PEMBROKE PINES, FL. A state inspector visiting Taco Haven on Taft Street on August 20 found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, a violation that means customers had no way of knowing whether what they ate had ever passed a USDA or FDA safety check. That was one of six high-severity violations documented at the Pembroke Pines restaurant that day. The facility was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation is among the most serious a restaurant can receive. An inspector also found food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, meaning customers may have consumed meat that never reached the heat threshold needed to kill pathogens like Salmonella.
The third high-severity citation documented that an employee was not reporting symptoms of illness. That finding, alongside the improper handwashing technique violation, places the people preparing food at the center of the risk picture.
Inspectors also cited food in poor condition, described in state records as spoiled, contaminated, mislabeled, or adulterated. A sixth high-severity violation noted the absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, a posting requirement that exists specifically to warn elderly customers, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems before they order.
The two intermediate violations rounded out the August 20 report: multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, and toilet facilities that were inadequate or improperly maintained.
What These Violations Mean
The food-from-unapproved-sources violation is not a paperwork technicality. When a restaurant purchases ingredients outside the regulated supply chain, there is no inspection record to trace if a customer gets sick. Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli outbreaks have all been linked to uninspected food sources precisely because there is no point in the supply process where contamination gets caught before it reaches a kitchen.
The undercooked food violation compounds that risk directly. Salmonella in poultry survives at temperatures below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. If the food arriving at Taco Haven came from an unverified source and was then not cooked to the required temperature, neither stage of the preparation process provided a safety check.
The employee illness reporting failure is a separate and acute danger. Norovirus, one of the most common causes of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, spreads through direct contact when an infected food handler continues working without disclosing symptoms. A single employee working while contagious can expose dozens of customers in a single shift.
Improperly cleaned multi-use utensils add another layer. Bacterial biofilms form on inadequately sanitized surfaces within 24 hours and are resistant to routine cleaning once established. At Taco Haven, that violation was documented alongside food quality and sourcing problems, meaning contamination had multiple potential entry points on the same day.
The Longer Record
The August 20 inspection was not the first time state records documented serious violations at Taco Haven. The restaurant has been inspected 12 times in total, accumulating 58 violations across those visits. It has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern of high-severity citations stretches back through every inspection on record. In September 2025, inspectors documented five high-severity and two intermediate violations. In November 2023, four high-severity violations were recorded. No single inspection in the facility's history shows a clean bill of health.
The most recent visit before August 20 was in January 2026, when inspectors found two high-severity and two intermediate violations. The December 2025 inspection produced three high-severity citations. The August 2026 inspection, with six high-severity violations, is the worst single-visit total in the facility's documented history.
Open for Business
State inspectors have the authority to order an emergency closure when violations pose an immediate threat to public health. At Taco Haven on August 20, six high-severity violations were documented, including uninspected food, undercooked food, and an employee not disclosing illness symptoms.
The restaurant was not closed.
Across 12 inspections and 58 total violations, Taco Haven has never received an emergency closure order. As of the August 20 inspection, it remained open on Taft Street in Pembroke Pines.
