OCALA, FL. A state inspector visiting Catrina Cocina Mexicana at 303 SE 17th Street on April 22 found that food was not being cooked to required minimum temperatures, an employee had not reported symptoms of illness, and no one in charge was actively performing managerial duties. The restaurant was not closed.
Eight of the fourteen violations documented that day were classified as high-severity. Six more were intermediate. The facility remained open to customers after the inspection concluded.
What Inspectors Found
The cooking temperature violation is the one that most directly put customers at risk on the day of the inspection. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. If food was served undercooked, anyone who ate it that day had no way of knowing.
The illness-reporting failure compounds that risk. An employee working while symptomatic is a direct transmission route for norovirus and other pathogens, particularly in a kitchen where handwashing technique was also cited as improper on the same visit.
Inspectors also noted that shell stock, meaning oysters, clams, or mussels, lacked required identification records. No consumer advisory was posted to warn customers that raw or undercooked items were on the menu. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Single-use items were being reused. Wiping cloths were improperly used. Sewage or wastewater was not being properly disposed of.
The person in charge was either absent or not actively performing required oversight duties.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of undercooked food and an employee not reporting illness symptoms is among the most dangerous pairings an inspector can document in a single visit. Undercooking leaves pathogens alive in food that reaches the customer's plate. An ill employee working the line can contaminate food, surfaces, and utensils throughout a shift, and improper handwashing technique means that even when an attempt at hygiene was made, it was not effective.
The shell stock traceability violation carries a different kind of risk. Shellfish consumed raw or lightly cooked are high-risk foods under normal circumstances. Without proper identification records, there is no way to trace the source of an oyster or clam if a customer becomes sick. That traceability gap is the difference between a contained outbreak and one that cannot be investigated.
Inadequate cooling equipment means the facility lacked the physical capacity to keep food out of the temperature danger zone, the range between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit where bacteria multiply rapidly. Time as a public health control, when used correctly, is a documented alternative to temperature control. At Catrina Cocina Mexicana on April 22, inspectors found it was not being used correctly.
The sewage disposal violation adds a contamination pathway that has nothing to do with food handling. Improper wastewater disposal creates the possibility of fecal contamination reaching food preparation surfaces, and inadequate toilet facilities reduce the likelihood that employees use restrooms and wash hands properly in the first place.
The Longer Record
April's inspection was not an outlier. State records show Catrina Cocina Mexicana has been inspected nine times since 2024, and in seven of those nine visits, inspectors found high-severity violations. The facility has accumulated 105 total violations across its inspection history.
The pattern is consistent. In August 2024, inspectors found 8 high-severity violations. In December 2025, they found 10. In February 2026, they found 9, and that visit ended with an emergency closure for roach activity. The restaurant reopened the following day after a follow-up inspection showed the immediate problem had been addressed.
Two inspections in the record show zero violations: one in March 2024 and one on February 18, 2026, the day after the roach closure. Those clean visits have not held.
The April 22 inspection found 8 high-severity violations, matching the August 2024 count and falling just below the December 2025 and August 2025 peaks of 10 each. The categories shift slightly from visit to visit, but the volume does not.
Still Open
State inspectors documented 8 high-severity violations at Catrina Cocina Mexicana on April 22, 2026. The violations included food not cooked to required temperature, an employee not reporting illness, no one actively managing the kitchen, and no warning on the menu that raw or undercooked items were being served.
The restaurant was not emergency-closed.