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RiskyEats

Florida restaurant inspection journalism — from public DBPR records.

Atmospheric scene for Miami
Portrait of Marisol Vidalia, RiskyEats correspondent

BY MARISOL VIDALIA — METRO BRIEFING

Miami — Restaurant Inspection Briefing

Cross-reference Sunbiz dissolution against DBPR active status — the gap matters: Zoomed out to Florida: Miami-Dade County's chronic density is 26% below the Florida average. Miami-Dade County reports 156 recent high-priority hits. Mix: 3 Latin American spots, 1 Bar, 1 Chicken, and 1 Chinese. Translation for the public record: a 90-day window means the recent inspection stretch, not a verdict on every kitchen in the county. The numbers are the story.

🔥 Alerts

Emergency Orders

71 records this window

Restaurants closed by DBPR emergency order in the last 90 days.

Read the EOR action codes the way auditors do: JUST4FUN in South Miami, LAS DELICIAS RESTAURANT in Hialeah and SUBWAY 17880 in Miami led the board in Miami-Dade County. 71 emergency-order shutdowns in the 90-day window — DBPR ordered the kitchen closed on the spot. These are the most actionable signals: faster than admin actions, faster than license cancellation, faster than corporate dissolution. Across the Red Alert cohort: 1 Cuban, 1 Pizza, and 1 Sandwiches. Trend line: emergency-order volume is steady against the last public cut. Translation for the public record: an emergency order means DBPR ordered service stopped until a callback inspection clears it.

  • JUST4FUNSouth Miami1 INTPestScore 60last visit 2026-07-24
  • LAS DELICIAS RESTAURANTHialeah5 HP3 INT10 BASPestScore 590last visit 2026-07-24
  • SUBWAY 17880Miami1 HP8 BASPestScore 158last visit 2026-07-24
  • KELLY'S CAJUN GRILLHialeah4 HP2 INT17 BASPestScore 487last visit 2026-07-20
  • LA GUAJIRA PIZZERIA CUBANAHialeah2 HP2 INT6 BASPestScore 276last visit 2026-07-20

+66 more in this section on the live site.

Near Miss

156 records this window

Inspections in the last 30 days that posted high-priority violations but were not shut down.

Public records, properly weighted, leave little room for spin: TROPICAL CHINESE RESTAURANT in Miami, SUBWAY 819 in Miami and SABOR Y SAZON PERUANO in Hialeah headlined the Miami-Dade County rundown. 156 high-priority citations posted in the 30-day window — none of these resulted in an emergency-order closure (those are in Red Alert). They are the near-miss watch list: restaurants that drew inspector attention but stayed open. Any of them could receive a follow-up inspection. The recurring violation labels were HP and BAS. Translation for the public record: a high-priority violation is the state saying the risk can touch food safety right now. That is not atmosphere; it is a compliance record.

  • TROPICAL CHINESE RESTAURANTMiami6 HP6 INT28 BASPestScore 738last visit 2026-07-24
  • SUBWAY 819Miami4 HP1 BASPestScore 451last visit 2026-07-24
  • SABOR Y SAZON PERUANOHialeah4 HP4 INT9 BASPestScore 499last visit 2026-07-24
  • SELVA NEGRA RESTAURANTMiami3 HP1 INT5 BASPestScore 365last visit 2026-07-24
  • CARIBEAN DELITE INCMiami3 HP1 INT3 BASScore 313last visit 2026-07-24

+151 more in this section on the live site.

Closed/Delinquent

404 records this window

Two tiers: confirmed closures (owner-validated posts, news, and external places data that say service has stopped) and DBPR delinquent/inactive licenses (Primary Status Code 45/46) — a regulatory state, not by itself a confirmed closure.

The public record leaves one hard question: TYS HOMETOWN CAFE BISTRO in Miami, COSA CAFE in Miami and KONOS in Hialeah topped the Miami-Dade County ledger this round. 10 closures confirmed via news, state action, or multiple agreeing social signals. Another 27 surfaced from single-source social signals and remain under review — reported, not confirmed. Main evidence reasons: 387 social or silence signal and 183 DBPR inactive/cancelled status (45/46). Confidence mix: 390 confirmed and 221 suspected. Velocity check: 37 closure-evidence records in the last 90 days, 27 in the last 30. Dated closure signals run from 2009-11-14 to 2026-07-23. Translation for the public record: a closure signal is evidence a place may have gone dark; only verified tier-4 records are confirmed permanent closures. The numbers are the story.

  • TYS HOMETOWN CAFE BISTROMiamiclosure score 2
  • COSA CAFEMiamiclosure score 1
  • KONOSHialeahclosure score 1
  • LOLOVEMiamiclosure score 1
  • BIRNAM'S ALIBIMiami Beachclosure score 1

+399 more in this section on the live site.

⚠️ Caution

Chronic Violation Record

175 records this window

Active enforcement targets and repeat offenders: restaurants carrying emergency-order history, chronic 11-year systemic violation patterns, or cross-flag enforcement tiers.

