ORLANDO, FL. Inspectors visiting Cheng's Chinese Restaurant on S Semoran Boulevard on September 9 found food from an unapproved or unknown source on the premises, a violation that means at least some of what the kitchen was serving could not be traced back to any USDA or FDA-inspected supplier.
That was one of six high-severity violations documented that day. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The September inspection also found that the restaurant had no employee health policy, or an inadequate one. That means there was no enforceable written procedure requiring sick workers to stay out of the kitchen or off food prep.
Inspectors further cited employees for improper handwashing technique and found that food contact surfaces, including cutting boards and prep equipment, were not being properly cleaned or sanitized between uses.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled near food. The restaurant also lacked a consumer advisory for any raw or undercooked items on the menu, a required disclosure that tells customers with compromised immune systems, elderly diners, pregnant women, and young children that certain dishes carry elevated risk.
Three intermediate violations rounded out the inspection: single-use items being reused, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities.
What These Violations Mean
The food-from-unapproved-sources citation is among the most serious a restaurant can receive. When food enters a kitchen outside the regulated supply chain, there is no record of where it was processed, how it was handled, or whether it was inspected for Listeria, Salmonella, or other pathogens. If a customer becomes ill, health investigators have no supply chain to trace.
The absence of an employee health policy compounds that risk directly. Norovirus, one of the most common causes of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurants, spreads through food handled by infected workers. Without a written policy requiring sick employees to report symptoms and stay off the line, there is no structural barrier between a sick cook and a customer's plate at Cheng's.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces create a second transmission route. Cutting boards and prep surfaces that are not sanitized between uses transfer bacteria from one food item to the next, a process that can move raw meat contamination into ready-to-eat dishes.
The improperly stored chemicals violation carries a different category of danger. Cleaning agents and sanitizers stored near food, or without proper labeling, can contaminate food directly and cause acute poisoning. That violation, alongside the food-source and handwashing failures, means the September 9 inspection documented simultaneous risks across multiple points in the kitchen's operation.
The Longer Record
The September 9 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Cheng's has been inspected 35 times and has accumulated 463 total violations across its history on file.
The eight most recent prior inspections tell a consistent story. The February 2026 visit found 8 high-severity and 3 intermediate violations. The two inspections in fall 2025, on October 9 and September 29, found 5 high and 2 intermediate, and 8 high and 6 intermediate, respectively. The April 2025 inspection was the worst single visit in the recent record: 10 high-severity violations and 2 intermediate.
Going back further, inspections in mid-2024 found 5 high and 4 intermediate in July, 4 high and 2 intermediate in June, and 6 high and 2 intermediate in April. Even the January 2024 visit, the mildest in recent years, still documented 3 high-severity violations.
The pattern across those eight inspections is unbroken. Every single one included at least 3 high-severity violations. Four of the eight included 5 or more.
Cheng's has never been emergency-closed in its 35 inspections on record. The violations have accumulated, the categories have repeated, and the restaurant has remained open through all of it.
Still Open
State inspectors documented six high-severity violations at Cheng's on September 9, 2026, including food from an unapproved source, no employee health policy, improper handwashing technique, unsanitized food contact surfaces, improperly stored toxic chemicals, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
The restaurant was not closed.
It was the latest inspection in a record stretching back across 35 visits and 463 documented violations, none of which resulted in an emergency closure order.
