CELEBRATION, FL. Food was not cooked to the required minimum temperature at Buca di Beppo on West Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway when state inspectors arrived on May 4, 2026 — a violation that, depending on what was undercooked and by how much, can leave live Salmonella in poultry or E. coli in ground beef on a customer's plate.
That was one of eight high-severity violations inspectors documented that day. The restaurant remained open.
What Inspectors Found
The violation list reads like a compendium of the conditions most likely to make someone sick. Alongside the undercooking citation, inspectors found that employees were not reporting symptoms of illness, that handwashing technique was improper, and that food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized.
Toxic substances were improperly identified, stored, or used. Sewage or wastewater was not being disposed of properly. Multi-use utensils had not been adequately cleaned.
The restaurant also lacked a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, meaning customers who are pregnant, elderly, or immunocompromised had no notice that certain items on the menu carried elevated risk. And no person in charge was present or performing supervisory duties when inspectors arrived.
What These Violations Mean
The undercooking violation is the one most directly tied to a customer ending up in a hospital. Salmonella survives in poultry that doesn't reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A single serving of undercooked chicken can cause illness within hours. At a family-style Italian restaurant where shared plates are the model, one undercooked dish can reach multiple diners at the same table.
The failure to report illness symptoms is categorically different from a cleanliness lapse. A food worker who is actively sick with norovirus and handling bread service is a direct transmission route to every person who eats that bread. Norovirus is highly contagious and spreads through even trace amounts of fecal matter on hands or surfaces. The improper handwashing technique citation compounds this: employees who go through the motion of washing hands but do so incorrectly leave pathogens behind regardless.
Toxic substances stored or used improperly means cleaning chemicals were either unlabeled, stored near food, or handled in a way that could result in chemical contamination of food or surfaces. That is not a paperwork problem.
The sewage citation is worth pausing on. Improper wastewater disposal creates the possibility of fecal contamination spreading through the facility. Combined with the citation for improperly cleaned multi-use utensils, which can develop bacterial biofilms within 24 hours of inadequate cleaning, the picture is of a kitchen where multiple contamination pathways were active at the same time.
The Longer Record
The May 4 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show 25 inspections on file for this location, with 176 total violations documented across those visits.
The two most recent inspections before May 4 tell a specific story. On February 6, 2026, inspectors found 9 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate ones. Three days later, on February 9, a follow-up visit still turned up 3 high-severity violations and 2 intermediate ones. The serious violations did not disappear after a single correction cycle.
The same pattern held in spring 2025. An inspection on May 16 of that year produced 7 high-severity violations and 2 intermediate ones. Three days later, on May 19, a follow-up still showed 3 high-severity and 1 intermediate violation. Two inspections in October 2024 each found between 4 and 5 high-severity violations. The location has never been emergency-closed.
What the record shows is a facility that cycles through high-severity violations, receives follow-up inspections, reduces the count somewhat, and then returns to elevated numbers at the next routine visit. The May 4, 2026 inspection, with 8 high-severity violations, is among the worst single-day tallies in that 25-inspection history. It is not an outlier. It fits the pattern.
Still Open
State inspectors documented eight high-severity violations at Buca di Beppo in Celebration on May 4, 2026, including food not cooked to required temperature, employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing, unsanitized food contact surfaces, improperly stored toxic substances, and no manager present to oversee any of it.
The restaurant was not closed.