WEST PALM BEACH, FL. State inspectors visited Cambridge Holdco LLC on Royal Palm Beach Boulevard on September 29, 2026, and left behind a report documenting 11 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate ones. The restaurant was not closed.
Among the violations: food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, toxic chemicals improperly stored near the kitchen, and no written employee health policy in place. Inspectors also cited the facility for failing to follow parasite destruction procedures, a violation that applies to fish and other proteins served raw or undercooked.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooking violation is among the most direct threats to a customer's health. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A plate that looks done can still carry live pathogens.
Equally serious: inspectors cited the facility for failing to follow parasite destruction procedures. Fish served raw or lightly cooked, including certain preparations common in seafood restaurants, requires freezing at specific temperatures for specific durations to kill parasites like Anisakis. That step was not documented as having been taken.
Two separate violations involved toxic chemicals. Inspectors found chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and separately cited improper identification, storage, or use of toxic substances. Both violations create the same core risk: chemical contamination of food through proximity, mislabeling, or misuse.
The shellfish traceability violation adds another layer. Without proper shell stock identification records, there is no way to trace oysters, clams, or mussels back to their harvest location if a customer gets sick.
A Facility Without a Safety Foundation
Three of the 11 high-severity violations point to the same underlying failure: the absence of basic management controls. Inspectors cited the facility for having no person in charge present or performing duties, no written employee health policy, and employees not reporting illness symptoms.
That combination matters. Without a manager actively overseeing operations, violations accumulate. Without a written illness policy, sick workers have no formal obligation to stay home. Without a reporting requirement, a worker with Norovirus can move through a kitchen for an entire shift.
Inspectors also documented improper handwashing technique, a violation that means pathogens can remain on hands even when a worker makes an attempt to wash them. And food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, which creates a direct transfer route for bacteria from surface to plate.
The facility also lacked a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Under Florida food code, customers must be informed when items on the menu carry elevated risk. That notice was absent.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of undercooking and no parasite destruction procedures is particularly serious for anyone who ordered fish or shellfish. Anisakis, a parasite found in raw and undercooked fish, can cause severe abdominal pain and requires medical treatment. Proper freezing eliminates the risk. Without documentation that the procedure was followed, there is no way to know whether it was.
The sewage disposal violation, listed as intermediate, carries its own distinct risk. Improper disposal of wastewater creates pathways for fecal contamination to reach surfaces, utensils, and food. That violation, combined with improperly cleaned multi-use utensils, means contamination could move through the kitchen on multiple vectors simultaneously.
The absence of an employee health policy is not a paperwork problem. Norovirus causes an estimated 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, and food workers are among its most common transmission routes. A written policy that requires workers to report symptoms and stay home when sick is one of the few structural controls that interrupts that chain. Cambridge Holdco LLC did not have one.
For elderly diners, pregnant women, young children, or anyone with a compromised immune system, the consumer advisory violation is also not trivial. Those groups face the highest risk from raw or undercooked proteins, and the advisory exists specifically to let them make an informed choice. Without it, they cannot.
The Longer Record
The September 2026 inspection is the worst on record for this facility in recent years. State records show 27 inspections on file and 141 total violations documented across the facility's history. There has been one prior emergency closure, in August 2018, for unsanitary conditions. The facility reopened the following day.
The inspection history since 2022 shows a facility that had been trending toward compliance. The two most recent inspections before September 2026, conducted in January and January of this year, showed two high-severity violations combined. The September inspection produced 11.
That is not a gradual deterioration. It is a sharp break from a recent pattern that had shown improvement, returning the facility to violation counts not seen since the years surrounding its 2018 closure.
Prior inspections in 2022 and 2023 showed recurring high-severity violations, typically two or three per visit. The facility passed cleanly in September 2024 with zero violations of any kind. Whatever operational controls were in place that day were not in place on September 29, 2026.
Cambridge Holdco LLC on Royal Palm Beach Boulevard recorded 11 high-severity violations on that date. It remained open.
