Ancient tres leches and a stink among a popular Miami restaurant’s 33 problems
UPDATED TUESDAY AFTERNOON: Don Camarón Seafood Grill’s owner emailed a statement to the Miami Herald.
Food that needed to be trashed for age or temperature abuse, malodorous air and filthy food containers were among the 33 violations an inspector found at a popular Miami seafood restaurant.
The Miami location of Don Camarón Seafood Grill, 501 NW 37th Ave., was shut down by Thursday’s inspection, but was back open for the weekend business after passing Friday’s re-inspection.
A statement from Don Camarón owner Miguel Alvarez was emailed to the Herald Tuesday afternoon:
“We’ve been part of this community for 25 years, so this is something we take very seriously. As soon as we were made aware of the issues, we acted immediately, made the necessary corrections, and passed our follow-up inspection. We’ve also brought in an independent food safety expert to help strengthen our processes moving forward. Our focus is, and always has been, on providing a clean, safe, and welcoming place for our customers.”
Here are some of the 33 violations, nine of which were High Priority, that the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation inspector found in a check ignited by a customer complaint.
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In the dry storage area, “all the food storage containers are soiled.”
The “cutting boards on the flip-top reach-in cooler are soiled.” One “has cut marks and is no longer cleanable.”
Two live roaches and two dead ones were on the floor of the seafood prep area. Three other roach corpses were spotted around the restaurant.
One fly died in a reach-in cooler near bottled sodas and water. Two played in the dining room, landing on tables. Another two used the warewash and cookline for their fun zone. Four zipped around the ceviche area and one landed on the glass display case. In the seafood prep area, “four live flies were resting on the prep table and two live flies were on the prep sink.”
“The bottom of the wall by the prep area cookline and the outside storage container wooden wall are in disrepair.”
The tres leches and Hawaiian leches desserts needed to be served or trashed in seven days. They were made on April 2, 14 days before the inspection, seven days past eviction date.
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Standing water covered the floors “throughout the establishment prep areas, kitchen area, and by the outside storage container.”
An “objectionable odor” filled the “back area by the dry goods storage container outside”
“Throughout the prep kitchen,” the walls were “soiled with accumulated grease, food debris, and/or dust.”
The inspector saw an “employee scraping a pot at the-three compartment sink, then, pick up a strainer to take out cooked pasta noodles without removing gloves and washing hands.”
Also, seen: “An employee by the cookline touched raw fish; placed it on the flat top grill; grabbed a plate; put a container in the plate to hold tortillas for soft tacos” without taking off single-use gloves and washing hands.
The seafood prep area’s reach-in freezer shelves had an “accumulation of soil residues.”
Anything used to scoop food or ice must have a handle and that handle has to stay above what’s being scooped to prevent hand contact. Alas, a bag of flour had its bowl and handle submerged in the flour. At the steam table, cups with no handle were being used to scoop cooked white rice and yellow rice.
A can of whole peeled tomatoes was dented badly enough to get smashed by a Stop Sale.
The small cook area’s reach-in cooler’s ambient temperature measured 51 degrees, a problem when the cooler’s job is to keep the food inside at or under 41 degrees. The thermometer doesn’t grade on a curve, so it’s no surprise that ham, pork base, fully cooked pork, and mozzarella cheese that had been living in the cooler for four days measured 49 to 52 degrees.
Stop Sales dropped on all of the above.
“The outer openings were not protected during operation, and vermin and/or environmental cross contamination were present.” This wasn’t in the main restaurant, but at the outdoor area, where “bay doors by the small cookline/seating area at the seafood market were open during operation.”
This story was originally published April 21, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
