Florida Food Safety Records

The Numbers Behind the Kitchens

State inspectors have been walking into Florida's restaurants since 2016. What they've documented — 94,035,236 individual DBPR violations, 13,315 emergency closures, $14,737,506 in enforcement fines — represents the most complete picture of Florida's food safety landscape available to the public. FloridaFoodSafety.org is the only database that combines both regulatory systems: DBPR, which oversees 46,947 restaurants and food service operations, and FDACS, which separately inspects 27,233 retail food establishments — grocery chains, gas station markets, and convenience stores — that most food safety sites don't cover at all.

The statewide DBPR pass rate sits at 86.1%. That sounds acceptable until you look at what's baked into "passing" — inspectors routinely document 101.5 violations per visit at passing establishments. In Florida, you can fail to maintain proper food temperatures, store raw meat above ready-to-eat food, and operate with a pest problem and still walk away with a passing grade if the severity doesn't trip the closure threshold.

The Counties Regulators Keep Coming Back To

Not all 67 Florida counties perform equally under inspection. Levy County currently posts the state's lowest pass rate among large counties at 76.92% across 177 tracked facilities. Suwannee County (77.42%) and Citrus County (79.93%) aren't far behind. Inspectors have issued 21 emergency closures in those counties in 2026 alone.

On the other end of the spectrum, Lake County leads Florida's larger counties with a 93.90% pass rate across 817 facilities — evidence that geography, enforcement culture, and local inspection frequency all play a role in outcomes that the state aggregate obscures.

Emergency Closures: Where Inspectors Drew the Line

When conditions inside a kitchen rise to the level of an immediate public health threat, inspectors don't issue a warning — they padlock the door. Florida's DBPR has exercised that authority 13,315 times since 2016, with 208 closures issued in 2026. Palm Beach County accounts for 124 of those — more than any other county in Florida this year, across a base of 4,984 tracked establishments. Closure reasons range from live roach infestations and sewage backups to employees working while ill with reportable symptoms. Every closure record on this site links to the inspection that triggered it.

Chain Restaurants: The Repeat Offender Files

Florida tracks 155 distinct restaurant chains across the DBPR system. The performance gap between the best and worst operators is not subtle. Church's Chicken currently holds the lowest pass rate of any major chain at 42.86% — averaging 7.81 violations per inspection across its 21 Florida locations. Perkins (61.54%) and Golden Corral (65.63%) round out the bottom three among chains with 20 or more locations. By contrast, Chicken Salad Chick leads all major chains at 100.00% — demonstrating that consistent performance at scale is achievable, just not universal.

Cities Under the Microscope

FloridaFoodSafety.org tracks inspection data across 905 Florida cities. The variation between municipalities is sharp. Pinecrest in Miami-Dade County currently averages 8.34 violations per inspection across 52 tracked restaurants. Cutler Bay and Hilliard follow closely. Every city page on this site shows the full distribution of scores, a ranked list of facilities, and a searchable violation history — updated on a rolling basis as new inspection data arrives from the state.

What Inspectors Keep Finding

The most-cited violations in Florida restaurants aren't exotic. They're basic: food contact surfaces (37,205 citations), consumer advisory (36,665 citations), and proper hand/arm washing (35,816 citations) — issues that proper training and consistent management would eliminate. The 94,035,236 total violations on record aren't the result of unusually aggressive enforcement. They're the documented output of 926,740 routine inspections at establishments that knew the inspector was coming.

The Fine Print: Enforcement Beyond the Inspection Report

When violations cross into criminal or egregious territory, DBPR escalates beyond the inspection report. The agency has levied $14,737,506 in fines across 36,506 disciplinary actions against 17,108 Florida facilities — with a single case reaching $9,000. The largest recent fine: $6,000 against La Granja Restaurant in West Palm Beach, case 2--2025033358. Fire safety inspectors have separately documented 27,210 violations at 10,464 facilities — a dataset most food safety reporting ignores entirely.

The FDACS Side: Grocery Stores, Gas Stations, and Stop-Sale Orders

While most food safety attention lands on restaurants, the state's 27,233 FDACS-regulated retail establishments — grocery chains, convenience stores, gas station markets, and bakeries — operate under a parallel enforcement system that rarely makes headlines. FDACS has conducted 57,346 inspections and issued 69,334 stop-sale orders, including 14,254 in 2026, prohibiting the sale of products inspectors deemed unsafe or non-compliant. Hywaze has accumulated 440 stop-sale orders across its 13 Florida locations — the highest total of any retail chain in the state. The full FDACS dataset — 114 chains, 325 citation codes — is browsable here.