MIAMI, FL. A state inspector visiting Sushin Japanese Restaurant at 7175 SW 117 Ave on September 30, 2026 found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, a violation that means no one can trace where that food came from if a customer gets sick.
That was one of seven high-severity violations documented at the Miami-Dade sushi restaurant in a single visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The unapproved food source violation stands out in a Japanese restaurant context. Sushi-grade fish carries specific sourcing and parasite-destruction requirements. When a restaurant cannot document where its fish came from, there is no way to verify those requirements were met, and no way to issue a traceback alert if customers report illness.
The inspector also cited food not cooked to required minimum temperatures. At a restaurant where raw fish is a menu staple, the cooking violation suggests that items requiring heat, such as cooked rolls, tempura, or proteins, were not reaching temperatures that kill pathogens like Salmonella.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled near food preparation areas. The inspector documented that no qualified person in charge was present or performing supervisory duties during the visit.
Employees were not reporting symptoms of illness, and food contact surfaces, the cutting boards, prep tables, and counters where raw fish is handled, were not properly cleaned or sanitized. The restaurant was also not correctly using time as a public health control, a method that substitutes a strict time limit for temperature monitoring and requires precise tracking to be safe.
Two intermediate violations rounded out the inspection: multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
What These Violations Mean
The unapproved food source citation is particularly acute at a sushi restaurant. Fish intended for raw consumption must come from suppliers who follow FDA parasite-destruction protocols, which typically involve freezing at specific temperatures for set periods. Food from an unknown source carries no such guarantee. If a customer develops a parasitic infection or a Listeria illness, investigators have nowhere to begin a traceback.
The illness reporting failure compounds the risk. Food workers who do not report symptoms of norovirus, hepatitis A, or Salmonella infection are the primary driver of multi-victim outbreaks, according to CDC data. At a restaurant where workers handle raw fish directly, an ill employee preparing sushi is a direct transmission route to customers.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces create a second contamination pathway. Bacterial biofilms can form on cutting boards and prep surfaces within 24 hours of inadequate cleaning. At a sushi counter, where raw fish sits directly on those surfaces, the transfer risk is not theoretical.
The toxic chemical storage violation adds a separate and acute concern. Cleaning products stored near or above food preparation areas can contaminate food through spills, mislabeling, or improper use. That violation, combined with the absence of a functioning person in charge, suggests the kitchen was operating without basic oversight on the day of the inspection.
The Longer Record
The September 30 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Sushin Japanese Restaurant has accumulated 284 total violations across 23 inspections on file.
The pattern of high-severity violations is unbroken across the most recent two years. The January 2026 inspection produced four high-severity violations. The October 2025 inspection produced six. The May 2025 inspection produced six high-severity and four intermediate violations. Three days earlier, on April 28, 2025, a single inspection logged 11 high-severity and four intermediate violations, the single worst visit on record.
The January 2025 inspection produced six high-severity violations. The only clean inspection in recent history was April 2024, when the inspector documented zero high-severity and zero intermediate violations. That result stands alone in a record otherwise defined by repeated serious citations.
The restaurant has never been emergency-closed despite that accumulation. Seven of the nine most recent inspections produced at least four high-severity violations each.
Still Open
State inspectors documented seven high-severity violations at Sushin Japanese Restaurant on September 30, 2026, including food from an unverifiable source, undercooking, toxic chemicals near food, and no one in charge of the kitchen.
The restaurant was not closed.
