FORT LAUDERDALE, FL. State inspectors walked into Anthony's Runway 84 on State Road 84 on May 15 and found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, a violation that means there is no paper trail if a customer gets sick and no guarantee the food ever passed a federal safety inspection.
That was one of ten high-severity violations documented that day. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The shellfish violation compounds the sourcing problem. Inspectors cited inadequate shell stock identification and records, meaning oysters, clams, or mussels served at the restaurant could not be traced to a certified harvester or processing facility. Shellfish are consumed raw or lightly cooked and are among the highest-risk foods for Vibrio and norovirus contamination.
Parasite destruction procedures were also not followed. For restaurants serving raw or undercooked fish, state and federal rules require documented freezing protocols that kill parasites including Anisakis roundworm and tapeworm. No such documentation was in order.
Food was not cooked to required minimum temperatures. Inspectors also found food contact surfaces, including cutting boards and prep equipment, were not properly cleaned or sanitized, creating a direct transfer route for bacteria from one food to the next.
The person in charge was either not present or not performing supervisory duties. That single finding often predicts everything else on the list.
What These Violations Mean
The unapproved food source violation is not a paperwork technicality. When food enters a kitchen outside the licensed supply chain, it has bypassed USDA and FDA inspection checkpoints designed to screen for Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli. If a customer becomes ill, investigators have no chain of custody to follow. The shellfish traceability failure is the same problem applied to one of the riskiest food categories in any restaurant.
The parasite destruction failure is specific to Anthony's Runway 84 because the restaurant serves fish, some of it raw or undercooked. Without verified freezing at minus-four degrees Fahrenheit for seven days, or equivalent cook temperatures, parasites can survive and infect customers. This is not a theoretical risk: Anisakis infections from improperly handled fish are documented in Florida each year.
Employees not reporting illness symptoms is the violation that turns a single sick worker into a multi-victim outbreak. Norovirus, the leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States, spreads through food handled by an infected worker and can sicken dozens of customers before a pattern is identified. Combined with inadequate handwashing facilities and improper handwashing technique documented at the same inspection, the transmission pathway from worker to plate was effectively unobstructed.
The absence of a consumer advisory for raw and undercooked foods means that elderly diners, pregnant women, young children, and anyone with a compromised immune system ate there on May 15 without any warning that certain menu items carry elevated risk.
The Longer Record
The May 15 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Anthony's Runway 84 has accumulated 202 violations across 25 inspections on record. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern of high-severity violations runs back through every recent inspection. In March 2026, two months before this inspection, inspectors cited six high-severity violations. In November 2024, five high-severity violations. In March 2025, four high-severity violations and one intermediate. The restaurant has not had a clean high-severity record in any inspection going back to at least 2023.
The March 2026 inspection six high-severity violations was followed by a May 15 inspection with ten. That is not a facility trending toward compliance.
The day after the May 15 inspection, a follow-up visit on May 16 recorded zero high-severity and zero intermediate violations. That clearance allowed the restaurant to remain operating without interruption throughout the period in question.
The Restaurant Stayed Open
State inspectors documented ten high-severity violations at Anthony's Runway 84 on May 15. Food from an unknown source was on the premises. Parasite destruction protocols were not in place. Employees were not required to report illness symptoms. The person responsible for overseeing food safety was not doing that job.
The restaurant was not closed.