5 Miami and Miami Beach Restaurants With High Google Ratings and Notable Inspection Findings

A packed review profile can tell you a lot about a restaurant’s dining-room experience. It can also leave out what inspectors documented in coolers, prep areas, storage rooms, and sinks.

For this piece, we started with manual Google screenshots captured on May 5, 2026 for five well-reviewed restaurants in Miami and Miami Beach. Then we matched those restaurants to dated Florida DBPR inspection records and pulled the exact findings tied to those visits.

If you’re new to how we frame these inspection events, it helps to read our guides to understanding Florida restaurant inspection grades and what happens when a Florida restaurant fails an inspection.

The 5 restaurants we checked

What the inspection records showed

This is not a ranking of the “worst” restaurants in Miami. It is a five-restaurant comparison showing how high Google ratings and dated public inspection findings can coexist.

1) La Mulata — Miami Beach

La Mulata’s Google presence is huge: 4.8 stars and 15,991 reviews in the manual screenshot we locked on May 5. But a Routine - Food inspection on October 2, 2025 ended with Emergency order recommended.

That inspection logged 11 violations, including 3 critical. One DBPR observation reads:

High Priority - Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found. Observed approximately 20 live roaches crawling on the floor in the dry storage room where rice and other dry spices are stored located by the walk-in cooler. Warning

That is the split this article is trying to capture: a heavily reviewed Miami Beach restaurant on the customer side, and a much less flattering inspection snapshot in the public record on the kitchen side. Read the full history on the La Mulata restaurant page.

2) Fuddruckers — South Dixie Hwy, Miami

The Fuddruckers screenshot Dima saved matches the 14875 S Dixie Hwy Miami location. On Google, that location showed 4.5 stars and about 3.3K reviews.

On January 14, 2026, a Routine - Food inspection at that same location ended with Emergency order recommended. Inspectors logged 10 violations, including 3 critical.

One DBPR observation states:

High Priority - Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found. Observed 12 live roaches crawling inside of salad reach in cooler gaskets at front counter.

That does not mean the reviews are fake. It means customer reviews and inspection records measure different parts of the restaurant experience. The public record for this branch is on the Fuddruckers restaurant page.

3) FL Cafe — Miami Beach

FL Cafe’s manual Google screenshot showed 4.4 stars and 1,933 reviews. But on July 23, 2025, a Routine - Food inspection ended with Emergency order recommended.

That inspection logged 11 violations, including 2 critical. DBPR documented both dead and live roach findings. The inspection record includes:

Basic - Dead roaches on premises. Observed 3 dead roaches inside mop sink. Observed approximately 10 dead roaches throughout cook line floor and behind reach in coolers. Warning

And also:

High Priority - Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found. Observed 1 live roach crawling on the wall above a hand sink located at kitchen entrance. Observed 2 live roaches crawling on the wall behind reach in cooler located by the cook line. Observed 1 live roach crawling on the wall behind the dishwasher machine. Warning

You can review the dated inspection record on the FL Cafe restaurant page.

4) Crab Du Jour Cajun Seafood & Sports Bar — Miami

Crab Du Jour’s manual screenshot showed 4.3 stars and 1,282 reviews. A much more recent Complaint Full inspection on April 15, 2026 ended with Warning Issued.

That inspection logged 15 violations, including 3 critical. One of the DBPR observations reads:

High Priority - Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found. Observed one live roach near cook line. Operator killed and discarded. Corrected On-Site

That last line matters. Even when something is corrected during an inspection, the finding still becomes part of the dated public record. The full sequence is on the Crab Du Jour restaurant page.

5) DiCrespo Steakhouse — Miami

DiCrespo Steakhouse was the surprise addition to this shortlist after the manual Google check came back stronger than expected: 4.3 stars and 851 reviews.

Its inspection record was also the most severe in this five-restaurant set. On March 11, 2026, a Routine - Food inspection ended with Emergency order recommended. That inspection logged 37 violations, including 12 critical.

The public record includes this observation:

High Priority - Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found. Observed 3 live roaches on sanitizer bucket at kitchen. Observed 6 live roaches crawling inside reach in cooler where food is stored across from cook line. Observed 3 live roaches crawling out of raw potato bag near exit door. Observed 1 live roach crawling on reach in cooler gasket near cook line. Observed 2 live roaches crawling on stove near ovens at cook line. Observed 2 live roaches crawling inside of the triple sink adjacent to cook line. Repeat Violation Warning

And the next day, during the callback on March 12, 2026, DBPR still documented live and dead roaches in the follow-up text. The full record is on the DiCrespo restaurant page.

Why this matters

Google reviews mostly reflect what diners can actually see: taste, portion size, speed, friendliness, parking, price, decor, music, and whether the place feels fun.

Inspection records reflect what regulators documented on a specific day in prep areas, storage rooms, coolers, sinks, floors, and line stations.

Those two things are related, but they are not the same. If you want a broader Miami-area baseline beyond these five restaurants, compare this piece with our city and county inspection roundups for Miami Beach and Miami-Dade County.

That is why a restaurant can be highly rated in public and still have a dated inspection record that should make a cautious diner want more context.

The practical takeaway

If a restaurant has great reviews, that tells you something real. But it does not tell you everything.

Before you go, check the inspection history too:

• Miami restaurants on InspectFL
• Miami Beach restaurants on InspectFL
• Miami-Dade County restaurant inspections
• Miami-Dade County inspection roundup
• Miami Beach inspection roundup

Reviews show the dining-room experience. Inspection reports show what customers usually never see. Used together, they give you a better read on where you are about to eat.

Inspection findings quoted above are from Florida DBPR public records tied to the dates listed. InspectFL Health Scores are our own calculations based on public inspection data and are not official DBPR ratings.