TREASURE ISLAND, FL. A state inspector who visited Britt's Bar & Grill on Gulf Boulevard on April 23 found food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, no employee health policy, and at least one employee not reporting symptoms of illness — and left the restaurant open.
The inspection turned up six high-severity violations and three intermediate violations. State records show the facility has accumulated 570 total violations across 53 inspections on record, and has been emergency-closed three times since 2018.
What Inspectors Found
The food temperature violation is the most direct danger on that list. Undercooking poultry is one of the most reliable ways to serve live Salmonella to a customer. There is no margin for error once undercooked food reaches a plate.
Three of the six high-severity violations stack on top of each other in a way that amplifies the risk. No written employee health policy means there is no formal mechanism requiring sick workers to stay home. An employee not reporting illness symptoms means at least one person was present and working without disclosing a potential infection. Improper handwashing technique means that even when workers went through the motions of washing their hands, pathogens were not reliably removed.
The inspector also cited the absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Without that notice on the menu, customers who are elderly, pregnant, or immunocompromised have no way of knowing they may be ordering something that carries elevated risk.
No person in charge was present or performing duties during the inspection. State data consistently shows that establishments without active managerial oversight accumulate critical violations at roughly three times the rate of those with engaged management.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no health policy, an employee not reporting symptoms, and improper handwashing technique describes a direct transmission pathway for Norovirus. Norovirus accounts for roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, and food workers are among the most common sources in outbreak investigations. A written health policy is the mechanism that keeps a symptomatic worker out of the kitchen. Without one, the decision is left to the individual employee.
Improperly cleaned multi-use utensils develop bacterial biofilms within 24 hours. Those biofilms are resistant to standard cleaning and can transfer bacteria to food even after a surface appears clean. The intermediate violation for single-use items being reused compounds this: items designed for one use accumulate contamination each time they are used again.
The undercooked food violation sits at the center of all of it. A kitchen without a functioning health policy, without proper handwashing, and without active management oversight is a kitchen where temperature shortcuts are more likely to go uncorrected.
The Longer Record
Fifty-three inspections on record is a long history. Britt's has accumulated 570 total violations over that span, and the recent inspection record does not suggest improvement.
The April 23 inspection with six high-severity violations came one day before a follow-up inspection on April 24 that found three additional high-severity violations. In November 2025, an inspection on November 20 turned up 11 high-severity and three intermediate violations. A follow-up the next day found four high-severity and one intermediate. The pattern across those visits is not a facility catching isolated problems and correcting them. It is a facility cycling through inspections with high-severity violations appearing at nearly every visit.
The three prior emergency closures add context. Inspectors ordered Britt's shut down in August 2024 for roach and rodent activity, and the facility reopened the following day. It was closed in January 2020 for rodent activity, and again in December 2018 for roach activity. Each time, the closure was brief.
The August 2024 closure followed an inspection on August 12 that found six high-severity and three intermediate violations, the same totals as the April 23 inspection. That prior inspection triggered an emergency closure. The April 23 inspection did not.
The Facility Remained Open
State inspectors documented six high-severity violations at Britt's Bar & Grill on April 23, 2026. The violations included food not cooked to safe temperatures, no mechanism for keeping sick employees out of the kitchen, and no one in charge during the inspection.
The restaurant was not closed.
A follow-up inspection the next day found three more high-severity violations at the same address. Britt's Bar & Grill continued to operate through both visits.