State food inspectors temporarily shut down Soriano Brothers Cuban Cuisine in Hialeah after a routine visit turned up live flies on cooked meats, mold inside the ice machine and a grab bag of other sanitation problems. The restaurant at 2393 W. 78th St. stayed closed for two days, then passed a follow-up inspection on Friday and was allowed to reopen.
What inspectors say they saw
During Wednesday's visit, inspectors logged 21 violations, seven of them labeled high priority. The report notes an "accumulation of black/green mold-like substance" in the ice machine, knives tucked into cracks between pieces of equipment, and wet wiping cloths left out on a food-prep table instead of stored in sanitizer.
It gets less appetizing from there. Inspectors documented multiple live flies in the kitchen, including one that landed on a slice of ham and another on cooked pork. A 102.25-ounce can of red pepper strips was hit with a Stop Sale order, the chlorine sanitizing solution in the three-compartment sink tested at 200 parts per million, and cooked pork in the walk-in cooler registered between 49°F and 52°F. The specifics come from the state inspection report, according to the Miami Herald.
Not the first time for Soriano Brothers
The Hialeah closure is part of a larger pattern for the Soriano Brothers chain. Earlier this year, the company's Palmetto Bay location was also ordered shut after a January inspection, then cleared to reopen after passing a callback visit the following day. State inspection records list multiple licenses tied to Soriano Brothers and show a history of follow-up visits at various locations, according to the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation.
Watchdogs have the chain on their radar
That track record has not gone unnoticed. State postings and data trackers have tagged Soriano Brothers as an "active bad actor" because of repeat closures and warnings, and South Florida outlets have been chronicling those hits. Sites that scrape DBPR updates and Local 10's "Dirty Dining" segments have logged multiple inspections and temporary shutdowns at the chain's restaurants, according to RiskyEats and Local 10.
Why the temperature and sanitizer numbers matter
Health rules are not just bureaucratic nitpicking in this case. Cold time and temperature control foods are supposed to be held at 41°F or below to slow the growth of bacteria, so pork sitting between 49°F and 52°F falls squarely into the so-called temperature danger zone under federal guidance. Sanitizer strength is another key piece of the puzzle. Many public health protocols call for roughly 50 to 100 parts per million of chlorine when immersing items in a three-compartment sink. The inspector's 200 ppm reading signals that the solution was too strong, which is a warning sign that it was not diluted or tested properly. Those standards appear in federal and local food-safety materials, including the FDA Food Code and local public health inspection guides such as the Los Angeles County Retail Food Inspection Guide.
What this means for the Hialeah location
For now, Soriano Brothers' Hialeah shop is back in business. After the restaurant passed its reinspection, the state lifted the closure order. That does not mean regulators are done watching. Repeat high-priority violations can result in longer shutdowns, more Stop Sale orders, fines and other enforcement actions. At this point, the official record shows the Hialeah restaurant cleared its callback check and remains under state oversight. The full list of violations and the follow-up findings are laid out in the published inspection report, according to the Miami Herald.
