Rodents among stadium area eatery’s violations the day of Miami World Cup game

Food admin June 16, 2026 0 Comments

Rodents among stadium area eatery’s violations the day of Miami World Cup game

Nobody got a red card during Monday’s Uruguay-Saudi Arabia World Cup game at Hard Rock Stadium, but state inspectors did the equivalent earlier in the day to a stadium-area restaurant.

Rodent poop, filthy restrooms and olfactory assault got the Sonic Drive In at 2699 NW 199th St., across a street from the stadium, shut down after a failed inspection.

READ MORE: Saudi Arabia strikes first, ties favored Uruguay 1-1 in World Cup opener in Miami

And, these don’t appear to be one-time or new problems as a customer complaint sparked this inspection that turned up 31 total violations, five of which were high priority.

Sonic reopened after passing re-inspection Tuesday morning. Here’s some of what the inspector found Monday.

“Bathroom facility not clean.”

“Objectionable odors” settled over the kitchen and the mop sink areas.

As for the 31 rodent droppings, two were “inside a white sugar box stored under the tea dispenser in the main kitchen.” But the most rodent regularity, 10 each, were counted on top of boxes of syrups and to-go items and in a cabinet under a kitchen prep table. Two were on top of a box of sauces near the hot dog warmer.

The inspection said, “Observed four rat droppings on a rack where soda syrups are stored.”

READ MORE: Roaches in a box of flour mix and other South Florida restaurant issues

A box with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, parchment paper or deli tissues had “old food debris/soil residue inside.”

“Wall soiled with accumulated grease, food debris, and/or dust.” Where? “Observed throughout the kitchen.”

Also throughout the kitchen, “ceiling tiles and vents soiled with dust, food debris, and some tiles soiled with a mold-like substance.”

Water leaked from the pipe or other part of both handwash sinks and the three-compartment sink.

Then Sonic got cited for “single-service articles stored under leaking water lines” because, apparently, workers didn’t move the ketchup packets under a handwash sink.

Parts of the kitchen were “covered with standing water.” Water also was standing or draining so slowly as to seem to be standing at a prep sink and the mop sink.

The dining area floor was decorated with “sticky residue.”

A reach-in cooler had an ambient temperature of 47 degrees, which is a problem for a piece of equipment with the sole task of keeping food at or under 41 degrees. So, the shredded lettuce that measured 47 degrees got hit with a Stop Sale and sent to the garbage.

This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 11:34 AM.