NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FL. State inspectors visiting Caffe Vesuvio's at 701 E 3rd Ave on September 10 found food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, toxic chemicals improperly stored near food, and no mechanism in place for employees to report illness symptoms, among eight separate high-severity violations. The restaurant was not emergency-closed.
That tally, eight high-severity citations and two intermediate violations in a single visit, places the September 10 inspection among the most serious in the cafe's documented history. State inspectors recorded the findings and the facility continued operating.
What Inspectors Found
The most direct threat to customers on the plate: food not cooked to required minimum temperatures. Undercooking is a documented cause of foodborne illness, and inspectors cited it here alongside a separate finding that no consumer advisory was posted to warn diners about raw or undercooked items on the menu.
Inspectors also cited toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled near food. That violation, combined with improperly cleaned food contact surfaces and multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, describes a kitchen where the basic barriers between contamination and the customer's plate were not functioning.
The absence of any system for employees to report illness symptoms was also flagged as high severity. That finding sat alongside inadequate shell stock identification records, which means that if a customer became ill after eating shellfish, tracing the source would be difficult or impossible.
No person in charge was present or performing duties at the time of the inspection. Improper hand and arm washing technique was also documented, meaning that even when employees attempted to wash their hands, the technique left pathogens behind.
What These Violations Mean
Food not cooked to required minimum temperatures is one of the most direct paths from a kitchen to a hospital. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and similar thresholds exist for ground beef, pork, and seafood. At Caffe Vesuvio's on September 10, inspectors found this standard was not being met.
The illness reporting violation compounds that risk in a specific way. When employees have no requirement or process to report symptoms, a worker who is actively sick can prepare food throughout a shift. Norovirus, one of the most common causes of multi-victim outbreaks, spreads precisely through this route.
The inadequate shell stock records citation matters because shellfish are consumed raw or lightly cooked and carry a distinct contamination risk. Without proper tagging and sourcing documentation for oysters, clams, or mussels, there is no way to trace an illness back to a harvest location if customers get sick. That traceability is the only tool available once an outbreak begins.
Improperly stored toxic chemicals near food represent a different category of harm entirely. Contamination from mislabeled or misplaced chemicals does not produce a slow-developing foodborne illness. It can cause acute poisoning with rapid onset.
The Longer Record
The September 10 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Caffe Vesuvio's has accumulated 250 violations across 30 inspections on file, a pace that averages more than eight violations per visit.
The recent inspection history shows the pattern clearly. On February 25, 2025, inspectors cited 11 high-severity and 3 intermediate violations. On September 16, 2025, they found 9 high-severity and 3 intermediate violations. On February 5, 2026, the count was 6 high-severity and 2 intermediate violations. The September 10, 2026 inspection, with 8 high-severity citations, falls squarely within that range.
The cafe has never been emergency-closed in its inspection history on record.
A follow-up inspection on September 17, one week after the visit in question, found 4 high-severity violations. The number dropped, but high-severity citations remained.
The Longer Pattern
Some of the violation categories on September 10 are not new to this location. The combination of no person in charge, improper handwashing, and improperly cleaned surfaces has appeared across multiple inspection cycles. The shell stock records violation, which requires active management of sourcing documentation, points to a systemic gap rather than a one-time oversight.
The illness reporting failure is particularly difficult to attribute to a single bad day. Building a system for employees to report symptoms requires a deliberate management decision. Its absence, documented here as part of a broader pattern of management failures at this address, is a structural problem.
Two hundred and fifty violations across 30 inspections. Eight high-severity citations on September 10. A follow-up seven days later that still found four high-severity violations.
Caffe Vesuvio's on E 3rd Avenue remained open through all of it.
