TAMPA, FL. Back in April 2026, state inspectors visited Alessi Bakery & Food Market on a preoperational inspection and found the establishment still unable to meet the most basic requirement for safe food handling: there was no hot water at either the handwashing sinks or the warewashing sinks.
The single violation documented that day was marked repeat.
What Inspectors Found
The sole violation documented on April 3, 2026, was not corrected during the inspection visit, leaving the establishment unable to meet preoperational requirements.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services conducted the April 3 inspection as a preoperational review, the kind of inspection required before a food establishment is cleared to operate. Alessi Bakery did not pass.
The inspector's own notation was direct: "Establishment Did Not Meet Preoperational Inspection Requirements due to lack of hot water to handwashing and warewashing sinks."
That one sentence captures the entire basis for the failed inspection. No hot water to wash hands. No hot water to wash dishes, utensils, or food-contact surfaces. The violation was not corrected on site.
The Repeat Finding
The April 3 violation carries a repeat designation, which means state inspectors had already cited Alessi Bakery for failing to meet preoperational inspection requirements before this visit. The establishment arrived at this inspection having been told the same thing previously, and the problem remained.
That detail matters. A first-time failure on a preoperational inspection can reflect a scheduling issue or a contractor delay. A repeat failure on the same requirement is a different kind of record.
The violation total for the April 3 inspection was one, with zero priority violations and zero violations corrected on site.
What These Violations Mean
Hot water at handwashing and warewashing sinks is not a procedural checkbox. It is one of the core physical requirements that makes safe food handling possible in a retail grocery environment.
At a handwashing sink, hot water is what allows employees to actually remove pathogens from their hands before touching food, packaging, or food-contact surfaces. Cold water alone does not accomplish the same result. In a grocery store that handles prepared foods, bakery products, or deli items, the absence of hot water at handwashing stations creates a direct route for contamination to reach customers.
At a warewashing sink, hot water is what sanitizes the equipment, utensils, and surfaces that come into contact with food during preparation and display. Without it, surfaces that appear clean may still carry bacteria capable of causing foodborne illness.
The preoperational inspection process exists specifically to catch these deficiencies before a facility begins serving customers. Alessi Bakery did not clear that bar on April 3, and the condition remained unresolved when the inspector left.
The Longer Record
The data available for this inspection shows one prior inspection on record for Alessi Bakery & Food Market, the earlier preoperational visit that produced the same repeat designation now attached to the April 3 findings. That prior inspection also resulted in a failure to meet preoperational requirements, which is why the April citation carries the repeat flag.
Two consecutive failed preoperational inspections for the same deficiency, no hot water to handwashing and warewashing sinks, is a narrow but pointed record. The facility has not accumulated a long history of varied violations across different categories. Instead, it has returned to the same inspection threshold twice and not cleared it on the same grounds both times.
For a grocery store operating in Tampa, the preoperational framework is the state's mechanism for ensuring a facility is physically ready to handle food safely before customers walk through the door. Alessi Bakery is a recognized Tampa institution with a long history in the community. The inspection record reviewed here covers only this specific facility location and this specific licensing period, and reflects what state inspectors documented on April 3 and the prior visit that preceded it.
The violation from April 3 was not corrected during the inspection. Whether hot water has since been restored and whether the facility has subsequently passed a preoperational review are not reflected in the data available for this report.