MIAMI, FL. An inspector visiting Southwest Rey's Pizza #2 on SW 152nd Street on September 18 found that employees were not reporting symptoms of illness before handling food — a violation that state health data links directly to multi-victim outbreaks of norovirus and other pathogens. The restaurant was not closed.
The inspection turned up 7 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate violations. The facility remained open throughout.
What Inspectors Found
The inspector cited employees for not reporting illness symptoms before working with food. That violation sits alongside a citation for improper hand and arm washing technique, meaning that even when workers did attempt to wash their hands, they were not doing so in a way that removes pathogens.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled near the kitchen. Food contact surfaces, the cutting boards and prep equipment where pizza ingredients are handled, were not properly cleaned or sanitized.
The inspector also found the restaurant lacked adequate shell stock identification records. That citation means shellfish served at the location, consumed raw or lightly cooked, could not be traced to a licensed harvester if a customer became ill. The restaurant had no consumer advisory posted to warn customers about the risks of raw or undercooked foods.
No person in charge was present, or the person on duty was not actively performing managerial oversight duties. CDC research shows facilities operating without active managerial control record three times more critical violations on average.
On the intermediate tier, inspectors cited improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils that were not properly cleaned, single-use items being reused, and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
What These Violations Mean
The illness reporting failure is the most acutely dangerous violation in this inspection. When food workers with norovirus, salmonella, or hepatitis A handle food without disclosing symptoms, they become a direct transmission route to every customer served that day. A single ill worker can contaminate dozens of meals before anyone knows an outbreak has started.
The hand-washing technique violation compounds that risk. Inspectors do not cite this violation when workers skip washing entirely; they cite it when workers go through the motions incorrectly, leaving pathogens on hands despite the attempt. Combined with an illness reporting failure, that gap in basic hygiene is a reliable condition for an outbreak.
The shellfish traceability violation is a separate but serious concern. Shellfish harvested from contaminated waters and consumed raw is one of the most reliable vectors for hepatitis A and Vibrio infections. Without shell stock tags, there is no way to identify the harvest location, the harvest date, or the licensed dealer if a customer gets sick and investigators need to trace the source.
Improperly stored or labeled chemicals near food create a different category of risk entirely: acute chemical poisoning through contamination or mislabeling. That violation, alongside unsanitized food contact surfaces and reused single-use items, means multiple pathways for contamination were present at the same time in the same kitchen.
The Longer Record
The September 18 inspection is not an anomaly. State records show Southwest Rey's Pizza #2 has been inspected 27 times and has accumulated 231 total violations across its history, with zero emergency closures.
The pattern of high-severity violations is consistent across years. In February 2024, inspectors found 7 high-severity violations. In August 2024, a follow-up inspection the next day, August 21, also produced 7 high-severity violations. February 2025 brought 5 high-severity violations. The June 2026 inspection, just three months before this one, found 4 high-severity and 4 intermediate violations.
The July 2023 inspection was the most severe on record for this location, with 9 high-severity violations and 1 intermediate. The facility was not closed after that inspection either.
Seven of the last eight inspections on record produced at least 2 high-severity violations. The September 18 inspection, with 7 high-severity violations, ties the worst single-day counts in the facility's history.
Still Open
State inspectors have visited Southwest Rey's Pizza #2 twenty-seven times. They have documented 231 violations. They have found high-severity citations, including illness reporting failures and unsanitized food contact surfaces, in inspection after inspection across three consecutive years.
After the September 18 visit, with 7 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate citations on the books, the restaurant on SW 152nd Street remained open.