Look at the 11-year repeat list and the same ZIP codes appear: 175 restaurants with chronic violation records surface in Miami-Dade County on the 11-year pattern view, led by AIR CULINAIRE WORLDWIDE, JENNIFERS CAFETERIA. The full repeat-offender record sits below. Translation for the public record: chronic violation record is our shorthand for an 11-year repeat-offender pattern, not a verdict on the operator.

  • AIR CULINAIRE WORLDWIDEMiami10 HP5 INT29 BASScore 1079Active chronic offenderCurrently Activelast visit 01/08/2026
  • JENNIFERS CAFETERIANorth Miami Beach7 HP11 INT17 BASScore 827Active bad actorlast visit 07/10/2026
  • TACO SHOP MEXICAN GRILL 2Miami Lakes7 HP2 BASScore 702Active bad actorlast visit 07/16/2026
  • FRANK'S FRESH FRUITS MINI MARKETMiami7 HP15 INT18 BASScore 868Active bad actorlast visit 08/27/2025
  • BIG YARD RESTAURANTMiami Gardens4 HP3 BASScore 403Active bad actorlast visit 03/18/2026

+170 more in this section on the live site.

✨ Trusted

Most Improved

22 records this window

Restaurants whose recent-window violation count is at least 50% lower than the prior window, with the most recent inspection clean.

The regulatory question is simple: CERVECERIA LA TROPICAL in Miami, ANTOJITOS 5 ESTRELLAS in Miami and LA UCHIRENA RAPID FOOD in Doral sat at the head of the Miami-Dade County list. 22 restaurants met the sustained-improvement test: at least four inspections in each 12-month window, recent HP+Critical counts cut by 50% or more, and an active license. CERVECERIA LA TROPICAL in Miami dropped HP+Critical counts from 10 to 2 across the two 12-month windows (80.0% better). Translation for the public record: most improved means the recent record got materially cleaner than the prior-year pattern. That is not atmosphere; it is a compliance record.

  • CERVECERIA LA TROPICALMiami4 BASScore 4
  • ANTOJITOS 5 ESTRELLASMiami
  • LA UCHIRENA RAPID FOODDoral
  • MUSEUM TOWER CAFEMiami3 INT5 BASPestScore 85
  • PUERQUITO RELLENOHialeah2 INT5 BASPestScore 75

+17 more in this section on the live site.

Clean Plates

361 records this window

Restaurants with multiple inspections in the current quarter and zero high-priority or intermediate violations.

An admin complaint clears a different liability than a closure does: 361 Miami-Dade County licensees ran a clean Q2 2026 ledger across multiple inspections — GOLD KOSHER CATERING, 2180 KITCHEN, ALL KIDS CATERING among them. These are repeat visits with zero high-priority or intermediate violations — the operators rewarded for consistency, not one lucky inspection. GOLD KOSHER CATERING stretched a high-priority-free run to 19 inspections covering roughly 4.8 years. Translation for the public record: a clean plate means the recent inspection record stayed quiet where the state was looking. The numbers are the story.

  • GOLD KOSHER CATERINGNorth Miami1 BASScore 1
  • 2180 KITCHENMiami
  • ALL KIDS CATERINGOpa-Locka2 BASScore 2
  • MIAMI CANCER INSTITUTE AT BAPTIST HEALTHMiami1 BASPestScore 51
  • 142A AIFI SMASHED BURGERMiami

+356 more in this section on the live site.

🆕 New

Openings

47 records this window

New DBPR licenses plus confirmed opening signals: the places that just joined the map and still need their first public-record track record.

This is the part operators cannot wave away: Miami-Dade County count: 47 opening signals. 137 announced via FB/news/operator signal; 6469 DBPR/event-ledger new-license records. Current names include CHABAD RUSSIAN CENTER OF SOUTH FLORIDA in Sunny Isles Beach, EATING HOUSE in Coral Gables and FIESTA PALACE BALLROOM in Miami. Ledger type mix: 6469 new-license records and 137 announcement-led records. Cuisine/venue mix: 4341 Unknown and 169 Cafe. Area concentration: 3763 MIAMI and 635 MIAMI BEACH. Velocity check: 295 opening signals in the last 90 days, 91 in the last 30. Dated opening signals run from 2016-07-01 to 2026-07-27. RiskyEats treats these as opening signals: license issue, announcement, or operational evidence can precede the first routine inspection, so the paragraph does not imply a clean inspection history. Translation for the public record: an opening signal starts with licensing or source-confirmed evidence, not wishful ribbon-cutting.

  • CHABAD RUSSIAN CENTER OF SOUTH FLORIDASunny Isles Beach
  • EATING HOUSECoral Gables
  • FIESTA PALACE BALLROOMMiami
  • EL AUTENTICO DE LAS CANASHialeah Gardens
  • YARBOU ARABIAN FOOD 2Miami

+42 more in this section on the live site.