Rodent poop in pasta among South Florida’s worst restaurant violations
Live rodents and evidence of live rodents dominate this week’s list of South Florida restaurants that failed state inspection.
This Sick and Shut Down List has restaurants from Miami, Monroe and Palm Beach counties. Inspections are done by the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation, which makes routine inspections on a rotation and complaint inspections after hearing from customers.
Restaurants can reopen after passing a callback inspection, which usually occurs the next day.
In alphabetical order:
Crazee Marios, 7667 Lake Worth Rd., Unincorporated Palm Beach County
Routine inspection, seven total violations, three High Priority violations
While running along the tops of cans of food and seasonings in the kitchen, rodents left nine pieces of poop. There were also four droppings in a to-go container with spices. (Yes, the manager threw out the spices).
A cutting board was “grooved and no longer cleanable.”
The “walls next to the large stoves were soiled with food splatter.”
An “employee used bare hands to fill cut lettuce in a flip top cooler.” That calls for single-use gloves after washing hands.
Grand Cafe Key West, 314 Duval St., Key West
Routine inspection, 11 total violations, four High Priority violations
The standing water under a handwash sink wasn’t as big a deal as “observed back door open.”
Perhaps no more needs to be said about how there were rodent bite marks on a 10-pound bag of penne pasta or how there were “15 rodent droppings inside a plastic container with uncooked penne pasta” in the kitchen. The pasta got hit with a Stop Sale.
Also among the 87 pieces of rodent regularity were “20 rodent droppings on tray under freshly baked bread next to three-compartment sink at kitchen area” and “approximately 15 rodent droppings on mop sink area next to the kitchen.”
Oh, and there was one rodent dropping on a plate under the steam table.
Miyi La Cubanita Cuban Cafe Chola Wengue, 1332 NW Second Ave., Boca Raton
Routine inspection, seven total violations, two High Priority violations
Miyi returns to the list two months after rodents dumped on a prep table and storage shelves.
Placement was more diverse this time as the rodents relieved themselves in front of a walk-in cooler (10 droppings), on a dry storage shelf (four droppings), on top of a microwave oven (one dropping), on top of electrical outlets next to the microwave (four droppings), on top of an electrical box (two droppings), on the kitchen floor (two droppings).
A flip-top cooler cutting board has cut marks and no longer cleanable to restaurant standards.
The ceiling tiles above the walk-in cooler were “soiled with dust or a mold-like substance.”
New Wave Billiards & Sports Bar, 1403 SW 107th Ave., West Miami-Dade
Routine inspection, seven total violations, one High Priority violation
We told you earlier this week about the living vermin that got this place across the street from FIU’s main campus shut down last week.
READ MORE: An inspector saw a live rat inside a Miami area restaurant
Zoe Take Out Restaurant, 5371 10 Ave. N., Greenacres
Routine inspection, 11 total violations, six High Priority violations
Dead roaches spotted the floor around the three-compartment sink (seven) and in the walk-in cooler (one).
As for the live roaches, 12 were in the kitchen bathroom, four were inside a cabinet, one was in the three-compartment sink and another one was “on a food prep table with raw chicken.”
Roach excrement were in and around the three-compartment sink.
A pan of beef was stored in the mop sink. Metal pots of raw chicken were stored on the floor.
An “employee wiped hands on his clothing and, without washing his hands, handled a pan of chicken.”
Another worker “handled a cell phone and raw meat, then, without washing hands, handled clean and sanitized dishes.”
This story was originally published November 21, 2025 at 11:26 AM.
