JACKSONVILLE, FL. A state inspector walked into BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse on Max Leggett Parkway on June 9 and found that employees had no policy requiring them to report symptoms of illness, no written health policy to guide them if they got sick, and food that was not being cooked to the minimum temperatures required to kill pathogens. The restaurant was not closed.
Six of the seven violations documented that day were classified as high severity. The facility remained open and serving customers.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooking violation is among the most direct threats to customers. State records show food was not reaching required minimum internal temperatures, meaning pathogens capable of causing serious illness were not being reliably destroyed before plates left the kitchen.
Inspectors also cited the facility for food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Cutting boards, prep surfaces, and other equipment that touches food directly are primary transfer points for bacteria. When those surfaces are not sanitized between uses, whatever contamination is on them moves to the next item prepared.
Toxic substances were found to be improperly identified, stored, or used. Chemicals stored or handled incorrectly near food preparation areas create a direct risk of contaminating the food itself.
The seventh violation, classified as intermediate, involved improper sewage or wastewater disposal. That citation carries particular weight given the facility's history.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no employee health policy and employees not reporting illness symptoms is, according to state health risk data, the leading cause of multi-victim outbreaks. Norovirus spreads through direct contact with an infected food worker. Without a written policy requiring employees to disclose symptoms, and without a culture of actually reporting them, a sick worker can move through an entire shift touching food, surfaces, and equipment.
The undercooking violation compounds that risk. Salmonella in poultry, for example, survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A customer eating undercooked food at a restaurant where sick employees are not required to report their symptoms is exposed to two independent failure points simultaneously.
The absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods removes the last line of defense for the most vulnerable customers. Elderly diners, pregnant women, young children, and anyone with a compromised immune system rely on that disclosure to make informed choices. Without it, they have no way of knowing the risk they are taking.
The improper sewage or wastewater disposal citation means raw sewage, which carries fecal bacteria including E. coli, had the potential to contaminate surfaces throughout the facility. That violation, combined with improperly sanitized food contact surfaces, describes a kitchen where contamination could move from the floor to the prep table to the plate.
The Longer Record
The June 9 inspection was not the first time this location has accumulated serious violations. State records show 29 inspections on file for this facility, with 232 total violations across that history.
The pattern in recent years is notable. In October 2024, inspectors found seven high-severity violations and one intermediate. In April 2025, a visit produced five high-severity and three intermediate violations. In March 2026, just three months before the June inspection, the facility was cited for eight high-severity violations and two intermediate ones.
That March inspection was followed within days by two consecutive visits that showed zero high-severity violations, a pattern that has repeated itself. Serious violations appear, a follow-up inspection clears them, and months later the serious violations return.
The facility has one prior emergency closure on record. On July 5, 2022, the restaurant was shut down for a sewage backup and allowed to reopen the following day. The intermediate sewage and wastewater disposal violation cited on June 9 is the same category of problem.
Open for Business
State records show that a follow-up inspection on June 10, the day after the six high-severity violations were documented, found zero high-severity and zero intermediate violations. The facility was not closed at any point between the two inspections.
That means on the evening of June 9 and into the morning of June 10, BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse on Max Leggett Parkway was open and serving customers under conditions that included food not cooked to required temperatures, no employee illness reporting system, improperly sanitized food contact surfaces, and improper handling of toxic substances.
The restaurant has 232 violations across 29 inspections and one prior emergency closure. After six high-severity violations on June 9, it was not closed.