MELBOURNE, FL. Inspectors visiting Chart House at 2250 Front St. on June 29 found that the waterfront restaurant was serving food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, a violation that means some of what landed on customers' plates had bypassed federal safety inspections entirely.
That finding was one of nine high-severity violations documented in a single visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The inspection documented two separate handwashing violations. Employees were cited both for inadequate handwashing and for using improper technique, meaning that even when workers attempted to wash their hands, inspectors found the method insufficient to remove pathogens.
Three of the nine high-severity violations involved chemicals. Inspectors cited the facility for toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and separately for toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Both violations were recorded in the same visit, pointing to a broader failure in how the kitchen handles hazardous materials alongside food.
The restaurant was also cited for failing to post a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items on the menu. At a waterfront restaurant where raw shellfish and undercooked fish are common offerings, that omission leaves elderly diners, pregnant women, and anyone with a compromised immune system without the information they need to make a safe choice.
What These Violations Mean
The food-from-unapproved-sources violation is one of the most consequential a restaurant can receive. When food enters a kitchen outside of USDA or FDA-regulated supply chains, there is no traceability. If a customer gets sick, investigators cannot identify the source, cannot determine how many others were exposed, and cannot issue a recall. At Chart House on June 29, at least some of what was served that day came from a supplier the state could not verify.
The illness-reporting failures compound that risk directly. The facility had no written employee health policy and at least one employee failed to report symptoms of illness. Food workers are the primary transmission route for Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million infections in the United States each year. A sick employee without a policy requiring them to report symptoms or stay home is, in practical terms, a direct line between a contagious person and every plate leaving the kitchen.
The dual handwashing citations matter because they close off the most basic safeguard. Inadequate handwashing and improper technique documented in the same inspection means the facility failed at both the practice and the execution. Combined with improperly sanitized food contact surfaces, also cited that day, the conditions inspectors documented created multiple simultaneous pathways for contamination.
The improper sewage disposal citation adds a dimension that goes beyond food handling. Raw sewage carries E. coli, Hepatitis A, and other pathogens. An intermediate-level citation for wastewater disposal in a commercial kitchen is not a paperwork problem.
The Longer Record
The June 29 inspection was not the first time Chart House accumulated a serious violation count in a short period. Twelve days earlier, on June 17, inspectors found nine high-severity violations and one intermediate violation at the same address. The restaurant logged 10 high-severity violations on August 13, 2025, and seven high-severity violations on December 4, 2024.
Across 39 inspections on record, the facility has accumulated 415 total violations. That averages to more than 10 violations per inspection visit over the life of the record.
The pattern is not one of isolated bad days. Chart House has now exceeded seven high-severity violations in a single inspection on at least four separate occasions: August 2025, December 2024, June 17, 2026, and June 29, 2026. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
The one clean inspection in the recent record came on May 29, 2025, when inspectors found zero high-severity and zero intermediate violations. That visit stands alone among the eight most recent inspections listed, all of which recorded at least two high-severity violations and most of which recorded far more.
Still Open
State inspectors left Chart House on June 29 having documented nine high-severity violations, including food from an unverified source, employees not reporting illness, two separate handwashing failures, two chemical storage violations, and improper sewage disposal.
The restaurant remained open.
