ORLANDO, FL. State inspectors visiting Chimi Spot at 3900 S. Goldenrod Road on April 21 found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, meaning some of what customers were served that day had never passed a USDA or FDA safety inspection.

That was one of seven high-severity violations documented during the visit. The restaurant remained open.

What Inspectors Found

1HIGHFood from unapproved or unknown sourceHigh severity
2HIGHFood not cooked to required minimum temperatureHigh severity
3HIGHNo employee health policyHigh severity
4HIGHImproper hand and arm washing techniqueHigh severity
5HIGHFood contact surfaces not properly cleaned/sanitizedHigh severity
6HIGHRequired procedures for specialized processes not followedHigh severity
7HIGHNo consumer advisory for raw/undercooked foodsHigh severity
8INTImproper sewage or waste water disposalIntermediate
9INTMulti-use utensils not properly cleanedIntermediate

Inspectors also cited the restaurant for food not cooked to the required minimum temperature. For poultry, that threshold is 165 degrees Fahrenheit, the point at which Salmonella is destroyed. Below that temperature, the pathogen survives.

The inspection found no written employee health policy, meaning there was no formal mechanism in place to keep sick workers out of food preparation. Inspectors also documented improper handwashing technique among employees, food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and multi-use utensils that had not been adequately cleaned.

Two additional high-severity citations addressed specialized food processes and the absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items. An intermediate violation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal rounded out a nine-violation inspection that state regulators did not consider grounds for an emergency closure.

What These Violations Mean

Food from an unapproved or unknown source is not a paperwork problem. When a restaurant cannot identify where its food came from, there is no traceability if a customer gets sick. USDA and FDA inspections exist to screen for Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli before product reaches a kitchen. Food that bypasses that chain carries unknown risk, and there is no way to trace an outbreak back to its origin.

The undercooking violation compounds that risk directly. Salmonella survives in poultry that has not reached 165 degrees. A customer eating undercooked chicken from a restaurant that also cannot document where that chicken was purchased faces a layered exposure that public health officials consider among the most serious combinations an inspector can document.

The absence of an employee health policy is a separate but equally direct threat. Without a written policy requiring sick workers to stay home, there is no barrier between a food handler with Norovirus and the meals leaving the kitchen. Norovirus is responsible for roughly 20 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States annually, and it spreads through exactly this kind of gap.

Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces and utensils with bacterial biofilm close the loop. Pathogens introduced through unapproved food or sick workers can survive on cutting boards and prep surfaces and transfer to the next meal prepared on them. Combined with a handwashing technique failure, the April 21 inspection documented nearly every major contamination pathway operating simultaneously.

The Longer Record

Chimi Spot Inspection History, Selected Dates

2024-08-139 high-severity violations, 2 intermediate violations documented in a single inspection.
2025-08-197 high-severity violations, 2 intermediate violations.
2025-08-286 high-severity violations, no intermediate violations, nine days after the prior visit.
2026-02-20Emergency closure for rodent activity. 5 high-severity violations, 2 intermediate violations.
2026-02-21Reopened after closure. 4 high-severity violations, 1 intermediate violation remained.
2026-04-217 high-severity violations, 2 intermediate violations. Facility not closed.

The April visit was not an anomaly. State records show Chimi Spot has accumulated 285 total violations across 30 inspections, a figure that places it among the more heavily cited food service operations in Orange County.

The pattern of high-severity violations stretches back through the available record without a clean break. Inspectors found 9 high-severity violations in August 2024. They returned in August 2025 and found 7, then came back nine days later and found 6 more. In February 2026, rodent activity triggered an emergency closure. The restaurant reopened the following day with 4 high-severity violations still on the books.

Two months after that closure, the April 21 inspection produced 7 high-severity violations again, matching the count from August 2025 nearly exactly.

Open for Business

Florida's emergency closure authority is triggered when inspectors determine that conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. The April 21 inspection at Chimi Spot, with its combination of unknown food sourcing, undercooking, and the absence of any employee health policy, did not meet that threshold in the judgment of the inspector on site.

The restaurant served customers that day, and it was not ordered to close.