OCALA, FL. State inspectors visited Southern Pig and Cattle Co II on SW Highway 200 on July 15 and documented 12 high-severity violations and one intermediate violation. When they left, the restaurant was still open.
The violations ranged from food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers to parasite destruction procedures not being followed, to no allergen awareness demonstrated by staff. Twelve high-severity citations in a single inspection is a number that has triggered emergency closures at other Florida restaurants. It did not here.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation is among the most serious on the list. Inspectors documented food from unapproved or unknown sources, meaning some of what was served that day had not passed through USDA or FDA oversight channels. That matters because there is no paper trail if a customer gets sick.
Parasite destruction procedures were also cited as not being followed. For a restaurant that serves pork and likely fish, that is a direct concern. Trichinella in undercooked pork and Anisakis in fish survive when proper freezing or cooking protocols are skipped. Neither parasite is detectable by sight or smell.
Inspectors also noted that food was not cooked to required minimum temperatures. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. The citation does not specify which items were underdone, but the violation stands alongside the sourcing and parasite citations as a cluster of food preparation failures.
No allergen awareness was demonstrated by staff. Toxic substances were improperly stored or used. Single-use items were being reused. The violations did not cluster around one area of the kitchen. They spread across sourcing, preparation, cooking, storage, and staffing.
The Management Picture
The person in charge was either absent or not performing duties at the time of inspection. That violation appeared alongside citations for employees not reporting illness symptoms and improper handwashing technique.
CDC data cited in the inspection record notes that establishments without active managerial control produce three times as many critical violations. The July 15 inspection at Southern Pig and Cattle Co II produced twelve.
No consumer advisory was posted for raw or undercooked menu items, meaning customers who were elderly, pregnant, or immunocompromised had no warning. Shellfish identification records were inadequate, removing the traceability chain for oysters, clams, or mussels served that day. Time as a public health control was not properly applied, meaning food was allowed to sit in the temperature danger zone, between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit, without the documentation required to make that practice safe.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved sources is not a paperwork problem. It means the restaurant was serving food that had bypassed the inspection systems designed to catch Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli before the product reaches a kitchen. If someone got sick from that food, investigators would have no supplier records to trace.
The employee illness reporting failure is a direct transmission route for norovirus, which spreads person-to-person and can sicken dozens of customers from a single infected food handler. Norovirus is the leading cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings. The citation means the system that is supposed to catch a sick employee before they reach the line was not functioning.
Improper handwashing technique is distinct from not washing hands at all. A handwashing attempt was being made at Southern Pig and Cattle Co II, but the technique documented by the inspector was not sufficient to remove pathogens. Studies show that ineffective technique leaves contamination levels nearly as high as no washing at all.
The allergen violation carries its own weight. Food allergies send 30,000 people to emergency rooms in the United States each year and cause approximately 150 deaths. A staff with no demonstrated allergen awareness cannot reliably tell a customer with a peanut or shellfish allergy what is safe to order.
The Longer Record
Southern Pig and Cattle Co II: Inspection History
Southern Pig and Cattle Co II has 31 inspections on record and 214 total violations documented across that history. The July 15 inspection was not an aberration.
The restaurant's October 2023 inspection produced 13 high-severity violations, one more than this month's count. The September 2024 inspection found 9 high-severity and 7 intermediate violations. The May 2025 inspection found 8 high-severity citations. The pattern across the past three years is not improvement.
One inspection, in June 2024, produced zero violations at any severity level. That inspection stands alone in the recent record.
The facility has never been emergency-closed across its 31 inspections on file.
After the July 15 visit, with twelve high-severity violations documented and the restaurant's longest-running compliance problems still unresolved, Southern Pig and Cattle Co II remained open for business.
