SEMINOLE, FL. A state inspector walked into Beach Pizza Plus on Seminole Boulevard on April 27 and documented that food was not being cooked to the minimum required temperature, a violation that allows Salmonella and other pathogens to survive on the plate and reach the customer. The restaurant was not closed.
That single finding was one of six high-severity violations recorded during the visit, alongside two intermediate violations. In total, eight violations were documented at the 5411 Seminole Blvd. location in a single inspection.
What Inspectors Found
The temperature violation was not the only finding that put customers at direct risk. Inspectors also cited improper storage and labeling of toxic chemicals, meaning cleaning agents or other hazardous substances were kept in proximity to food or without adequate identification. A mislabeled chemical container can end up being used on food prep surfaces or, in worst-case scenarios, mistaken for a food ingredient.
Food contact surfaces were also found not properly cleaned or sanitized. Cutting boards, prep tables, and similar surfaces that touch food directly are a primary transfer point for bacteria. An unsanitized surface can contaminate every item prepared on it, regardless of how carefully the food itself was handled.
The inspector also documented that employees were not properly washing their hands and arms. The finding was not that employees skipped handwashing entirely, but that the technique was wrong. An incomplete handwashing attempt still leaves pathogens on the hands and transfers them to everything touched afterward.
Employees were also found not reporting illness symptoms, and the restaurant lacked a required consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of undercooking and improper handwashing technique is particularly direct in its risk. Salmonella in poultry does not survive above 165 degrees Fahrenheit, but it survives at any temperature below that threshold. If food is pulled from the oven or grill before reaching that internal temperature, the bacteria remain viable and reach the customer's plate. Beach Pizza Plus was cited for exactly this failure.
The illness-reporting violation compounds the handwashing problem. When food workers do not report symptoms, someone who is actively sick with norovirus or another contagious illness continues to handle food. Norovirus is the leading cause of multi-victim outbreaks tied to restaurants. Improper handwashing technique then ensures that even an attempt to limit transmission fails. Both violations were documented at this location on the same day.
Toxic chemicals stored or labeled improperly near food represent a different category of risk: not bacterial, but chemical. Contamination from a cleaning agent reaching food or a food prep surface can cause acute poisoning with no warning and no way for a customer to know it occurred. The absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items means customers with compromised immune systems, pregnant women, elderly diners, and young children were not given the information they would need to make an informed choice.
The intermediate finding on multi-use utensils adds a final layer. Utensils that are not properly cleaned develop bacterial biofilms within 24 hours. Those biofilms resist standard sanitizing efforts and continue to contaminate food prepared with the utensil until it is replaced or properly cleaned with a method that breaks the film.
The Longer Record
The April 27 inspection was not an aberration. State records show Beach Pizza Plus has been inspected 29 times and has accumulated 280 total violations. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
The eight most recent prior inspections, dating to March 2023, each included between three and eight high-severity violations. The January 2024 inspection produced eight high-severity violations and three intermediate violations, the highest single-visit count in the recent record. The August 2025 inspection produced six high-severity violations and two intermediate violations, an identical profile to the April 2026 visit.
High-severity violations have appeared in every one of those eight prior inspections without exception. The pattern is not one of occasional lapses followed by correction. It is one of persistent, repeated citations in the most serious violation category across three consecutive years of inspections.
No inspection in the available record resulted in an emergency closure. The April 27 visit, with six high-severity findings including undercooking, chemical storage failures, and an illness-reporting breakdown, was no different.
Still Open
State inspectors documented six high-severity violations at Beach Pizza Plus on April 27, 2026. The restaurant remained open that day and continued serving customers.
The 280 violations recorded across 29 inspections place this location among the more heavily cited food service operations in Pinellas County. The most recent inspection added eight more to that total.
Beach Pizza Plus was not closed.