PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL. State inspectors visiting Caffe Andiamo at 500 Sawgrass Village on August 24, 2026 found that the restaurant was serving food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, a violation that means inspectors could not confirm that what customers were eating had ever passed a federal safety check.
That was one of eight high-severity violations documented in a single visit. The café remained open.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation sits at the top of the severity list for a straightforward reason: if a customer gets sick, there is no traceable supply chain. Food from unapproved sources has not been inspected by USDA or FDA, meaning contamination with Listeria, Salmonella or E. coli could go undetected before it reaches a plate.
Layered on top of that, inspectors found that the café had no written employee health policy, and that employees were not reporting symptoms of illness. Those two violations exist in sequence: without a written policy, workers have no formal instruction to stay home when sick, and without reporting, management has no way to pull an infected worker from food preparation before customers are exposed.
The handwashing picture was equally concerning. Inspectors cited both inadequate handwashing facilities and improper handwashing technique. That combination means the physical infrastructure was not sufficient to support proper hygiene, and even where attempts were made, the technique left pathogens on workers' hands.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. The inspector also found that time was not being properly used as a public health control, a specific method that allows certain foods to sit outside refrigeration for set windows. When that protocol is not followed correctly, food can remain in the bacterial growth zone far longer than safety standards permit.
No person in charge was present or performing supervisory duties during the inspection.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no health policy, no illness reporting, and improper handwashing at Caffe Andiamo represents a breakdown across every layer of the illness-prevention system that restaurants are required to maintain. Each violation is serious on its own. Together, they describe a kitchen where a sick employee could prepare food with improperly washed hands, on surfaces that were not properly sanitized, and no manager would be present to intervene.
Norovirus, which causes approximately 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, spreads most efficiently through exactly this pathway: an infected food worker, inadequate hand hygiene, and contaminated contact surfaces. The food-sourcing violation adds a second, independent risk. Even if every worker at Caffe Andiamo were healthy and washing hands correctly, food entering the kitchen from an unapproved source could carry contamination that no amount of proper food handling would catch.
The time-as-public-health-control violation is less visible but equally consequential. When restaurants use time rather than temperature to manage food safety, state rules require strict tracking of how long food spends outside refrigeration. Without that discipline, food can accumulate hours in the bacterial growth range of 41 to 135 degrees Fahrenheit without anyone realizing it.
The Longer Record
The August 2026 inspection was not Caffe Andiamo's worst stretch on paper, but it extended a pattern that state records document across more than two years. The café has 31 inspections on record and 268 total violations, a figure that places this latest finding in a context of sustained regulatory difficulty.
Six months before the August visit, in December 2025, inspectors found six high-severity violations and one intermediate. Six months before that, in July 2025, they found six high-severity violations and two intermediate. The July 2024 inspection produced seven high-severity violations and one intermediate, followed the same day by a second visit that found zero.
That alternating pattern, a high-violation inspection followed by a passing re-inspection, has appeared repeatedly in the record. It suggests the café can clear a follow-up visit without resolving the conditions that produce high-severity findings in the first place.
The café has never been emergency-closed in its 31 inspections on record.
Still Open
Florida law gives inspectors the authority to order an emergency closure when conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. Eight high-severity violations at Caffe Andiamo on August 24, 2026, including food from an unverified source, no employee illness reporting system, and no manager on duty, did not meet that threshold.
The café remained open for business after inspectors left.
