Flying insects, food temps: Pines restaurants hit with high-priority violations
Pembroke Pines foodies: Ready for your latest restaurant check-in, courtesy of state inspectors?
Two restaurants accumulated at least five high-priority violations during their June inspections, according to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Two earned infraction-free results from inspectors.
Those that missed the mark include a Hollywood-based Cuban chain and a Jamaican eatery that opened its doors three months earlier.
Both were categorized under “Follow Up Inspection Required,” meaning they didn’t pass their inspection, but weren’t considered enough of a threat to customers to shut down.
High-priority violations include any practices that “could contribute directly to a foodborne illness or injury,” according to DBPR. This covers live flying insects, improper sanitation techniques, contamination of raw food with cooked food and other offenses that bacteria like Salmonella and Listeria thrive on.
Eateries with spotless records had no critical or noncritical issues and met the state’s standards during their reviews.
Here are the restaurants that underperformed during their June 2026 inspections:
Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine, 2150 N. University Dr.
Complaint inspection, 13 total violations, seven high-priority violations
Inspectors made this Hollywood-based Cuban chain chuck its house salsa, cooked pork and flan for being improperly chilled and stored at the wrong temperatures overnight, according to DBPR.
The pork and flan, prepared the day before, did not meet the 41-degree cold-holding temperature required to prevent bacteria growth and keep food safe to eat.
The salsa had been prepared nine days earlier, with inspectors adding that it was not found “in a wholesome, sound condition.”
Other temperature fails included sliced tomatoes, sliced ham and raw shrimp stored in too-warm temperatures, and black beans kept tepid. Inspectors allowed the foods to be chilled and reheated after handing out the citation.
DBPR also found Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine, which opened in 1984 and has 12 locations across Miami-Dade and Broward, guilty of two additional serious violations: raw fish stored above cooked carrots, risking cross-contamination, and a sanitizing solution with an above-average chlorine concentration.
The Cuban chain’s follow-up inspection the next day saw it meet DBPR’s standard.
Peppa Seed, 8170 Pines Blvd.
Routine food inspection, 11 total violations, five high-priority violations
This fast-casual Jamaican restaurant had just celebrated three months since its grand opening when inspectors spotted a “flying insect” buzzing around a mop bucket, according to DBPR.
The bug was killed and the bucket sanitized by Peppa Seed’s manager once it was spotted, inspectors said.
Several cross-contamination fails — raw chicken stacked above unwashed ginger and “a plastic bucket of chicken feet stored over shrimp” — also earned the restaurant’s team on-site corrections.
Temperature violations, including too-warm pasta salad and shredded cabbage, too-cold rice, beans, fried chicken and plantains, elicited similar warnings.
The Jamaican eatery, which has a flagship location in Lauderhill, passed its follow-up inspection the next day, meeting DBPR’s standard without any citations.
Infraction-free restaurants
Here are the restaurants that aced their June 2026 inspections:
- Coconut305, 900 N. Flamingo Road
- Chipotle Mexican Grill #1032, 11041 Pines Blvd.
