FLORIDA. State inspectors cited a Chipotle on West Colonial Drive in Ocoee with eight high-severity violations in a single inspection this summer, more than any other Florida location in the chain during the period from late June through late September 2026, and the findings ranged from food obtained from an unapproved source to toxic chemicals improperly stored near food.
Chipotle Mexican Grill #789 at 10149 West Colonial Drive, Ocoee accounted for the most alarming single inspection in the chain's Florida portfolio during the 90-day window. Inspectors documented inadequate handwashing by food employees, failure to follow parasite destruction procedures, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and improper use of time as a public health control. The location also lacked a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
What Inspectors Found Across the State
The Ocoee location was not alone in accumulating serious findings. Two locations each drew five high-severity violations during the period.
Chipotle 3497 at 1620 S Federal Highway in Boynton Beach was cited for an employee not reporting symptoms of illness, a finding that inspectors flagged alongside the absence of a person in charge performing duties. Inspectors also documented improper hand and arm washing technique, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and no allergen awareness demonstrated by staff.
Chipotle Mexican Grill #457 at 11680 University Boulevard in Orlando drew the same two management and illness-reporting violations, plus improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, time as a public health control not properly used, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Inspectors also cited improper sewage or wastewater disposal and inadequate ventilation and lighting at that location.
Four locations each accumulated four high-severity violations.
Chipotle Mexican Grill at 5396 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami was cited for food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated, alongside improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, time as a public health control not properly used, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled.
Chipotle Mexican Grill at 1677 N Hancock Road in Minneola drew citations for improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, toxic substances improperly identified or stored or used, and no allergen awareness demonstrated. The location also had inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities.
Chipotle #3963 at 3201 N Miami Avenue in Miami was cited for time as a public health control not properly used, toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, toxic substances improperly identified or stored or used, and no allergen awareness demonstrated. Inspectors also noted single-use items being improperly reused.
Chipotle #1328 at 2537 Countryside Boulevard in Clearwater drew citations for improper hand and arm washing technique, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. The Clearwater location also accumulated three intermediate violations, including improper sewage or wastewater disposal and multi-use utensils not properly cleaned.
Chipotle Mexican Grill at 1387 SR 436 in Casselberry was cited for parasite destruction procedures not followed, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Two additional locations drew a single high-severity violation each. Chipotle Mexican Grill 1912 at 1515 SE 17th Street in Fort Lauderdale and Chipotle Mexican Grill #647 at 2211 S Orange Avenue in Orlando were each cited only for the absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
What These Violations Mean
The most common high-severity finding across the ten locations this quarter was the failure to post a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. That violation appeared at six of the ten locations, including Ocoee, Fort Lauderdale, both Orlando locations, Casselberry, and University Boulevard in Orlando. The advisory requirement exists specifically to warn pregnant women, elderly customers, young children, and people with weakened immune systems, who face the highest risk of severe illness from undercooked proteins. Without it, a customer ordering a bowl with steak cooked to order has no way to know they may be eating meat that did not reach a fully safe internal temperature.
The food from unapproved or unknown source citation at the Ocoee location carries a different category of risk. When food enters a restaurant outside the regulated supply chain, there is no USDA or FDA inspection record for that product, and no traceability if customers become ill. If an outbreak occurs, investigators cannot identify the source or recall the product.
Parasite destruction procedures not followed, cited at Ocoee, Clearwater, and Casselberry, means that certain proteins, particularly fish and pork, were not subjected to the freezing or cooking protocols required to kill parasites including Anisakis and Trichinella. Those organisms survive in undercooked protein and can cause serious gastrointestinal illness.
The toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled finding appeared at five locations: Ocoee, Biscayne Boulevard Miami, Minneola, N Miami Avenue Miami, and Clearwater. Chemicals stored near or above food preparation areas can contaminate food through spills or mislabeling. At the Minneola and N Miami Avenue locations, inspectors cited both improperly stored chemicals and toxic substances improperly identified or stored or used, a layered finding that suggests chemical management was not an isolated oversight.
The Longer Record
Across all 296 Florida locations, Chipotle has accumulated 5,685 inspections on record, averaging 2.51 violations per inspection and a 94.59 percent pass rate. No Florida location has been emergency-closed in the current year. That broader record sets a baseline, but it does not make the individual findings at the worst-performing locations less significant.
The Ocoee location's eight high-severity violations in a single inspection stands out even against the chain's full Florida history. Eight high-severity citations in one visit, including both a food source violation and a cooking temperature violation, represents a concentration of fundamental food safety breakdowns, not a cluster of paperwork deficiencies.
The Boynton Beach and University Boulevard Orlando locations both drew the combination of no person in charge performing duties and employee not reporting symptoms of illness. CDC data cited in the inspection records indicates that facilities without active managerial control accumulate three times more critical violations, and that pattern held here: both locations went on to accumulate additional high-severity findings beyond those two.
The Clearwater location's seven total violations, four high-severity and three intermediate, included improper sewage or wastewater disposal alongside the chemical storage and parasite destruction failures. That combination of infrastructure and food handling violations at a single location is the kind of finding that typically precedes a more serious inspection outcome.
The Casselberry location was cited for both parasite destruction procedures not followed and food not cooked to required minimum temperature. Those two violations together mean inspectors found that protein was neither properly frozen before service nor brought to a safe temperature during cooking, leaving two separate safeguards against pathogen and parasite survival both absent at the same time.
The consumer advisory violation at the Fort Lauderdale and South Orange Avenue Orlando locations is the most easily corrected finding in this group. Both locations drew only that single high-severity citation. Whether either location has corrected the posting since the inspection is not reflected in the data covering this period.
