OSPREY, FL. Inspectors visiting Casey Key Resorts Restaurant on South Tamiami Trail on April 21 found the facility lacked adequate handwashing facilities, meaning the physical infrastructure required for basic hygiene was not in place for employees preparing and serving food. The restaurant was not closed.
That single finding was one of six high-severity violations documented during the visit, along with three intermediate violations. State records show the facility has now accumulated 153 violations across 17 inspections.
What Inspectors Found
The handwashing problem was compounded by a second, separate finding: even where handwashing was attempted, employees were not using proper technique. The two violations together document a kitchen where hand hygiene was failing at both the structural and behavioral level simultaneously.
Inspectors also cited food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, a direct pathway for bacteria to move from surfaces onto food. That finding, combined with multi-use utensils that were not properly cleaned, identified in the intermediate tier, means the tools and surfaces touching customers' food were not being adequately decontaminated between uses.
The restaurant had no written employee health policy. That means no formal system existed to prevent a sick worker from continuing to prepare food. Inspectors also found no person in charge present or performing supervisory duties during the visit.
The menu offered raw or undercooked food items, but the facility had posted no consumer advisory disclosing that risk to customers.
What These Violations Mean
The handwashing failures documented on April 21 are not paperwork violations. Studies show that proper handwashing is the single most effective barrier against pathogen transfer in a food service environment. When the physical facilities are inadequate and the technique is also wrong, that barrier is effectively gone for anyone working in the kitchen.
The absence of an employee health policy is acutely dangerous because it creates no mechanism to remove a sick worker from food preparation. Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States annually, spreads directly through food handled by infected employees. Without a written policy, there is no documented expectation that a worker feeling ill should stay home or be reassigned.
Food contact surfaces that are not properly sanitized are a primary vehicle for bacterial transfer onto food. The intermediate citation for improperly cleaned multi-use utensils extends that risk: bacterial biofilms can develop on improperly cleaned utensils within 24 hours, and once established, those biofilms are significantly harder to remove than surface contamination.
The missing consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items matters most for customers who are elderly, pregnant, or immunocompromised. Those customers have no way to make an informed choice about their order if the menu does not disclose the risk.
The Longer Record
The April inspection is not an aberration. State records show the facility has been inspected 17 times and has accumulated 153 total violations, with no emergency closures on record.
The eight most recent prior inspections, dating to March 2023, all produced high-severity violation counts. The August 2024 inspection found 10 high-severity and 4 intermediate violations. The December 2024 inspection found 9 high and 2 intermediate violations. The August 2025 inspection found 8 high and 2 intermediate violations.
Every inspection in the past three years has produced at least four high-severity violations. The April 2026 visit, at six high-severity citations, is consistent with a pattern that has never dipped below two high-severity findings across the entire visible record.
The Pattern
What the history shows is not a restaurant that had a bad day in April. It is a facility that has produced high-severity violation totals in eight consecutive documented inspections, across nearly three years, without triggering an emergency closure.
The management failure violation from April, citing the absence of an active person in charge, fits the pattern. CDC data indicates that establishments without active managerial control produce three times more critical violations than those with engaged supervision. The inspection record at this address suggests that condition is not new.
The restaurant at 1660 South Tamiami Trail collected six high-severity violations on April 21, 2026, and remained open for business.