MARATHON, FL. Food from unapproved or unknown sources was among the violations state inspectors documented at Blu Bistro on Sombrero Boulevard during a July 29 inspection that produced 11 high-severity citations and 4 intermediate ones. The restaurant was not closed.
The unapproved-source finding is one of the most serious a food inspector can write. When food enters a kitchen without passing through licensed, inspected suppliers, there is no chain of custody. If someone gets sick, there is nothing to trace.
That was one of eleven high-severity violations. The restaurant remained open after the inspection.
What Inspectors Found
The handwashing picture was particularly layered. Inspectors cited the restaurant on three separate handwashing counts: employees not washing adequately, the physical facilities being insufficient to support proper washing, and employees using improper technique even when they did wash. All three appeared on the same inspection report.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled. In a kitchen where food is being plated and served, mislabeled or misplaced chemicals represent a direct contamination pathway, not a paperwork problem.
Inspectors also found that food was not being cooked to required minimum temperatures. Undercooking is how Salmonella survives in poultry and how other pathogens make it to the plate. A consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods was also absent, meaning customers had no way to make an informed choice about what they were ordering.
No allergen awareness was demonstrated. Food allergies affect 32 million Americans and send 30,000 people to emergency rooms each year. A kitchen that cannot demonstrate allergen awareness is a kitchen where a guest with a peanut or shellfish allergy cannot safely eat.
The person in charge was either not present or not performing required supervisory duties. No written employee health policy was in place, meaning a sick worker had no formal obligation to report illness or stay home.
What These Violations Mean
The food-from-unapproved-sources violation is not about preference or paperwork. Licensed suppliers are inspected. Their products are traceable. If a customer gets sick after eating at Blu Bistro and the ingredient came from an unlicensed source, investigators have nowhere to start. That traceability gap is the entire point of the requirement.
The three handwashing violations compound each other. A facility without adequate handwashing stations cannot support proper hygiene. Employees who use improper technique when they do wash leave pathogens on their hands. Improper handwashing is the single most significant factor in spreading foodborne illness, according to public health researchers, and here it was cited three ways in one visit.
The absence of an employee health policy creates a direct transmission route for Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million infections in the United States each year. Without a written policy, there is no mechanism to keep a sick employee out of the kitchen. The person-in-charge violation makes this worse: active managerial oversight is the primary check on whether any food safety practices are actually being followed. CDC data shows establishments without active managerial control have three times more critical violations.
Improperly stored chemicals near food can cause acute poisoning. Improperly cleaned utensils develop bacterial biofilms within 24 hours, biofilms that standard washing does not remove. Inadequate cooling equipment allows food to drift into the temperature range where bacteria multiply fastest. Each of these intermediate violations would be notable on its own. At Blu Bistro on July 29, they appeared alongside eleven high-severity citations.
The Longer Record
This was not a bad day. It was a pattern.
State records show Blu Bistro has been inspected 35 times and has accumulated 400 total violations across its history. The July 29 inspection was the worst in recent memory, but it did not arrive without warning. The April 2026 inspection found 7 high-severity and 3 intermediate violations. The January 2026 inspection found 9 high-severity and 4 intermediate violations. The July 2025 inspection found 10 high-severity and 4 intermediate violations.
Every inspection on record going back to early 2024 has produced at least 7 high-severity violations, with one exception: a February 2024 inspection that found 3. That same date also produced a separate inspection report with 7 high-severity and 5 intermediate violations.
The restaurant was emergency-closed once, on February 13, 2024, for rodent activity. It reopened the same day.
Still Open
The pattern that emerges from 35 inspections is not one of a facility correcting problems and holding the line. It is one of high-severity violation counts that have climbed, not fallen, over the past year. The July 2025 inspection found 10 high-severity violations. The January 2026 inspection found 9. The July 2026 inspection found 11.
Blu Bistro on Sombrero Boulevard in Marathon was not closed after the July 29 inspection. It remained open.
