CASSELBERRY, FL. A state inspector walked into a Casselberry taco restaurant in September and found that workers were not following parasite destruction procedures for fish, that food-contact surfaces had not been properly cleaned or sanitized, and that no one in charge was present or performing managerial duties. Six of the seven violations recorded that day were classified high-severity. The restaurant stayed open.
The September 8 inspection of Cali Tacos and Mexican Restaurant at 830 Laura St. produced one of the heavier violation tallies the Casselberry location has seen in recent years. State records show six high-priority citations and one intermediate violation documented in a single visit.
What Inspectors Found
The parasite destruction citation is among the most specific and serious on the list. When restaurants serve fish that may be eaten raw or undercooked, state rules require that the fish be frozen to documented temperatures for a set period to kill parasites including Anisakis and tapeworm. The inspector found those procedures were not being followed.
The food-contact surface violation compounds that risk. Cutting boards, prep tables, and similar surfaces that touch raw fish or meat and are not properly sanitized become a transfer route for whatever is on them.
Inspectors also cited the restaurant for inadequate shellfish traceability records. Shellfish sold without proper identification tags cannot be traced to a specific harvest location if a customer gets sick.
No manager was documented as present or performing supervisory duties during the visit.
What These Violations Mean
The parasite destruction failure is not an administrative shortcoming. Parasites in fish survive improper handling and reach customers who eat ceviche, sushi-style preparations, or any fish served less than fully cooked. Anisakis larvae cause severe abdominal pain and can require surgical removal. The freezing protocols that restaurants are required to follow exist specifically because cooking alone, at the temperatures many diners prefer, does not reliably kill them.
The shellfish traceability violation matters in a different way. Oysters, clams, and mussels are filter feeders that concentrate bacteria and viruses from the water they are harvested in. When a restaurant cannot produce shell stock tags with harvest location and date, there is no way for public health officials to trace an illness back to a contaminated harvest bed and pull product before more people are exposed.
The absence of a written employee health policy means the restaurant has no documented system for keeping sick workers out of the kitchen. The Centers for Disease Control links Norovirus, which sickens roughly 20 million Americans annually, directly to infected food workers who have no policy requiring them to report symptoms or stay home. Improper handwashing technique, also cited here, means that even when workers attempt to wash their hands, pathogens may remain.
Together, the absence of a manager, no health policy, and improper handwashing technique describe a kitchen where the basic systems that prevent illness are either absent or not functioning.
The Longer Record
Cali Tacos: Inspection History, 2023-2026
State records show 27 inspections on file for Cali Tacos and Mexican Restaurant, with 185 total violations accumulated across that history. The September inspection was not an outlier. It was the worst single visit in recent years, but high-severity citations have appeared in seven of the eight most recent inspections.
The one exception is notable. A December 2025 inspection found zero high-severity violations and zero intermediate violations. That result stands alone in the recent record, surrounded on both sides by visits that each produced four or more high-priority citations.
The restaurant has never been emergency-closed. That record holds even after the September 8 visit, which produced six high-severity violations in a single inspection.
Six high-severity violations were documented on September 8, 2026. Cali Tacos and Mexican Restaurant on Laura Street served customers that day, and has continued to do so.
