ST. PETERSBURG, FL. One day after state inspectors emergency-closed it for rodent, roach, and fly activity, Big Catch at Salt Creek on 2nd Street South was back open and, according to records filed August 13, 2026, serving food that had not been cooked to the required minimum temperature.
That single violation, food not reaching the heat threshold needed to kill Salmonella and other pathogens, was one of six high-severity citations inspectors logged that day. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found on August 13
The undercooked food citation was not the only violation with immediate consequences for customers. Inspectors also found toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled near the food operation, a condition that can cause acute poisoning through direct contamination or mislabeling of containers.
Food contact surfaces, the cutting boards, prep tables, and equipment that touches what customers eat, were cited as not properly cleaned or sanitized. That violation creates a direct path for bacteria to move from surface to plate.
Inspectors additionally cited employees for improper handwashing technique. The citation is distinct from simply not washing hands. It means employees went through the motion of washing but did so incorrectly, leaving pathogens behind.
The restaurant also had no written employee health policy, meaning there was no formal mechanism in place to keep sick workers out of the kitchen. A missing consumer advisory rounded out the high-severity list, leaving diners with compromised immune systems, pregnant women, elderly customers, and young children without any notice that raw or undercooked items appeared on the menu.
Four intermediate violations accompanied the six high-severity citations: single-use items being reused, wiping cloths handled improperly, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and toilet facilities that were inadequate or improperly maintained.
What These Violations Mean
The undercooked food violation is among the most direct threats to a diner's health on this list. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A customer who orders chicken, or any protein that did not reach its required internal temperature, has no way of knowing the food on their plate was not fully cooked.
The chemical storage violation compounds that risk in a different way. When toxic chemicals are improperly stored near food or mislabeled, contamination can occur without any visible sign. A customer would not taste the difference.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces and incorrect handwashing technique are what food safety professionals call amplifiers. Neither one causes illness by itself, but both multiply the reach of any pathogen already present in the kitchen. If a surface carries bacteria and employees are not washing their hands correctly, every dish prepared on that surface becomes a potential vehicle.
The absence of an employee health policy is a structural failure, not a one-day lapse. Without a written policy, there is no standard requiring a worker with Norovirus symptoms to stay home. Norovirus causes roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, and food service workers are among the most common transmission sources.
The Longer Record
August 13 was not an anomaly. State records show Big Catch at Salt Creek has logged 660 total violations across 60 inspections on file, a rate that places this week's findings in a pattern rather than an isolated incident.
The restaurant was emergency-closed the day before, on August 12, after inspectors documented nine high-severity and six intermediate violations tied to rodent, roach, and fly activity. That closure lasted two days. The facility reopened August 14 with one high-severity and one intermediate violation still on record.
This was the third emergency closure in the restaurant's inspection history. Inspectors emergency-closed the location in April 2023 for roach and fly activity, and again in November 2017 for roach activity. The April 2023 closure followed an inspection that logged ten high-severity violations, the same count inspectors recorded on July 7, 2025, a visit that also produced ten high-severity citations.
The May 2026 inspection, three months before this week's findings, produced seven high-severity violations. The July 2025 stretch produced eight high-severity violations on one visit and ten on another, just two days apart.
The Pattern
What the record shows is a facility that has cycled through emergency closures, follow-up inspections, and brief periods of reduced violations, before accumulating serious citations again.
The August 12 emergency closure for rodents, roaches, and flies was resolved within 48 hours, at least on paper. But the August 13 inspection, conducted while the facility was freshly reopened, still produced six high-severity violations, including food not cooked to temperature and chemicals stored near food.
The restaurant remained open after that inspection.
