ORLANDO, FL. State inspectors walked into Boteco BR Restaurant on International Drive on June 3 and found food sourced from suppliers that have never been reviewed or approved by federal safety authorities, a violation that means no one can trace where that food came from or whether it passed any inspection at all.
That finding was one of seven high-severity violations documented during the visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
Inspectors also found that food was not being cooked to the minimum required temperature, a direct pathway for pathogens like Salmonella to survive and reach customers. Alongside that, the restaurant had no consumer advisory posted to warn diners that raw or undercooked items carry health risks.
Shellfish traceability records were inadequate or missing. Oysters, clams, and mussels are among the highest-risk foods served in any restaurant because they are often eaten raw or lightly cooked, and without shellfish identification tags on file, there is no way to determine where those shellfish came from if someone gets sick.
Food contact surfaces, including cutting boards and prep areas, were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Inspectors also cited improper handwashing technique and the absence of any written employee health policy.
Two intermediate violations rounded out the inspection: multi-use utensils were not properly cleaned, and toilet facilities were inadequate or improperly maintained.
What These Violations Mean
Food from an unapproved source is not a paperwork problem. When a restaurant purchases food outside the licensed, inspected supply chain, there is no way to know whether that product was handled safely, stored at proper temperatures, or free of contamination. If a customer becomes ill, investigators cannot trace the food back to its origin. Boteco BR had this violation cited on June 3.
The undercooking violation compounds that risk directly. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. If food is arriving from an unverified source and then not being cooked to the temperature required to kill pathogens, the two violations together create a compounding hazard for anyone eating at the restaurant.
The shellfish records violation adds a third layer. Shellfish are filter feeders that concentrate bacteria and viruses, including Vibrio and Hepatitis A, from the water they grow in. State and federal rules require restaurants to keep shellfish identification tags on file for 90 days precisely so that an outbreak can be traced to a specific harvest location. Without those records, that traceability disappears entirely.
Improper handwashing technique is distinct from not washing hands at all. An employee who goes through the motions of handwashing but uses the wrong technique, such as insufficient time, skipping soap, or not reaching all surfaces, can transfer pathogens to food even when they believe they have washed. Combined with no written health policy governing when sick employees must stay home, the conditions for Norovirus or other direct-transmission illnesses to reach customers through food handlers were present at Boteco BR on June 3.
The Longer Record
The June 3 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Boteco BR Restaurant has been inspected 27 times and has accumulated 266 total violations across its history.
The pattern of serious violations is consistent and recent. In November 2025, inspectors found nine high-severity violations and two intermediate ones. In March 2025, there were five high-severity violations and three intermediate. In December 2024, three high-severity violations. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
Two inspections in early January 2026, just five months before this latest visit, showed zero high-severity violations and zero intermediate violations on both dates. That clean stretch makes the June return to seven high-severity findings more notable, not less. The record shows the restaurant is capable of passing inspection cleanly, which means the violations found in June reflect choices made in the weeks leading up to that visit.
The unapproved food source violation and the shellfish traceability violation both appeared in a facility that had demonstrated it could meet standards as recently as January. The food sourcing and recordkeeping failures cited in June are not the kind of violations that develop overnight.
Open for Business
Florida law gives inspectors the authority to order an emergency closure when conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. Seven high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved source, undercooked food, missing shellfish records, and improperly sanitized food contact surfaces, did not meet that threshold on June 3.
Boteco BR Restaurant at 5135 International Drive remained open after the inspection.