YULEE, FL. State inspectors found food from unapproved or unknown sources at Anejo Cocina Mexicana on Homegrown Way during an April 27 inspection, a violation that means the restaurant was serving food that had bypassed federal safety inspection entirely, with no traceability if a customer got sick.
That was one of ten high-severity violations documented that day. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The April 27 inspection at the Yulee restaurant documented a cascade of failures across nearly every critical control point in the kitchen. Inspectors cited the person in charge for not being present or performing duties, employees for not reporting illness symptoms, and employees for inadequate handwashing. The handwashing facilities themselves were also cited as inadequate, meaning the infrastructure to correct the handwashing problem did not exist on site.
Toxic chemicals were cited twice: once for improper storage or labeling, and again for improper identification, storage, or use. Both violations appeared on the same inspection report.
Inspectors also noted that required procedures for specialized processes were not being followed. At a Mexican restaurant, specialized processes can include preparations involving raw or marinated proteins, cured meats, or reduced-oxygen packaging. The absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods compounded that finding.
On the intermediate tier, inspectors found improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, improper sanitizing procedures, improper use of wiping cloths, and inadequate toilet facilities. That is five intermediate violations on top of ten high-severity ones.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved or unknown sources is not a paperwork problem. When food enters a restaurant outside the licensed supply chain, it has not been inspected by USDA or FDA, and there is no chain of custody if someone becomes ill. If a customer gets sick, investigators cannot trace the product back to a farm, a processor, or a distributor. The food simply came from somewhere unknown.
The employee illness reporting violation is among the most acutely dangerous on the list. Norovirus, the leading cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, spreads through direct contact with an infected food worker. A single employee working while symptomatic can expose dozens of customers in a single shift. The violation at Anejo Cocina Mexicana indicates that the system for catching that scenario before it happens was not functioning.
The dual toxic chemical violations deserve particular attention. Inspectors cited the restaurant separately for improper storage or labeling and for improper identification, storage, or use, two distinct categories that together suggest chemicals were present near food in ways that created acute contamination risk. Mislabeled chemicals in a kitchen are a poisoning risk that does not require any failure of cooking technique or temperature control.
The sewage and wastewater disposal violation, classified as intermediate, carries its own serious implication. Improper sewage handling creates a fecal contamination pathway throughout a facility, one that can persist on surfaces, utensils, and food contact areas long after the immediate problem is corrected.
The Longer Record
The April 27 inspection was not an anomaly. Records show Anejo Cocina Mexicana has been inspected 15 times and has accumulated 156 total violations across that history.
The pattern in those records is consistent. A September 10, 2025 inspection produced 16 high-severity violations and 5 intermediate ones, the highest single-day count in the facility's record. The following day, September 11, a follow-up visit still found 3 high-severity violations and 1 intermediate. A February 2025 inspection found 5 high-severity violations. A September 2024 inspection found 6 high-severity violations. The one clean inspection in the record, a visit in April 2025 that found zero violations at either severity level, stands as the exception across eight documented visits.
The April 27, 2026 inspection produced 10 high-severity violations. The very next day, April 28, a follow-up inspection found 8 high-severity violations and 2 intermediate ones still present. That means the day after a 10-high-severity inspection, eight of those critical problems had not been resolved.
Anejo Cocina Mexicana has never been emergency-closed in its inspection history, despite accumulating violations at high-severity levels across multiple consecutive years.
The Longer Pattern
The inspection record at this address describes a restaurant that has cycled through serious violations, occasional clean visits, and then serious violations again. The September 2025 sequence, 16 high-severity violations followed by a same-week follow-up that still found 3, mirrors the April 2026 sequence almost exactly.
The April 28 follow-up found 8 high-severity violations still on the books the day after the 10-violation inspection. The restaurant remained open through both visits.