MIAMI, FL. A Weston sushi and Thai restaurant accumulated 12 high-severity violations in a single inspection last week, the highest total among 15 South Florida restaurants that each drew three or more serious citations between August 30 and September 5, 2026.
The Week's Worst Offenders
Moon Thai & Japanese on Weston Road drew citations covering nearly every layer of food safety management: no person in charge performing duties, no written employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved sources, missing shellfish traceability records, and failure to follow parasite destruction procedures for raw fish. That last violation matters for a restaurant serving sushi, where fish is served with minimal or no cooking.
Dona Neli Restaurant 2 on SW 184th Street in Miami came in one citation behind Moon Thai with 11 high-severity violations. Inspectors cited the restaurant for the same cluster of illness-transmission failures: no person in charge, no employee health policy, employees not reporting symptoms, and inadequate handwashing infrastructure. They also found food in poor condition or adulterated and missing shellfish identification records.
In Hialeah, two restaurants on opposite ends of the same zip code had nearly identical violation counts. Di Piazza Pizzeria on W 49th Street drew 10 high-severity violations, including food not cooked to required minimum temperature and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized. A pizzeria serving undercooked food without a consumer advisory posted is a specific combination the state treats as high priority.
Chicos Restaurant on W 12th Avenue also reached 10 high-severity violations. Inspectors there found inadequate handwashing facilities alongside food from unapproved sources and missing shellfish traceability records, a pairing that signals both hygiene infrastructure gaps and supply chain concerns.
What Inspectors Found Across the Region
Ol'Days on NE 1st Avenue in Miami's Edgewater neighborhood drew 10 high-severity violations including food not cooked to required minimum temperature, improper use of time as a public health control, and no consumer advisory. The restaurant sits in a high-traffic dining corridor near Wynwood.
IHOP 36-130 on SW 88th Street in Miami was the week's most prominent chain location to appear on the list, with 10 high-severity violations. Inspectors cited the franchise for food from unapproved sources, inadequate handwashing facilities, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and missing shellfish identification records. A national breakfast chain citing shellfish traceability failures is notable, as it suggests menu items involving shellfish are not being sourced through fully documented channels.
In Plantation, Lago Mar Country Club Grill on NW 127th Avenue accumulated nine high-severity violations including three separate handwashing citations: inadequate handwashing by food employees, inadequate handwashing facilities, and improper technique. Inspectors also found food from unapproved sources and missing shellfish records. A private country club kitchen drawing this volume of citations is unusual.
Korner 67 on Main Street in Miami Lakes matched Lago Mar's nine high-severity count. The citations included a person in charge not present, employees not reporting illness, inadequate handwashing facilities, and food from unapproved sources.
La Estacion Cafe on Brickell Avenue, in one of Miami's densest office and tourist corridors, drew nine high-severity violations. Inspectors cited the cafe for employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing by food employees, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and improper use of time as a public health control. The Brickell location serves a lunchtime crowd that includes office workers, hotel guests, and tourists.
Sea Siam on South Dixie Highway in Miami drew eight high-severity violations, including parasite destruction procedures not followed, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and failure to follow required procedures for specialized processes. Like Moon Thai, Sea Siam serves raw or lightly cooked seafood, making parasite destruction failures a direct public health concern.
Q' Onda Taqueria on SW 109th Court in Miami drew eight high-severity violations alongside seven intermediate violations, one of the higher combined totals of the week. Citations included toxic chemicals improperly stored, food from unapproved sources, and failure to follow required procedures for specialized processes.
Colombian Coffee House on NE 20th Street in Boca Raton was Palm Beach County's sole entry on this week's list, with five high-severity violations and no intermediate citations. Inspectors found no allergen awareness demonstrated, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned. The allergen citation is one of the less common high-severity violations and signals that staff cannot identify or communicate allergen risks to customers.
El Patio Live on W 49th Street in Hialeah drew five high-severity violations including food from unapproved sources, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and toxic chemicals improperly stored near food.
Rinconcito de Alex El Paisa on SW 112th Street in Miami drew three high-severity violations, the week's minimum threshold, plus a citation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal, an intermediate violation that carries its own serious contamination implications.
Bellini Italian Bistro on Weston Road drew one high-severity violation for employees not reporting illness symptoms, alongside an intermediate citation for inadequate toilet facilities.
What These Violations Mean
The single most repeated high-severity violation across this week's inspections was the cluster surrounding employee illness: no written health policy, employees not reporting symptoms, and no person in charge enforcing either. Moon Thai, Dona Neli, Di Piazza, Chicos, Lago Mar, Korner 67, and Bellini all had at least one of these citations. When a restaurant has no written health policy, there is no mechanism to tell a sick worker to stay home. Norovirus, which causes the majority of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, spreads through exactly this route: an infected food handler who keeps working because no policy requires them to report symptoms.
Food from unapproved sources appeared at nine facilities this week, including the IHOP franchise on SW 88th Street, Lago Mar Country Club Grill, La Estacion Cafe on Brickell, and Korner 67 in Miami Lakes. The practical consequence is traceability: if a customer gets sick, there is no documentation to trace the food back to its origin. Unapproved sources also bypass the federal inspection process that screens for Listeria, Salmonella, and other pathogens before food reaches a commercial kitchen.
Shellfish traceability failures appeared at eight facilities this week, including Moon Thai, Dona Neli, Chicos, Ol'Days, IHOP, Sea Siam, Lago Mar, Korner 67, and La Estacion Cafe. Shellfish are filter feeders that concentrate bacteria and viruses from their growing waters. The tagging and record-keeping requirements exist specifically so that, when a Vibrio or hepatitis A outbreak is traced to a restaurant, investigators can identify the harvest location and pull product from other kitchens. Without those records, that investigation stops at the restaurant door.
Parasite destruction failures at Moon Thai and Sea Siam carry a specific risk for customers eating raw or undercooked fish. Anisakis, a parasitic roundworm found in saltwater fish, causes severe gastrointestinal illness and is only destroyed by freezing fish to specific temperatures for specific durations before serving it raw. Neither restaurant had documentation showing those procedures were followed.
The Longer Record
Moon Thai & Japanese carries inspection record number SEA1620690, and Bellini Italian Bistro on the same Weston Road block carries SEA1622522, suggesting the two restaurants have been in the state system for a comparable period. That Moon Thai accumulated 12 high-severity violations in a single week while its neighbor drew one is a significant gap between two restaurants operating in the same corridor and the same inspection jurisdiction.
The IHOP franchise at SW 88th Street carries record number SEA2325164, a mid-range identifier in the Miami-Dade system. A national chain with corporate food safety protocols accumulating 10 high-severity violations in a single inspection, including food from unapproved sources and undercooked food, raises questions about whether franchise-level oversight is reaching this specific location.
La Estacion Cafe on Brickell Avenue carries record number SEA2328449. The Brickell corridor is one of Miami's highest-volume dining areas, with heavy foot traffic from the financial district and nearby hotels. Nine high-severity violations at a cafe in that location, including employees not reporting illness and food not reaching required cooking temperatures, represents a risk concentrated in a densely populated dining environment.
Rinconcito de Alex El Paisa carries record number SEA2319647, placing it in a range of Miami-Dade establishments with longer histories in the state system. The sewage and wastewater disposal citation at that location, classified as intermediate rather than high-severity, still signals a facility maintenance problem that compounds the three high-severity violations inspectors also documented.
