WINTER SPRINGS, FL. Inspectors who walked into Agave Azul Cocina Mexicana on Red Bug Lake Road on September 28 found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers inside a restaurant that was serving customers, with no emergency closure to follow.
That single violation, food from unapproved or unknown sources, was one of eight high-severity citations the state recorded that day. Four intermediate violations accompanied them. The restaurant remained open.
What Inspectors Found
The cooking temperature violation means food was served to customers without reaching the heat level required to kill pathogens. For poultry, that threshold is 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Salmonella survives below that mark.
Toxic substances were improperly identified, stored, or used. That citation covers chemicals that can migrate into food or onto surfaces that touch food, and it appeared on the same inspection sheet as a citation for food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized.
The person in charge was either absent or not performing required oversight duties. Inspectors also cited inadequate handwashing facilities and improper handwashing technique by staff, meaning the physical infrastructure for basic hygiene was deficient and the technique used when handwashing did occur was not sufficient to remove pathogens.
The sewage and wastewater disposal violation added a fourth independent contamination pathway to the same inspection.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved sources is not a paperwork problem. When a restaurant purchases food outside the regulated supply chain, there is no traceability if a customer becomes ill. USDA and FDA oversight of licensed suppliers exists precisely to screen for Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli before product reaches a kitchen. Food that bypasses that system carries no such screening history.
The undercooking citation compounds that risk directly. If the food itself may carry pathogens from an unverified source, and it is then served without reaching the temperatures required to destroy those pathogens, the two violations operate together.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces create a third route. Cutting boards, prep tables, and utensils that carry bacterial residue from one food item to the next are among the most documented vectors in outbreak investigations. The multi-use utensils citation, listed as an intermediate violation, reinforces the same concern.
The toxic substances violation is distinct in kind. Chemical contamination, unlike bacterial contamination, does not require time or temperature to cause harm. Improper storage of cleaning agents or pesticides near food preparation areas creates a risk of immediate chemical exposure with no warning to the customer.
The Longer Record
The September 28 inspection was not an aberration. State records show 34 inspections on file for Agave Azul Cocina Mexicana, with 316 total violations accumulated across that history.
The pattern in the most recent two years is consistent. On December 9, 2024, inspectors cited nine high-severity and five intermediate violations. A follow-up the next day showed zero high and zero intermediate, a result that recurred on November 24, 2025, the day after a visit that produced three high and three intermediate violations. The same sequence repeated around the September 28 inspection: eight high and four intermediate on the 28th, followed by zero high and one intermediate on the 29th.
That cycle, a heavy violation count followed by a clean or near-clean follow-up, has appeared at least four times in the past two years. On March 27, 2025, inspectors found eight high-severity violations. On May 6, 2026, they found seven.
The restaurant has never been emergency-closed in its inspection history on record.
Still Open
A follow-up inspection the day after the September 28 visit, on September 29, found zero high-severity violations and one intermediate. The state recorded that the facility met standards.
The eight high-severity violations documented on September 28, including food from an unapproved source, undercooking, toxic substances mishandled, and no person in charge, were cited at a restaurant that continued to serve the public that day without an emergency closure order.
