RIVERVIEW, FL. Back in April 2026, state inspectors walked into Cali Aji Restaurant on US Highway 301 South and found food being served from unapproved or unknown sources, a violation that means no federal safety inspection ever touched whatever was on those plates.
That finding alone ranked among the most serious a Florida food safety inspector can document. It was one of six high-severity violations cited during the April 8 inspection. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The shellfish violation compounded the sourcing problem. Inspectors cited inadequate shell stock identification and records, meaning oysters, clams, or mussels served at the restaurant could not be traced to a certified harvest location or date. These are foods that customers sometimes eat raw.
The allergen violation was equally direct. Inspectors found no allergen awareness demonstrated by staff, meaning the people handling and serving food could not reliably identify or communicate which dishes contained the eight major allergens. There was also no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods, leaving diners with no written warning before ordering.
Improperly cleaned and sanitized food contact surfaces rounded out the picture. Cutting boards, prep tables, and similar surfaces that touched raw ingredients were not adequately cleaned between uses, creating a transfer route for bacteria from one food to the next. And inspectors found that the handwashing technique being used by employees was incorrect, meaning that even when workers went through the motions of washing their hands, pathogens were not being reliably removed.
One intermediate violation was also cited: equipment in poor repair, with cracks and corroded areas that cannot be effectively sanitized.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved sources is not a paperwork problem. When a restaurant sources ingredients outside the regulated supply chain, there is no USDA or FDA inspection standing between that food and the customer's plate. If a contaminated batch of beef or seafood enters the kitchen through an unverified supplier, there is no recall system that can reach it and no way to identify who else received it if someone gets sick.
The shellfish records violation is specifically dangerous because shellfish concentrate bacteria and viruses from their surrounding water. Certified harvest tags exist so that if a customer develops vibrio or norovirus after eating oysters, public health officials can trace the shellfish back to the harvest bed and pull the supply. Without those records, that chain of accountability breaks entirely.
The allergen failure at Cali Aji in April 2026 put a specific population at acute risk. Food allergies affect roughly 32 million Americans, and allergic reactions send 30,000 people to emergency rooms each year. A staff that cannot identify allergens in the dishes they are serving cannot warn a customer with a tree nut or shellfish allergy before it is too late.
Improper handwashing technique is deceptive in a specific way: it looks like compliance while failing to deliver it. An employee who washes their hands incorrectly, skipping friction on fingertips or cutting the time short, leaves the same pathogens on their hands as an employee who skips washing entirely. Combined with unsanitized food contact surfaces, the April inspection described a kitchen where contamination had multiple open pathways to the customer.
The Longer Record
The April 2026 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Cali Aji has accumulated 186 violations across 23 inspections, and the pattern of high-severity citations stretches back years without interruption.
The December 2025 inspection turned up 7 high-severity violations. The April 2025 inspection found 10 high-severity violations and 2 intermediate ones. Going back further, the September 2024 inspection produced 11 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate ones, and the September 2023 inspection also reached 11 high-severity violations.
In eight of the most recent inspections on record, the lowest single-visit high-severity count was 3. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
That history means the April 2026 findings were not a restaurant caught on a bad day. They were the latest entry in a documented multi-year record of serious, recurring violations across multiple inspection cycles, with no apparent resolution of the underlying problems.
Still Open
As of the April 8, 2026 inspection, Cali Aji Restaurant remained open for business. Six high-severity violations were documented by the state inspector. The food source could not be verified. The shellfish could not be traced. The staff could not demonstrate allergen awareness. The surfaces were not properly sanitized.
The restaurant was not closed.