BOYNTON BEACH, FL. A state inspector walked into ANZO at 970 N. Congress Ave. on August 3 and found food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, toxic substances improperly stored, and no written employee health policy in place. Six of the eight violations documented that day were classified as high-severity. The restaurant was not closed.
The undercooking violation alone puts it in stark terms. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. When food is served without reaching the required minimum internal temperature, customers have no way of knowing, and no warning on the menu is required unless a consumer advisory is posted. ANZO had no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, either. That was a second high-severity violation cited the same day.
What Inspectors Found
The toxic substance violation is a separate category of danger entirely. Improper identification, storage, or use of chemicals in a food preparation environment creates the risk of direct contamination of food or food-contact surfaces. That is not a paperwork problem.
The inspector also cited ANZO for having no person in charge present or performing duties. That finding sits at the top of the list for a reason: research from the CDC shows that establishments without active managerial control accumulate high-severity violations at roughly three times the rate of those with engaged supervision. On August 3, the record shows no one was effectively in charge.
Rounding out the six high-severity citations: employees were not reporting symptoms of illness. Combined with the absence of a written health policy, that means the restaurant had neither a formal system to catch sick workers nor any documented expectation that they disclose symptoms before handling food.
The two intermediate violations, improperly cleaned multi-use utensils and inadequate toilet facilities, compounded the picture. Utensils that are not properly cleaned develop bacterial biofilms that standard washing does not remove. Inadequate restroom facilities reduce the likelihood that employees wash their hands after using the bathroom.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no employee health policy and employees not reporting illness symptoms is how multi-victim outbreaks start. Norovirus, which accounts for roughly 20 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States each year, spreads through exactly this pathway: a sick food worker with no obligation to report symptoms prepares food, and customers get sick. At ANZO on August 3, both failure points were present simultaneously.
The undercooked food violation is not abstract. Poultry, ground beef, and other proteins require specific minimum internal temperatures to kill pathogens like Salmonella and E. coli. When those temperatures are not reached, the food looks and smells normal. A customer eating it has no indication anything is wrong until they become ill, sometimes days later.
The toxic substance citation adds a third distinct risk. Chemicals used for cleaning and sanitation in restaurant kitchens are dangerous if they contact food, food-prep surfaces, or serving equipment. Improper storage, unlabeled containers, or incorrect use can result in chemical poisoning that mimics foodborne illness and is often harder to trace.
Customers who are elderly, pregnant, immunocompromised, or very young face heightened risk from every one of these violations. The absent consumer advisory means those customers had no information to act on.
The Longer Record
ANZO Inspection History, Selected Dates
State records show ANZO has been inspected 34 times and has accumulated 163 total violations across that history. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern across recent inspections is consistent. High-severity violations appeared in January 2026, August 2025, October 2024, and January 2024. The August 3 inspection, with six high-severity citations, is the worst single-day tally in the recent record, but it did not arrive without warning. The restaurant did pass clean inspections in October 2025 and January 2024, which shows the problems are not permanent fixtures, but also that they keep returning.
The August 4 follow-up inspection, the day after the six-violation visit, found two high-severity and one intermediate violation still on record. That is an improvement. It is not a clean bill of health.
ANZO remained open throughout. Six high-severity violations, including undercooked food and improperly stored toxic substances, and the restaurant served customers the next day.
