BRANDON, FL. A state inspector walked into Charley's Philly Steaks on Causeway Boulevard on July 9 and found employees not reporting symptoms of illness, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and toxic substances improperly stored — six high-severity violations in a single visit — and left the restaurant open.
The facility at 11110 Causeway Blvd accumulated six high-priority and two intermediate violations during that inspection. High-severity violations are the category the state reserves for findings with the most direct potential to make customers sick. All six were documented in one visit.
What Inspectors Found
The illness reporting violation is the one that tends to precede outbreaks. When food workers with symptoms of illness, including nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, do not report those symptoms, they continue handling food. That is the mechanism behind the majority of norovirus outbreaks traced to restaurants.
The undercooked food citation compounds that risk. Food not reaching required minimum temperatures can harbor Salmonella, particularly in poultry, which survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit and cannot be detected by sight or smell.
The parasite destruction finding was among the more unexpected violations at a cheesesteak chain. Parasite destruction protocols require fish, pork, and certain other proteins to be frozen to specific temperatures for specific durations before service. Without that step, parasites including Anisakis in fish and Trichinella in pork can survive to the plate.
Inadequate shell stock identification records means that if a customer became ill from shellfish, inspectors would have no documentation trail to trace the source. Shellfish are among the highest-risk foods served raw or lightly cooked, and the tagging and record system exists precisely for outbreak investigations.
Improperly stored toxic substances, the sixth high-severity citation, creates a direct chemical contamination risk. Cleaners and sanitizers stored near or above food preparation areas can contaminate food through spills or drips.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of illness reporting failure and improper handwashing technique at the same location on the same day is significant. The handwashing violation is not about skipping the sink entirely. It means employees attempted to wash their hands but used a technique that left pathogens behind. Paired with a workforce not required to flag illness symptoms, that is a compounding failure at the most basic point of contamination control.
Temperature violations are not a paperwork problem. Undercooking is one of the leading documented causes of foodborne illness in the United States. At a location already cited for illness reporting failures, the inability to verify that food reached safe internal temperatures removes one of the last barriers between a sick employee and a sick customer.
The toxic substance storage violation carries a different kind of risk, one that does not require a pathogen at all. Improper storage of cleaning chemicals near food or food-contact surfaces can cause chemical illness that presents quickly, often within minutes of ingestion.
Wiping cloths, cited as an intermediate violation, are a common contamination vehicle that most customers would never consider. Cloths used across multiple surfaces without sanitization between uses transfer bacteria from raw proteins to cutting boards, counters, and food-contact equipment. Equipment in poor repair compounds that problem by creating crevices and corroded surfaces where bacteria accumulate and cannot be reached by standard cleaning.
The Longer Record
This was not a bad day at an otherwise clean location. The inspection history for this Charley's on Causeway Boulevard spans 18 inspections and 80 total violations on record.
The pattern is consistent. In July 2025, a single inspection produced six high-severity and four intermediate violations. In January 2026, a visit found three high-severity and three intermediate violations. In April 2025, three high and two intermediate. In January 2025, three high and one intermediate.
The July 9 inspection produced the same total high-severity count as July 2025, six. That visit was followed the next day, July 10, by a callback inspection that found zero high-severity and zero intermediate violations. The same sequence played out in January 2026: three high-severity violations on January 5, zero on January 6.
The location has never been emergency-closed in 18 inspections. The violations have recurred across illness reporting, food temperatures, and procedural compliance in multiple inspection cycles. The callback inspections have consistently cleared the location.
Open for Business
State inspectors did not emergency-close the Causeway Boulevard Charley's on July 9 despite six high-severity violations. Emergency closure is a tool available to inspectors when they determine an imminent threat to public health exists.
A follow-up inspection on July 10 recorded zero violations at either severity level.
Customers who ate at the Brandon location on July 9 did so at a restaurant that, according to state records, had employees not flagging illness symptoms, food not reaching required cooking temperatures, and toxic substances improperly stored. The restaurant was open when they walked in and open when they left.
