MIAMI, FL. A Thai-Japanese restaurant in Weston drew 12 high-severity violations in a single inspection last week, more than any other South Florida facility inspected between August 28 and September 3, 2026, including citations for food from unapproved sources, no employee illness reporting policy, and parasite destruction procedures that inspectors found were not being followed.
Across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, state inspectors documented 119 high-severity violations at 15 restaurants during that seven-day stretch. Ten of the 15 facilities were in Miami-Dade. Three were in Broward. Two were in Palm Beach County.
The Week's Worst Offenders
Moon Thai and Japanese on Weston Road led the region with 12 high-severity violations and 3 intermediate ones. Inspectors found no person in charge present or performing duties, no employee health policy, and no mechanism for employees to report illness symptoms. The facility was also cited for inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved or unknown sources, inadequate shell stock identification, and failure to follow parasite destruction procedures for fish.
The parasite destruction finding is significant at a restaurant serving Japanese cuisine. Raw or lightly prepared fish, including sushi and sashimi, must be frozen to specific temperatures for specific durations before service to kill parasites including Anisakis. No record that this was done means no verification it was done.
Di Piazza Pizzeria on West 49th Street in Hialeah logged 10 high-severity violations. Inspectors cited the restaurant for no person in charge, no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved sources, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Ol'Days on Northeast 1st Avenue in Miami also drew 10 high-severity violations. The list included no person in charge, no employee health policy, improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock identification, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, time as a public health control not properly used, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Colombian Coffee House on Northeast 20th Street in Boca Raton was one of two Palm Beach County facilities on this week's list with 10 high-severity violations. Inspectors found no person in charge, no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, food in poor condition or adulterated, inadequate shell stock identification, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, and no consumer advisory.
Chicos Restaurant on West 12th Avenue in Hialeah drew 10 high-severity violations including no person in charge, no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved sources, inadequate shell stock identification, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned.
Baires Grill on South Miami Avenue was cited for 10 high-severity violations. Inspectors documented 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 cleaned, time as a public health control not properly used, and no consumer advisory. Baires Grill sits on South Miami Avenue in the Brickell corridor, one of the city's busiest dining districts.
La Estacion Cafe on Brickell Avenue drew 9 high-severity violations, including food from unapproved sources, inadequate shell stock identification, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, time as a public health control not properly used, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. It shares the Brickell address corridor with Baires Grill.
Sea Siam on South Dixie Highway was cited for 8 high-severity violations including improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock identification, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and required procedures for specialized processes not followed.
Bagel Express on Southwest 88th Street drew 8 high-severity violations and 5 intermediate ones, the highest intermediate count of any facility this week. Inspectors found no person in charge, no employee health policy, improper handwashing technique, food in poor condition or adulterated, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, no consumer advisory, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Two separate toxic substance citations in a single inspection is uncommon.
Italica Restaurant on Northeast 1st Avenue logged 8 high-severity violations including no person in charge, no employee health policy, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, food in poor condition or adulterated, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, no consumer advisory, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used.
Rinconcito de Alex El Paisa on Southwest 112th Street drew 3 high-severity violations including no employee health policy, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. Inspectors also documented improper sewage or wastewater disposal, an intermediate violation that carries its own contamination risk.
Hyatt Place Boca Raton on East Palmetto Park Road drew 3 high-severity violations: employees not reporting illness symptoms, food in poor condition or adulterated, and toxic chemicals improperly stored. The Hyatt Place flag makes it the only national hotel brand on this week's list.
Asados El Paisa Broward on North University Drive in Lauderhill was cited for food from unapproved sources and food not cooked to required minimum temperatures.
Bellini Italian Bistro on Weston Road drew a single high-severity violation for employees not reporting illness symptoms, along with one intermediate citation for inadequate toilet facilities.
What These Violations Mean
The most frequently cited high-severity violation this week was improper handwashing technique, which appeared at Moon Thai and Japanese, Di Piazza Pizzeria, Ol'Days, Colombian Coffee House, Chicos Restaurant, Baires Grill, La Estacion Cafe, Sea Siam, Bagel Express, and Italica Restaurant. An inspector citing this violation has watched an employee attempt to wash their hands and found the technique insufficient to remove pathogens. The hands are still contaminated after the attempt. Every surface that employee touches afterward carries that contamination forward.
Closely related, inadequate handwashing by food employees (a distinct citation from technique) appeared at Baires Grill and La Estacion Cafe. Where both violations appear together, inspectors are documenting not just bad form but employees skipping handwashing steps entirely.
No employee health policy appeared at 10 of the 15 facilities, including Di Piazza Pizzeria, Chicos Restaurant, Colombian Coffee House, and Bagel Express. Without a written policy, there is no mechanism requiring a sick worker to stay home or report symptoms to a manager. Norovirus, which causes the majority of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurants, spreads through exactly this route: an employee with gastrointestinal symptoms continues working and contaminates food or surfaces.
Food from unapproved sources, documented at Moon Thai and Japanese, Di Piazza Pizzeria, Chicos Restaurant, Baires Grill, La Estacion Cafe, and Asados El Paisa Broward, means inspectors could not verify that the food passed through a licensed, inspected supply chain. If a customer becomes ill after eating at one of these restaurants, tracing the contamination back to a specific supplier becomes far harder or impossible without that documentation.
The Longer Record
The data provided does not include prior inspection counts for these 15 facilities, which limits the ability to place this week's findings in historical context for individual restaurants. What the violation patterns themselves reveal is a concentration of management-level failures, specifically the recurring combination of no person in charge, no employee health policy, and no illness reporting, that points to systemic gaps rather than isolated incidents.
Seven facilities were cited for no person in charge this week: Moon Thai and Japanese, Di Piazza Pizzeria, Ol'Days, Colombian Coffee House, Chicos Restaurant, Bagel Express, and Italica Restaurant. That violation is a leading indicator. When no qualified manager is present or engaged, the violations that follow tend to cluster: handwashing lapses, temperature abuses, unapproved sourcing. The record this week fits that pattern.
The Brickell corridor concentration, Baires Grill and La Estacion Cafe within blocks of each other on South Miami Avenue and Brickell Avenue, is worth noting for a neighborhood that draws a significant volume of business lunch and dinner traffic. Both facilities were cited for food from unapproved sources and parasite destruction or temperature failures, in addition to handwashing violations.
Colombian Coffee House in Boca Raton and Hyatt Place Boca Raton represent the Palm Beach County findings this week. The Hyatt Place citation for food in poor condition alongside toxic chemicals improperly stored is an unusual pairing for a hotel brand with corporate food safety standards. Whether those standards are being applied consistently at the Palmetto Park Road location is a question the inspection record now raises.
