Rodent dung, unsafe food gets Miami mall food court staple closed by inspector
Too many rodent droppings, too little cleanliness and too much food that qualified as garbage led to the shutdown of a mall food court staple last week.
When an inspector dropped by Kelly’s Cajun Grill in Cutler Bay’s Southland Mall, 20505 S. Dixie Hwy., on Thursday, the mission wasn’t picking up bourbon chicken or blackened fish with rice. The visit’s raison d’etre was a routine inspection that found 26 total violations, including seven High Priority ones.
The inspector spotted “more than 20 droppings under the soda machine located at the front counter.”
The kitchen floor contained one dead roach and one live roach on a floor described as “soiled throughout the kitchen area.” But eight roaches partied in an empty plastic container sitting on the floor and three were crawling on the wall of the kitchen’s mop sink area.
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In addition to the floor, the inspector “observed the ceiling is soiled throughout the kitchen area.” A storage rack across from the stove also was “soiled with grease, food debris, dirt, slime or dust.”
A wood cutting board on a prep table was “soiled and no longer cleanable.”
Water leaked under the three-compartment sink.
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The walk-in cooler measured 57 degrees inside. That’s cooler than outside, but toasty compared to the 41 degrees or under at which it’s supposed to keep food. As such, “all the food stored inside the walk in cooler was out of temperature.”
Stop Sales rained down on beans, fish, breaded chicken, noodles and raw chicken. All of it had to be trashed
Rice on a kitchen shelf measured 102 degrees when it needed to be 135 degrees in warm storage. This, too, got hit with a Stop Sale.
During Friday’s re-inspection, the malfunctioning walk-in remained a problem: “This is the only cold unit available at the establishment.”
So, raw fish, swai fillets, beans, breaded chicken and raw chicken not tossed on Thursday got Stop Sale smashed on Friday.
The storage rack at the walk-in cooler and near a grill were “cleaned but still have an accumulation of soil residues.”
The three-compartment sink still leaked.
A third inspection Saturday got Kelly’s Cajun Grill back in business.
This story was originally published August 18, 2025 at 1:54 PM.
