JACKSONVILLE, FL. Food was not cooked to the required minimum temperature at Country Cabin Restaurant on Blanding Boulevard when a state inspector walked through the door on August 18, a violation that can leave Salmonella alive in poultry and send a customer to the hospital.
That was one of seven high-severity violations documented during the visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The inspection produced ten violations in total, seven of them high-severity. Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled, a violation that can cause acute poisoning if chemicals contaminate food or are mistaken for food-safe products.
Food contact surfaces, the cutting boards, prep tables, and utensils that touch every plate that leaves the kitchen, were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Inspectors also cited employees for improper handwashing technique, meaning workers who appeared to wash their hands were still leaving pathogens on their skin.
No consumer advisory was posted for raw or undercooked foods. That means customers who are elderly, pregnant, or immunocompromised had no way of knowing they were eating food that carried elevated risk.
The person in charge was either not present or not performing their duties. That violation sat at the top of the list, and it helps explain the rest.
What These Violations Mean
The undercooking citation is the one with the most direct path to a sick customer. Salmonella survives in poultry that has not reached 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A single serving of undercooked chicken can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and fever lasting up to a week, and in vulnerable populations, it can require hospitalization.
The absence of an employee health policy compounds that risk. Without a written policy requiring sick workers to stay home or report symptoms, a single employee with Norovirus can transmit the illness to dozens of customers before anyone notices. Norovirus accounts for roughly 20 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States each year.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces and weak or incorrectly applied sanitizer, both cited here, mean that bacteria from one food item can transfer to the next one prepared on the same surface. That chain of cross-contamination is especially dangerous when raw meat is involved.
The toxic chemical citation is in a separate category. Cleaning chemicals stored near food or left without proper labels can contaminate a dish directly, and the symptoms of chemical poisoning can be severe and fast-moving.
The Longer Record
The August 18 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Country Cabin Restaurant has been inspected 30 times and has accumulated 260 total violations across its history.
The pattern is consistent and recent. In November 2025, inspectors cited the restaurant for nine high-severity violations and one intermediate. In February 2025, a visit turned up ten high-severity violations and three intermediate ones. A September 2024 inspection produced ten high-severity violations and four intermediate ones.
Each of those inspections was followed by a callback visit that showed the facility had corrected the immediate problems. Then the violations returned.
The July 2025 and February 2025 callback inspections both recorded zero high-severity violations, as did the September 2024 callback. The restaurant has demonstrated it can pass an inspection when one is imminent. The question the record raises is whether those corrections hold.
The Pattern
Across the eight most recent inspections on record, Country Cabin has cycled through the same sequence: a high-violation inspection, a clean callback, then another high-violation inspection months later. The violation categories overlap from cycle to cycle, with food temperature, management oversight, and sanitation appearing repeatedly.
The facility has never been emergency-closed. State records show zero prior emergency closures across all 30 inspections on file.
The August 18 visit logged seven high-severity violations, matching or exceeding the severity of several prior inspections that also did not result in closure. Among those seven was a finding that food was not cooked to the required temperature, a violation with a direct and documented link to foodborne illness outbreaks.
Country Cabin Restaurant on Blanding Boulevard was open for business when the inspector left.
