TAMPA, FL. A state inspector walked into Breakfast House at 1501 E Sligh Ave on May 5 and found food coming from unapproved or unknown sources, a violation that means inspectors cannot trace where the ingredients came from or whether they ever passed a federal safety check.
That was one of six high-severity violations documented that day. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The full list from that single inspection covers nearly every major transmission route for foodborne illness. Inspectors cited food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, food contact surfaces that had not been properly cleaned or sanitized, and required procedures for specialized food processes that were not being followed.
Two additional violations rounded out the visit. Multi-use utensils had not been properly cleaned, and single-use items were being reused, a practice that defeats the contamination barrier those items are designed to provide.
Employees were also found using improper handwashing technique. The facility had no written employee health policy, meaning there was no formal mechanism in place to keep sick workers out of food preparation.
What These Violations Mean
The food sourcing violation is among the most serious a breakfast restaurant can receive. When food comes from unapproved or unknown sources, it has bypassed USDA and FDA inspection entirely. If a customer becomes ill, there is no supply chain to trace, no lot number to pull, no way to determine whether other customers at other locations were exposed to the same ingredient. At a breakfast spot where eggs, meat, and dairy are the core of nearly every plate, that gap is not a paperwork problem.
The undercooking violation compounds that risk directly. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. At a restaurant where eggs and chicken appear on the menu, failing to reach required internal temperatures means pathogens that entered with the food can reach the customer's plate intact. Pair that with food contact surfaces that were not properly sanitized, and the transfer route from raw to ready-to-eat food is open at multiple points.
The absence of a written employee health policy means the facility has no documented standard for when a sick worker must stay home. Norovirus, one of the most common causes of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, spreads through exactly this gap. A worker who comes in while symptomatic and uses improper handwashing technique, as also cited here, represents a direct transmission route from person to food to customer.
Improperly cleaned multi-use utensils develop bacterial biofilms within 24 hours. Those biofilms are resistant to standard cleaning and can persist across multiple service periods, transferring bacteria to food that touches the surface long after the original contamination event.
The Longer Record
Breakfast House has four inspections on record. The two earliest visits, in April 2025 and November 2025, produced zero high-severity violations and zero intermediate violations. The facility appeared to be operating cleanly through most of last year.
The May 5, 2026 inspection broke sharply from that pattern. Six high-severity violations and two intermediate citations in a single visit represent the entirety of the facility's serious violation history, concentrated in one day. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
A follow-up inspection the next day, May 6, found one high-severity violation and one intermediate violation still on record. That is a reduction from eight citations to two, which suggests corrective action was taken overnight. But a high-severity violation remained even after the follow-up visit.
The facility's total violation count across all four inspections is 12. Ten of those 12 violations were documented in a single 24-hour window spanning May 5 and May 6.
Open for Business
State inspectors documented six high-severity violations at Breakfast House on May 5. The list included food of unknown origin, food not cooked to temperature, unsanitized food contact surfaces, no employee health policy, flawed handwashing technique, and failures in specialized food process controls.
None of it triggered an emergency closure order.
The restaurant served customers through the inspection and after it. A follow-up visit the following day found the facility still carrying at least one high-severity violation.