primo's Restaurant and Lounge. Handwashing failures are not a paperwork problem. They are the single most significant factor in spreading foodborne illness, and the presence of all three failure types at Trigo, including broken infrastructure, employee behavior, and technique, means that even a motivated employee at that location lacked the tools and training to wash hands correctly.
The "employee not reporting illness" citation, documented at Trigo, Surry Hills Coffee, Pincho, Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine, Sicilian Oven, Poppies, and Naked Farmer, is what public health officials call an outbreak enabler. Norovirus, the leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States, spreads readily from a sick food worker to dozens of customers through a single shift. A written health policy is the mechanism that gives workers permission and instruction to stay home.
Food from unapproved or unknown sources, cited at Trigo, La Boulangerie Boul'Mich, Porterhouse Bar and Grill, and Naked Farmer, removes the traceability chain entirely. If a customer becomes ill, investigators cannot trace the product back to a farm, processor, or distributor. That gap can turn a single illness into an unresolved outbreak.
The dual chemical storage citations at Dunkin Donuts No. 86 in Florida City are worth particular attention. Improperly stored or unlabeled chemicals near food preparation areas can cause acute poisoning. Two separate citations for chemical handling at a single national chain location suggests a training gap, not a one-time oversight.
The Longer Record
The data this week does not include prior inspection counts for individual facilities, which limits the ability to place these findings in a cumulative context. What the violation totals alone reveal is a concentration of serious findings in Miami-Dade, which accounted for 12 of the 15 facilities cited for three or more high-severity violations. Broward produced two facilities in that range, Palm Beach one.
The geographic spread is notable. Facilities cited this week include a national chain location in Florida City, a tourist-corridor steakhouse on Collins Avenue in Sunny Isles Beach, two Coral Gables restaurants within blocks of each other, and two Hialeah locations that together accumulated 22 high-severity violations in a single inspection week.
Salumeria 104's six intermediate violations, combined with nine high-severity findings, represent the broadest overall citation profile of any facility this week. Intermediate violations typically involve food handler knowledge, food safety plans, and equipment sanitation procedures. That combination, high-severity failures alongside systemic process gaps, tends to indicate problems that extend beyond a single bad day.
Naked Farmer's citation for required procedures for specialized processes not followed remains unresolved in the public record reviewed for this report.
