MIAMI, FL. A Homestead diner and a Hialeah taqueria each drew 12 high-severity violations during a single inspection this week, leading a troubled stretch in South Florida that saw 15 restaurants cited for serious food safety failures across Miami-Dade and Broward counties between September 14 and September 20, 2026.
The Worst of the Week
Sams Country Kitchen on North Krome Avenue in Homestead accumulated 12 high-severity violations, the most of any facility inspected this week. Among the findings: no person in charge present or performing duties, no employee health policy, improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock identification, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, time as a public health control not properly used, and no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods.
Taqueria y Pupuseria Lupita on West 12th Avenue in Hialeah matched that count with its own 12 high-severity violations. Inspectors documented food from an unapproved or unknown source, food in poor condition or adulterated, an employee not reporting symptoms of illness, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, parasite destruction procedures not followed, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
The food-from-unapproved-source citation at Lupita is among the most serious on the week's list. Food from outside the regulated supply chain carries no traceability if a customer becomes ill, and no guarantee of USDA or FDA safety inspection.
Eleven Violations at Three More Miami-Dade Restaurants
New York/Roma Pizza and Pasta on Southeast 2nd Avenue in downtown Miami drew 11 high-severity citations. Inspectors found food from an unapproved source, food in poor condition, inadequate shell stock identification, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, inadequate handwashing by food employees, improper handwashing technique, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
Rio Grande Churrascaria on West 46th Street in Hialeah also reached 11 high-severity violations. The inspection found no person in charge, no employee health policy, improper handwashing technique, food from an unapproved source, food in poor condition, inadequate shell stock identification, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, and time as a public health control not properly used.
Mitricolor on Southwest 152nd Street in Miami drew 11 high-severity violations, including no employee health policy, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate shell stock identification, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, time as a public health control not properly used, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items.
Raccoon Coffee on Biscayne Boulevard, a Miami cafe, drew 11 high-severity violations, a number that stands out for a coffee shop. Inspectors cited no employee health policy, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock identification, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, time as a public health control not properly used, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Chemical Hazards, Sewage, and a Miami Beach Resort Grill
Shorty's Bar-B-Que on South Dixie Highway in Miami drew 7 high-severity violations, including two that stand apart from the food-handling failures elsewhere on the list: toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Inspectors also cited improper handwashing technique, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. An intermediate violation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal was also documented.
Casa Juan on Northwest 7th Street in Miami drew 6 high-severity violations, two of them chemical: toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Inspectors also documented improper handwashing technique, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. An improper sewage or wastewater disposal citation rounded out the intermediate violations.
Lido Bayside Grill on Island Avenue in Miami Beach, a waterfront venue at a tourist-area hotel, drew 4 high-severity violations: parasite destruction procedures not followed, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used.
Hallyu Korean BBQ on North University Drive in Tamarac, the lone Broward County facility on this week's list, drew 10 high-severity violations. Inspectors found no person in charge, no employee health policy, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, food in poor condition, inadequate shell stock identification, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, and food not cooked to the required minimum temperature.
Old Cutler Inn on Old Cutler Road in Miami drew 10 high-severity violations, including a cluster of handwashing failures: inadequate handwashing by food employees, inadequate handwashing facilities, and improper handwashing technique, all documented in the same inspection. Inspectors also cited no person in charge, no employee health policy, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
What These Violations Mean
The most recurring high-severity violation this week was improperly cleaned or unsanitized food contact surfaces, documented at nine of the fifteen facilities, including Sams Country Kitchen, Lupita, New York/Roma, Rio Grande Churrascaria, Mitricolor, Raccoon Coffee, Shorty's, Casa Juan, Lido Bayside Grill, Hallyu Korean BBQ, and Old Cutler Inn. Cutting boards, prep surfaces, and slicers that are not properly sanitized between uses become direct transfer routes for bacteria, including Salmonella and E. coli, from one food item to the next.
The employee illness violations at Lupita, New York/Roma, Mitricolor, Raccoon Coffee, Hallyu, and Old Cutler Inn are a separate category of risk. When a food worker with Norovirus has no policy requiring them to report symptoms and no mechanism to send them home, a single sick employee can expose dozens of customers in a single shift. The CDC estimates Norovirus causes 20 million illnesses per year in the United States, and infected food workers are among its primary vectors.
Shell stock identification failures, cited at Sams Country Kitchen, New York/Roma, Rio Grande Churrascaria, Mitricolor, Raccoon Coffee, and Hallyu Korean BBQ, matter because shellfish are among the highest-risk foods served raw or lightly cooked. Without proper tagging records, there is no way to trace an oyster or clam back to its harvest bed if a customer becomes ill. That traceability is the entire mechanism by which regulators contain shellfish-linked outbreaks.
The chemical storage violations at Shorty's Bar-B-Que and Casa Juan represent a distinct and immediate hazard. Cleaning chemicals stored near or above food preparation surfaces can contaminate food directly through spills or mislabeled containers, causing acute poisoning that is not a foodborne illness in the traditional sense but can send customers to emergency rooms within minutes of exposure.
The Longer Record
The data does not provide prior inspection counts for these fifteen facilities, which limits the ability to place this week's findings in a longitudinal context. What the violation counts alone establish is a concentration of serious failures across Miami-Dade, with 14 of the 15 flagged facilities located in that county.
Several findings are notable regardless of history. Raccoon Coffee, a coffee shop on Biscayne Boulevard, drew 11 high-severity violations, a count more commonly associated with full-service restaurants handling raw proteins. The shell stock and parasite destruction citations at a cafe suggest a broader menu than the name implies, or violations that compounded quickly without active management oversight.
Lido Bayside Grill's location in Miami Beach's tourist corridor makes its 4 high-severity violations worth noting separately. Visitors unfamiliar with local inspection records are unlikely to know that the grill on Island Avenue was cited for food not cooked to the required minimum temperature and toxic substances improperly stored in the same inspection.
New York/Roma Pizza and Pasta sits in downtown Miami at Southeast 2nd Avenue, a location with significant weekday lunch traffic from the surrounding office and courthouse district. Its 11 high-severity violations included food from an unapproved source, a citation that cannot be corrected on-site and that leaves no paper trail connecting the food to any regulated safety inspection.
