MELBOURNE, FL. When a state inspector walked into Chart House on Front Street on June 17, they found food coming from sources that could not be verified as USDA or FDA approved, toxic chemicals stored in a way that could contaminate food, and no written policy to keep sick employees out of the kitchen. The restaurant was not closed.
The inspection turned up nine high-severity violations and one intermediate violation at the waterfront Melbourne restaurant. Under Florida's inspection framework, high-severity violations are those most directly linked to foodborne illness outbreaks. Chart House accumulated nine of them in a single visit.
What Inspectors Found
The most immediate chemical risk came from two separate violations involving toxic substances. Inspectors cited the restaurant for both improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals and for toxic substances that were improperly identified, stored, or used. Two distinct citations for chemical hazards in a single inspection visit.
The food sourcing violation is among the most serious the state documents. Inspectors found food at Chart House coming from an unapproved or unknown source, meaning it bypassed standard USDA and FDA safety checks. A related violation flagged inadequate shell stock identification records, a specific concern at a seafood-focused restaurant where oysters, clams, and mussels may be served raw or lightly cooked.
The inspector also cited the restaurant for using time as a public health control without following proper procedures. That method allows food to sit in the temperature danger zone, between 41 and 135 degrees, for a limited window before it must be discarded. Without proper documentation and procedures, there is no way to verify food was discarded on schedule.
Rounding out the list: food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, inadequate handwashing facilities, no written employee health policy, and no person in charge present or actively performing supervisory duties.
What These Violations Mean
The food-from-unapproved-sources violation is not a paperwork technicality. When food enters a restaurant outside the regulated supply chain, there is no traceability if customers get sick. Inspectors cannot confirm whether that food was handled, stored, or transported safely. At a seafood restaurant, that risk is amplified because shellfish harvested from contaminated waters can carry Vibrio, Hepatitis A, and Norovirus.
The shell stock traceability violation compounds that concern directly. Shellfish tags are required by law precisely because raw and lightly cooked shellfish are among the highest-risk foods served in restaurants. Without those records, there is no way to trace an illness back to a specific harvest lot.
The two chemical storage violations at Chart House represent a separate and immediate danger. Improperly stored or unlabeled chemicals near food preparation areas can contaminate food through direct contact or mislabeling. These are not slow-burn risks. Chemical contamination can cause acute poisoning within minutes of ingestion.
The absence of a written employee health policy means there is no formal mechanism to keep sick workers out of the kitchen. CDC data links Norovirus, which accounts for roughly 20 million illnesses annually in the United States, directly to infected food handlers. Without a policy, a sick employee has no documented obligation to report symptoms or stay home.
The Longer Record
The June 17 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Chart House has been inspected 38 times and has accumulated 400 total violations. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern of high-severity violations is consistent across recent years. In August 2025, inspectors cited 10 high-severity violations and one intermediate, the highest single-visit count in the recent record. In December 2024, they found seven high-severity violations and two intermediate. In April 2024, another seven high-severity violations, this time with three intermediate citations.
Chart House Melbourne: Recent Inspection History
The only clean inspection in the recent record came in May 2025, when inspectors found zero high-severity and zero intermediate violations. That result stands alone in a two-year stretch otherwise defined by repeat high-severity citations.
Of the 38 inspections on record, zero have resulted in an emergency closure order.
Open for Business
After documenting nine high-severity violations, including food from an unverifiable source, two separate chemical hazards, no active management oversight, and no mechanism to keep sick employees away from food, the state inspector left Chart House open.
Customers who ate at the restaurant on June 17 or in the days that followed had no way of knowing what the inspection had found. The restaurant continued serving food.