FLORIDA. State inspectors visiting Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen #131 at 121 NW Main Blvd in Lake City found 10 high-severity violations and 5 intermediate violations in the past 90 days, the worst performance of any Popeyes location in Florida during that stretch. Among the findings: food from unapproved or unknown sources, improper parasite destruction procedures, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and an employee not reporting illness symptoms to management.
That single location accounts for more high-severity violations than any other Popeyes in the state during the February 25 to May 25 window.
It is not an isolated case.
The Violations
Across all 193 Popeyes locations in Florida, state inspectors have conducted 4,370 inspections on record. The chain passes at a rate of 79.27 percent, meaning roughly one in five inspections results in a failure. The average inspection turns up 4.36 violations. Two locations have been emergency-closed this year.
The Popeyes operated by Tice at 3490 W Silver Spring Blvd in Ocala drew 6 high-severity violations, including a citation for no person in charge present or performing duties, improper handwashing technique, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and toxic chemicals stored or labeled incorrectly. Inspectors also cited improper sewage or wastewater disposal at that location.
The person-in-charge violation at the Ocala location is particularly notable. It was the only location in the top ten where inspectors specifically documented that no manager was actively overseeing operations during the inspection.
At Popeyes at 6781 Dunn Ave in Jacksonville, inspectors found no written employee health policy, food from unapproved sources, inadequate shell stock identification records, and toxic substances improperly stored. The shell stock citation, which involves traceability records for shellfish, is unusual for a fried chicken chain and surfaced at two other locations as well.
Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen #132 at 710 S Hwy 19 in Palatka recorded 5 high-severity violations, including an employee not reporting illness symptoms, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and both toxic chemicals and toxic substances cited as improperly stored or labeled. Inspectors also flagged improper sewage or wastewater disposal there.
In Lauderdale Lakes, Popeyes Fried Chicken and Biscuits #17 at 3499 W Oakland Park Blvd was cited for food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, no allergen awareness demonstrated, and time as a public health control not properly used. Inspectors also found multi-use utensils not properly cleaned and single-use items being reused.
The Sebring location, Popeyes operated by Tice at 2709 US Hwy 27 S, was cited for food from unapproved sources, improper parasite destruction procedures, food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, and improper handwashing technique. It is one of two locations in the top ten where inspectors documented that poultry may not be reaching the required internal temperature.
Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen 902 at 820 N Washington Blvd in Sarasota drew citations for food from unapproved sources, inadequate shell stock identification, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and improperly stored toxic chemicals. Inspectors also flagged improper sewage or wastewater disposal.
At Popeyes Chicken and Biscuits #105 at 35988 Hwy 27 in Haines City, inspectors found no written employee health policy, inadequate shell stock identification records, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and toxic substances improperly stored or used. Sewage disposal was also cited there.
The Popeyes operated by Tice at 1046 Cypress Pkwy in Poinciana and the Tice-operated location at 16530 SR 50 in Clermont each logged 4 high-severity violations. The Clermont location was cited for no approved potable water supply, a finding that means inspectors documented the facility operating without a confirmed safe water source during that inspection.
What These Violations Mean
The most common high-severity violation across these ten locations is the employee illness reporting failure, cited at Lake City, Ocala, Palatka, and Clermont. When a food worker does not report symptoms of illness to management, there is no mechanism to remove that person from food handling duties. Norovirus, the leading cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States, spreads through exactly this route: an asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic worker continues preparing food, and customers who eat it have no way of knowing the risk.
Food from unapproved or unknown sources, cited at Lake City, Jacksonville, Sebring, and Sarasota, means inspectors could not verify that the food at those locations entered the supply chain through a USDA or FDA-regulated pathway. If a customer becomes ill after eating at one of those locations, tracing the contaminated ingredient back to its origin becomes significantly harder or impossible.
The undercooking citations at Lauderdale Lakes and Sebring carry specific weight for a fried chicken chain. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A piece of chicken that looks done on the outside but has not reached that internal temperature is a direct transmission vehicle. Both locations were cited for this during the 90-day window.
Improperly stored toxic chemicals appeared at seven of the ten locations reviewed: Lake City, Clermont, Ocala, Palatka, Sebring, Sarasota, and Poinciana. The violation covers cleaning agents, sanitizers, and pesticides stored near food or without proper labeling. Mislabeled or misplaced chemicals have caused acute poisoning incidents in food service settings when workers mistake them for food-safe products.
The Longer Record
The chain's statewide inspection record spans 4,370 inspections across 193 Florida locations, a volume that reflects years of routine and complaint-driven visits. Two locations have been emergency-closed in 2026 alone, meaning inspectors found conditions serious enough to require immediate shutdown without waiting for a follow-up visit.
The Tice-operated group of locations stands out within the chain's Florida footprint. Four of the ten worst-performing locations in the past 90 days carry the "Operated by Tice" designation: Ocala, Clermont, Sebring, and Poinciana. That cluster suggests the violations at those locations may reflect operator-level practices rather than isolated incidents at individual stores. Three of those four locations share the same handwashing technique citation, and two share the unapproved food source citation.
The Lake City location's 10 high-severity violations in a single 90-day period is the sharpest finding in the data. Among those violations was a parasite destruction citation, which requires specific freezing or cooking protocols for fish and pork products. That citation, combined with the unapproved food source finding at the same location, means inspectors documented both that the food's origin could not be verified and that the safety steps designed to eliminate parasites in that food were not being followed.
The Jacksonville location on Dunn Ave produced one of the more unusual combinations in the data: a fried chicken restaurant cited for inadequate shell stock identification records. That violation, which requires shellfish to be traceable to a licensed harvester through tags kept on file, appeared at Jacksonville, Sarasota, and Haines City. None of those three locations have had their shell stock traceability records brought into compliance as reflected in the current data.
