MARGATE, FL. A state inspector walked into Artibonite Caribbean Restaurant at 7824 W Sample Rd on September 29 and found that no employee health policy existed, no one was reporting illness symptoms, and shellfish on the premises could not be traced to its source if a customer got sick. The restaurant collected 10 high-severity violations and 3 intermediate violations that day. It was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The person in charge was either absent or not performing their duties during the September 29 visit. CDC research shows that establishments without active managerial control accumulate critical violations at three times the rate of those with engaged supervision on the floor.
The inspector also found that food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and that the sanitizing solution itself was improperly mixed or applied. That combination, unsanitary surfaces and a defective sanitizing process, means any bacteria transferred to those surfaces during food preparation was not being eliminated between uses.
Toxic chemicals were improperly stored or labeled, and toxic substances were improperly identified, stored, or used. Both violations were cited separately, indicating the problem was not isolated to a single product. Chemicals stored near or improperly labeled around food create a direct route for contamination that has no warning signs until a customer is already harmed.
The restaurant serves shellfish. The inspector found inadequate shell stock identification and records, meaning the origin of those shellfish could not be verified. There was also no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no employee health policy and no illness reporting is the pairing most directly linked to multi-victim outbreaks. Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, spreads most efficiently when a sick food worker handles food without any system in place to remove them from service. A written policy is not paperwork for its own sake. It is the mechanism that tells a worker with vomiting or diarrhea to stay home before they contaminate a kitchen.
The shellfish traceability violation compounds the illness risk. Oysters, clams, and mussels are filter feeders that concentrate bacteria and viruses from the water they live in. They are often eaten raw or lightly cooked. When a restaurant cannot produce shell stock identification tags, there is no way to determine where those shellfish came from if customers begin reporting illness. Public health investigators need that chain of custody to identify a contaminated harvest area and pull product before more people are exposed.
Inadequate handwashing facilities, combined with a separate citation for improper handwashing technique, means the physical infrastructure for hand hygiene was failing and the technique employees were using was also failing. Studies consistently show that handwashing is the single most effective barrier between a food worker's pathogens and a customer's plate. Both the tool and its use were cited as deficient on the same day.
The chemical storage violations carry a different category of risk. Unlike biological contamination, which typically causes illness hours or days after exposure, chemical contamination from mislabeled or improperly stored products can cause acute poisoning with immediate symptoms. Customers have no way to detect it.
The Longer Record
The September 29 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show 32 inspections on file for Artibonite Caribbean Restaurant, with 332 total violations documented across that history.
The eight most recent inspections before September 29 tell a consistent story. The February 2024 visit produced 11 high-severity violations and 3 intermediate violations. August 2024 brought 8 high-severity violations. December 2024 added 7 more high-severity citations. The restaurant has not logged a clean inspection in recent memory.
The facility was emergency-closed once before, in April 2019, after an inspector found roach activity. It was allowed to reopen two days later. That closure is the only time the state has ordered the doors shut in the 32 inspections on record.
The day after the September 29 inspection, a follow-up visit on September 30 found 6 high-severity violations and 2 intermediate violations still present. The most serious findings from the day before had not all been resolved.
Open for Business
State inspectors documented 10 high-severity violations at Artibonite Caribbean Restaurant on September 29, 2026, including no illness policy, untraceable shellfish, improperly stored toxic chemicals, unsanitary food contact surfaces, and no person in charge actively supervising the kitchen. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation did not issue an emergency closure order. The restaurant remained open.
