DUNEDIN, FL. Back in April 2026, state inspectors walked into Casa Tina Mexican Grill on Main Street and left with a citation for undercooking food — a violation that means customers may have eaten poultry or other proteins that never reached the temperature required to kill Salmonella and other pathogens.
That was one of seven high-severity violations documented during the April 15 inspection. The restaurant was not emergency-closed.
What Inspectors Found
The cooking temperature violation sits at the top of that list for a reason. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and the April inspection documented that required minimum temperatures were not being met. For anyone who ordered chicken at Casa Tina that day, that is not an abstract concern.
The parasite destruction citation adds a separate layer of risk. When fish, pork, or wild game is served without proper freezing or cooking protocols, parasites including Anisakis and Trichinella can survive and infect customers. The inspection record does not specify which protein triggered the citation, but the violation itself is unambiguous.
Two separate toxic chemical violations were also cited. Inspectors flagged both improper storage or labeling of toxic chemicals and improper identification, storage, or use of toxic substances. Chemicals stored near food or mislabeled containers create a direct route to acute poisoning, and two distinct citations for chemical handling in a single visit is not a minor bookkeeping issue.
The remaining high-severity violations covered food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, improper handwashing technique, and no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked menu items. The intermediate violation was for multi-use utensils not properly cleaned.
What These Violations Mean
The cooking temperature violation is among the most direct paths to a foodborne illness outbreak. Salmonella, Campylobacter, and E. coli all survive in undercooked poultry and meat. A customer who ate at Casa Tina on April 15 had no way of knowing whether the protein on their plate had reached a safe temperature.
The parasite destruction failure is less commonly cited but carries serious consequences. Parasites in fish and pork are not destroyed by refrigeration alone. They require either sustained freezing at specific temperatures or thorough cooking. Without documentation that those protocols were followed, customers who ate fish or pork dishes at Casa Tina that day were exposed to a risk they could not have anticipated.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces and multi-use utensils function as transfer points. Bacteria from raw protein left on a cutting board or a prep surface moves to the next item placed on it. Inspectors have a phrase for this: cross-contamination. At Casa Tina in April, both the surfaces and the utensils used to prepare food were cited for failing that standard.
The consumer advisory violation is worth naming separately. Florida requires restaurants that serve raw or undercooked items to post a written advisory so that customers with compromised immune systems, pregnant women, the elderly, and young children can make an informed decision. No such advisory was posted. Those customers ate without the warning the law requires them to receive.
The Longer Record
The April 15 inspection was not an anomaly. Casa Tina has 29 inspections on record and 284 total violations accumulated across that history. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
The eight most recent inspections before April 15 tell a consistent story. In January 2026, inspectors cited four high-severity violations. In June 2025, four more high-severity violations. In December 2024, two high-severity violations. The pattern does not show a restaurant that corrected course after a difficult stretch; it shows a restaurant that has accumulated high-severity citations across multiple consecutive inspection cycles.
The March 2024 cluster is particularly notable. Inspectors visited three times in nine days: four high-severity violations on March 5, two high-severity violations on March 7, and a clean inspection on March 11. That rapid re-inspection cycle suggests regulators were watching closely. The clean March 11 result did not hold. By May 2024, high-severity violations had returned.
A follow-up inspection on April 28, 2026, two weeks after the April 15 visit, found two high-severity violations still present. The seven-violation inspection did not produce a clean bill of health on the next visit.
Still Open
State inspectors documented seven high-severity violations at Casa Tina on April 15, 2026, including undercooking, parasite risks, two separate toxic chemical citations, unsanitary food contact surfaces, and the absence of a consumer advisory for customers most at risk. The restaurant served customers that day, and it continued to operate without interruption.
Two weeks later, inspectors returned and found two more high-severity violations. Casa Tina remained open then, too.