FLORIDA. At the Subway at 830 E. Hathaway in Bronson, inspectors documented six high-severity violations in a single visit, including toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled near food, food in poor condition, food contact surfaces that had not been properly cleaned or sanitized, and no person in charge present or performing duties. An employee was also found not reporting symptoms of illness. That last violation, under Florida's inspection framework, is classified as an outbreak enabler.
Bronson was not alone. Three other Subway locations, in Groveland, Gainesville, and Jacksonville, also accumulated six high-severity violations each during the same 90-day window running from late April through late July 2026.
The Four Worst Locations
The Subway at 1325 San Marco Blvd in Jacksonville drew six high-severity citations that included improper handwashing technique, no allergen awareness demonstrated, inadequate shell stock identification and records, and toxic substances improperly stored. The allergen violation is notable: food allergies affect 32 million Americans, and a Subway employee who cannot identify allergens in ingredients is a direct liability to customers with potentially life-threatening sensitivities.
The Subway at 7965 SR 50 in Groveland was cited for six high-severity violations including parasite destruction procedures not followed, food in poor condition, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, and toxic chemicals improperly stored. The parasite destruction citation means that fish or other protein served at this location was not subjected to required freezing or cooking protocols designed to kill organisms like Anisakis and Trichinella.
At the Subway at 3424 SW Williston Road in Gainesville, inspectors cited food not cooked to required minimum temperature alongside improperly cleaned food contact surfaces and two separate toxic chemical violations, one for improper storage and labeling and one for improper identification and use. Two distinct chemical violations in a single inspection at a sandwich shop is an unusual finding.
A Pattern Across South Florida
Three Miami-area locations and two Hialeah locations round out the ten worst performers. The Subway at 13769 SW 152 St in Miami logged the highest combined violation count of any location in the data, with five high-severity and five intermediate violations. Those included no employee health policy, food not cooked to required temperature, no allergen awareness, and improper sewage or wastewater disposal.
The Subway at 11865 SW 26 St in Miami was cited for five high-severity violations including inadequate shell stock identification and improper handwashing technique. The Subway at 6542 Collins Ave in Miami drew one high-severity citation, the absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Both Hialeah locations share a striking overlap. The Subway at 4410 W 16 Ave in Hialeah and the Subway at 1905 W 35 St in Hialeah were each cited for employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, and food in poor condition. Two locations in the same city, flagged for the same three high-severity violations in the same 90-day window.
The Subway at 1895 N Highland Ave in Clearwater was cited for five high-severity violations, including no approved potable water supply. That violation means inspectors determined the location lacked access to water that met drinking water standards, a foundational requirement for any food establishment.
What These Violations Mean
The most frequently cited violation across these ten locations is the absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Eight of the ten locations drew this citation. On its face, it sounds administrative. It is not. Customers who are elderly, pregnant, immunocompromised, or managing chronic illness face acute risk from undercooked proteins, and without a posted advisory, they have no way to make an informed choice. At the Groveland location, that missing advisory was paired with a parasite destruction failure, meaning the fish may not have been safe to eat at any temperature.
The employee illness violations at Bronson, Groveland, both Hialeah locations, and the SW 152 St Miami location represent a direct transmission pathway. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States, spreads readily from a symptomatic food handler to every item that handler touches. The absence of an employee health policy at the SW 152 St Miami location makes the problem structural: without a written policy, there is no mechanism to send a sick worker home before they handle food.
Toxic chemical violations appeared at five locations, Bronson, Groveland, Gainesville, Clearwater, and the SW 26 St Miami location. Improperly stored or unlabeled chemicals near food preparation surfaces can contaminate food directly or be mistaken for food-safe products. At Gainesville, inspectors cited two separate chemical violations in the same visit, one for storage and labeling and one for identification and use, suggesting the problem was not limited to a single misplaced bottle.
The Clearwater location's potable water violation is the most structurally serious finding in the entire dataset. Food preparation, handwashing, equipment cleaning, and ice production all require potable water. A Subway operating without a confirmed safe water supply cannot safely perform any of those functions.
The Longer Record
Statewide, Florida's 876 Subway locations have accumulated 14,166 inspections on record, an average of more than 16 inspections per location. The chain's overall pass rate is 93.26 percent, and its average violation count per inspection is 3.43. Those numbers suggest most Florida Subway locations operate within acceptable bounds. The ten locations identified here are outliers, but the concentration of six-violation inspections at four separate locations in a single 90-day period is not a statistical accident.
The Bronson location's inspection record, with six high-severity violations including no person in charge, points to a management structure that was not functional on the day inspectors arrived. CDC data cited in Florida's own inspection framework shows establishments without active managerial control have three times the rate of critical violations. The Bronson location had both the management failure and five additional high-severity citations to go with it.
The two Hialeah locations sharing three identical high-severity violations raises a question the inspection record cannot answer: whether the same operator, the same supplier, or the same training failure connects them. The data shows the overlap. It does not explain it.
The chain triggered one emergency closure in Florida so far this year. The ten locations documented here were not closed. They were inspected, cited, and remained open.
