Iced tea dispenser mold and rodent dung among Shorty’s Bar-B-Q’s 55 violations

Mold in the ice machine and ice tea dispenser, food on allegedly “clean” dishes, rodent dookie and dirty equipment all were among a whopping 55 violations a state inspector found at Shorty’s Bar-B-Q last week.

Read more New Miami-area group breaks organ recovery record. How it plans to change transplantation

This inspection wasn’t of the Shorty’s on Biscayne Boulevard near Dadeland Mall, but the one at 11575 Bird Road, just east of Florida’s Turnpike and HCA Florida Kendall Hospital. Barely passing Friday’s re-inspection — “Follow-Up Inspection Required,” 32 violations — got Shorty’s back open for the weekend.

A complaint filed to the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation begat the inspection, which revealed 55 total violations, 14 of them high-priority violations. Here are some of the lowlights.

There were “holes in the wall in the dry storage area by the dishwasher station.” And that often leads to…

“Rodent activity present as evidenced by rodent droppings found.” As in, over 10 rodent droppings on the dry storage floor, another 10-plus “where clean aprons are stored” in dry storage and five-plus near a dry storage area.

The ice machine had “lime and black, mold-like buildup.”

The ice tea dispenser had “mold-like buildup.”

READ MORE: This popular Miami barbecue spot is starting a weekend pop-up in Hollywood

Three flies were “landing on chicken wings in the back prep area,” and two flies were “landing on bread near the cookline.” A swarm of over 10 flies used a kitchen prep table as a runway.

An “accumulation of debris inside the warewashing machine” was matched by an “accumulation of debris on exterior of the warewashing machine.”

The inspector “observed food debris on clean plates at the dry rack area” and “clean pot lids stored on the floor in the dishwashing area.”

How clean is that floor?

Hopefully, cleaner than the kitchen floor near the cookline, which was described as “heavily soiled.”

Read more This popular Miami barbecue spot is starting a weekend pop-up in Hollywood

“Equipment and utensils were not properly air-dried — wet nesting.” Please explain further. “Aluminum containers at the dry rack area had water accumulation on the outside rim.”

READ MORE: Roaches in oil. Flies in an ice bin. Miami, Fort Lauderdale restaurant filth

Standing water covered the walk-in cooler floor.

Inside the walk-in cooler, a gray plastic container was cracked.

A bucket of mayonnaise sat on the floor. A plastic bin of wings wasn’t covered.

Knives were stored in an “uncleanable knife block.”

The take-out containers in the kitchen qualified as “single-service articles not stored inverted or protected from contamination.”

A “grooved cutting board with cut marks” was beyond the help of cleaning.

A waitress “brought dirty dishes into the ware wash area and immediately grabbed clean plates with her bare hands without proper handwashing.”

A cookline employee slid over to clean dishes but “came back to the cookline and began food preparation with no handwashing.”

Someone else touched his face and a clean tong without washing hands between those two actions.

None of the kitchen handwash sinks had paper towels or a blower for drying hands.

“Several employees engaged in food preparation with no hair restraint.”

“Stop Sale issued due to adulteration of food product.” No more information was given, but this could’ve been the bread and/or chicken wings the aforementioned flies treated like a backyard trampoline.

Stop Sale orders came down on cooked food without time markings, and nobody knew how long they’d been out of temperature control. Into the trash went baked potatoes, ribs, cooked chicken and wings.

Read more Despite pressure, most South Florida cities skip ICE program to train local cops

This story was originally published October 27, 2026 at 3:44 PM.