LONGWOOD, FL. A state inspector walked into Ali Baba House of Kebab on West SR 434 on October 2, 2026, and found food on the premises that could not be traced to any approved or known source, a violation that means inspectors had no way to verify whether that food had ever passed a USDA or FDA safety check.
That was one of six high-severity violations documented that day. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing citation is among the most serious a restaurant can receive. When food arrives from an unapproved or unidentifiable supplier, there is no chain of documentation connecting it to a safety inspection. If a customer became sick, investigators would have nowhere to start.
The illness-reporting violation compounds that risk directly. Inspectors cited staff for not reporting symptoms of illness, a failure that removes the last internal check between a sick employee and the food being prepared and served.
Two of the six high-severity citations concerned hand hygiene, and together they describe a layered breakdown. The facility lacked adequate handwashing infrastructure, and employees who did attempt to wash their hands were documented using improper technique. Both citations appeared on the same inspection report, on the same day.
Food contact surfaces, the cutting boards, prep tables, and utensils that touch food directly, were cited as not properly cleaned or sanitized. The restaurant also had no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked items, meaning customers who are pregnant, elderly, or immunocompromised had no way of knowing which menu items carried elevated risk.
Two intermediate violations rounded out the report: inadequate ventilation and lighting, and improperly maintained toilet facilities.
What These Violations Mean
The food-from-unknown-source citation is not a paperwork problem. When a restaurant cannot identify where its food came from, it means that food bypassed the inspection systems designed to catch Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli before they reach a kitchen. At a kebab restaurant, where meat is central to nearly every menu item, the sourcing of that meat is not incidental.
The illness-reporting failure at Ali Baba is the kind of violation that precedes outbreaks. Norovirus, one of the most contagious foodborne pathogens, spreads person-to-person and through food handled by infected workers. When employees are not required or trained to report symptoms, an infected worker can contaminate food for an entire service shift before anyone intervenes.
The two handwashing violations work in tandem. Inadequate facilities mean employees cannot wash their hands properly even if they try. Improper technique means that when they do try, pathogens remain. Inspectors documented both problems at Ali Baba on the same visit, meaning the hygiene failures were structural, not incidental.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces are how bacteria move from one ingredient to another. A cutting board used for raw meat and not properly sanitized before being used for vegetables is a direct cross-contamination route. This violation, combined with the unknown food source and handwashing failures, describes a kitchen where multiple contamination pathways were open at the same time.
The Longer Record
The October 2 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show 28 inspections on file for Ali Baba House of Kebab, with 321 total violations documented across that history.
The eight most recent inspections before October 2 all included high-severity citations. The October 30, 2024 inspection produced four high-severity and four intermediate violations. The September 24, 2025 inspection produced four high-severity and four intermediate violations. The February 25, 2026 inspection produced three high-severity and two intermediate violations.
The pattern does not show a restaurant struggling with isolated incidents. It shows a facility that has accumulated high-severity citations across consecutive inspection cycles, in multiple categories, over multiple years.
Ali Baba has never been emergency-closed in its inspection history on record. Not after the four high-severity violations in October 2024. Not after the four high-severity violations in September 2025. Not after the six high-severity violations on October 2, 2026.
Still Open
A follow-up inspection on October 6, four days after the six-high-severity visit, found one high-severity and one intermediate violation remaining. The record does not show a closure at any point in this inspection cycle.
As of the most recent inspection on file, Ali Baba House of Kebab on West SR 434 in Longwood was open for business, with 321 violations accumulated across 28 inspections and no emergency closure on record.
