PALM BAY, FL. Inspectors visiting Charley's Cheesesteaks and Wings on Babcock Street on May 22 found food from unapproved or unknown sources inside the restaurant, a violation that means some of what customers were served that day had bypassed every federal safety inspection designed to catch Listeria, Salmonella, and other pathogens before they reach a plate.
That was one of six high-severity violations documented during the visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
Beyond the unapproved food source, inspectors flagged food described as being in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated. That violation sat alongside a finding that food contact surfaces, the cutting boards, prep counters, and equipment that touches what customers eat, had not been properly cleaned or sanitized.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled near food areas. Inspectors also noted that no employee health policy was in place, or that any policy present was inadequate to prevent sick workers from handling food.
The sixth high-severity violation was a lack of allergen awareness demonstrated by staff. The two intermediate violations covered multi-use utensils that had not been properly cleaned and inadequate ventilation and lighting in the facility.
What These Violations Mean
The unapproved food source violation is among the most serious a restaurant can receive, because it severs the chain of traceability. When food enters a kitchen from an unknown or uninspected supplier, there is no record to pull if a customer gets sick. Federal inspection systems exist specifically to screen for pathogens like Listeria and Salmonella at the source. Food that bypasses those systems arrives at a prep counter with no safety history attached to it.
The absent employee health policy compounds that risk directly. Norovirus alone accounts for roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States annually, and an infected food worker with no policy restricting them from handling food is one of the most efficient transmission routes in a restaurant setting. At Charley's on Babcock Street, inspectors found that safeguard missing.
The allergen violation carries its own acute danger. Food allergies affect 32 million Americans, and reactions send roughly 30,000 people to emergency rooms each year. When staff cannot demonstrate allergen awareness, customers with serious allergies to ingredients like tree nuts, shellfish, or wheat have no reliable way to assess their risk from anything on the menu.
Improperly sanitized food contact surfaces and multi-use utensils that have not been cleaned create a direct bacterial transfer route from one food item to the next. Cutting boards and prep surfaces that carry residue from a prior ingredient become a vector for cross-contamination with every subsequent use.
The Longer Record
The May 22 inspection was not an outlier. State records show Charley's Cheesesteaks and Wings on Babcock Street has accumulated 128 violations across 21 inspections on record, and high-severity citations have appeared in nearly every visit dating back through 2022.
The two most recent prior inspections before May tell the same story. A January 2026 visit produced five high-severity violations. A February 2025 inspection produced six high-severity and two intermediate violations, a count identical to what inspectors found this month. The pattern does not suggest a facility correcting itself between visits.
Going further back, inspectors documented seven high-severity violations in October 2022 and another seven in September 2022, just one month earlier. The only inspection in the available record that produced zero high-severity violations was a September 2021 visit. Every inspection since has included at least three.
The facility has never been emergency-closed. That fact is part of the record too.
Still Open
Florida's emergency closure authority is triggered when an inspector determines that conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. Six high-severity violations at Charley's on May 22, including food from an unverified source, chemicals near food, no allergen training, and unsanitized surfaces, did not meet that threshold in the inspector's judgment.
The restaurant on Babcock Street was open for business after the inspection concluded.
State inspection records are public. The full report for the May 22 visit is available through the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Charley's Cheesesteaks and Wings has been inspected 21 times. Across those 21 visits, inspectors have never once left without citing at least one violation, and in the last five inspections alone, they have cited 24 high-severity violations combined.
The doors remained open on May 22.