MIAMI, FL. A restaurant on SW 137th Avenue in Miami racked up 14 high-severity violations in a single inspection week, the highest count across all three South Florida counties during a stretch that saw state inspectors flag 15 facilities for serious food safety failures between August 26 and September 1, 2026.
The Week's Worst
Rinconcito Miami 2 on SW 137th Avenue drew 14 high-severity citations and 6 intermediate violations. Inspectors flagged food from unapproved or unknown sources, failure to follow parasite destruction procedures, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, inadequate shell stock identification, improper handwashing technique, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, and no person in charge present or performing duties.
The two Broward County facilities on this week's list both sit on Weston Road. Moon Thai and Japanese at 2818 Weston Road drew 12 high-severity violations, including no employee health policy, inadequate handwashing facilities, food from unapproved sources, failure to follow parasite destruction procedures, and no person in charge. Its neighbor, Bellini Italian Bistro at 2780 Weston Road, recorded just one high-severity violation, for an employee not reporting illness symptoms.
100 Montaditos Midtown at 3252 NE 1st Avenue in Miami's Midtown neighborhood matched Moon Thai's count with 12 high-severity violations. Inspectors cited no person in charge, no employee health policy, food from unapproved sources, food not cooked to minimum temperature, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, inadequate shell stock records, improper handwashing technique, and an employee not reporting illness symptoms.
Rinconcito de Alex El Paisa on SW 112th Street recorded 11 high-severity violations, among them inadequate handwashing facilities, food from unapproved sources, parasite destruction procedures not followed, inadequate shell stock records, and no person in charge.
Fontana Restaurant at 1200 Anastasia Avenue in Coral Gables, located inside the Biltmore Hotel, drew 11 high-severity violations. That list included food from unapproved sources, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, improper handwashing technique, and no person in charge.
Baires Grill at 1010 S Miami Avenue in Brickell recorded 10 high-severity violations. Inspectors found no employee health policy, inadequate handwashing by food employees, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved sources, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food contact surfaces not properly sanitized, time as a public health control not properly used, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Ol'Days at 3301 NE 1st Avenue, also in Midtown Miami, drew 10 high-severity violations including no person in charge, no employee health policy, food not cooked to minimum temperature, time as a public health control not properly used, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, inadequate shell stock records, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Chicos Restaurant on W 12th Avenue in Hialeah also reached 10 high-severity violations. Inspectors cited no person in charge, no employee health policy, inadequate handwashing facilities, food from unapproved sources, inadequate shell stock records, improper handwashing technique, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, and an employee not reporting illness symptoms.
Budare Bistro at 1832 SW 3rd Avenue recorded 10 high-severity violations, including no person in charge, an employee not reporting illness, inadequate handwashing by food employees, food from unapproved sources, food not cooked to minimum temperature, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Cafe Panisse at 7310 SW 57th Avenue drew 9 high-severity violations. Among them: food in poor condition or adulterated, toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, inadequate shell stock records, and no person in charge.
La Fontana d'Orazio at 10702 NW 74th Street in Doral recorded 9 high-severity violations, including inadequate handwashing by food employees, inadequate handwashing facilities, food from unapproved sources, parasite destruction procedures not followed, and no person in charge.
Tani Thai by Rin at 12269 S Dixie Highway in Pinecrest drew 8 high-severity violations. Inspectors flagged toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used, no allergen awareness demonstrated, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food not cooked to minimum temperature, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, no consumer advisory, and required procedures for specialized processes not followed.
Sea Siam at 12735 S Dixie Highway also recorded 8 high-severity violations, including parasite destruction procedures not followed, food not cooked to minimum temperature, food contact surfaces not properly sanitized, inadequate shell stock records, toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Tropical Smoothie at 13550 SW 120th Street recorded one high-severity violation for food not cooked to required minimum temperature, alongside two intermediate violations for inadequate cooling equipment and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
What These Violations Mean
The single most repeated high-severity violation this week was "person in charge not present or not performing duties," cited at ten of the fifteen facilities, including Rinconcito Miami 2, 100 Montaditos Midtown, Fontana Restaurant, Chicos Restaurant, and Budare Bistro. When no trained manager is actively overseeing a kitchen, every other safety control weakens. Handwashing gets skipped. Temperature logs go unchecked. Sick employees stay on the line. The absence of active managerial control is not a paperwork problem; it is the condition that allows every other violation on this list to happen.
Food from unapproved or unknown sources turned up at eight facilities this week, including Moon Thai and Japanese, Rinconcito de Alex El Paisa, Baires Grill, and La Fontana d'Orazio. When food bypasses licensed distributors and USDA or FDA inspection, there is no paper trail if someone gets sick. A customer who develops Listeria or Salmonella symptoms cannot be traced back to a specific batch, a specific supplier, or a specific delivery date. Traceability is the foundation of outbreak investigation, and unapproved sourcing removes it entirely.
Parasite destruction procedures were not followed at seven facilities, among them Rinconcito Miami 2, Fontana Restaurant, Sea Siam, and Tani Thai by Rin. Fish served raw or undercooked, including sushi-grade preparations and ceviche, must be frozen to specific temperatures for specific durations to kill parasites such as Anisakis and tapeworm larvae. Without documentation that this step occurred, there is no way to confirm the fish was safe before it reached the plate.
Tani Thai by Rin stands apart for the combination of toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, toxic substances improperly identified or stored, and no allergen awareness demonstrated, all in the same inspection. Chemical contamination and allergen failures each carry immediate, acute health consequences: a customer with a severe peanut allergy or a dish cross-contaminated by an unlabeled cleaning chemical faces a medical emergency, not a gastrointestinal inconvenience.
The Longer Record
The data this week spans facilities with sharply different inspection histories, and that context matters. Fontana Restaurant inside the Biltmore Hotel, a Coral Gables landmark that draws both tourists and business travelers, now carries 11 high-severity violations from this single visit. The Biltmore's dining room is not a neighborhood spot where a lapse might go unnoticed; it is a destination restaurant where the expectation of oversight is built into the price.
The two Midtown Miami locations, 100 Montaditos at 3252 NE 1st Avenue and Ol'Days at 3301 NE 1st Avenue, sit one suite apart in the same mixed-use development. Both recorded 10 or more high-severity violations in the same inspection week. The concentration of serious violations in a single block of a high-traffic urban corridor is worth noting on its own.
Baires Grill on S Miami Avenue sits in Brickell, one of Miami's densest dining districts and a neighborhood that draws a heavy weeknight crowd. Its 10 high-severity violations this week included failures in both handwashing practice and the use of time as a public health control, meaning food was held in the temperature danger zone without proper documentation of how long it had been there.
The two Weston Road facilities in Broward, Moon Thai and Japanese and Bellini Italian Bistro, present a stark contrast. Moon Thai drew 12 high-severity violations. Bellini drew one. Both are on the same road, subject to the same inspection standards, in the same week. Moon Thai's 12 high-severity citations included failures in handwashing infrastructure, food sourcing, illness reporting, and parasite destruction, a combination that spans nearly every category of food safety control. Bellini's single violation, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, is serious in its own right, but the gap between the two facilities on the same street tells its own story.
