SAINT AUGUSTINE, FL. State inspectors visiting Cinco de Mayo Authentic Mexican Restaurant at 389 Paseo Reyes Drive on May 1 documented food coming from unapproved or unknown sources, a violation that means some ingredients on customer plates that day had bypassed every federal safety inspection designed to catch Listeria, Salmonella, and other pathogens before they reach a dining room.
The inspector also found toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled near food, inadequate shell stock identification records, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items, food contact surfaces that had not been properly cleaned or sanitized, improper handwashing technique, and no employee health policy. That is seven high-severity violations, all documented in a single visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The shell stock violation deserves particular attention. Shellfish served raw or lightly cooked, including oysters and clams, carry a higher baseline risk of Vibrio and other pathogens than most menu items. The tags and records that accompany certified shellfish shipments exist specifically so health officials can trace an illness outbreak back to a harvest location within hours. Without those records, that trail goes cold.
The improper chemical storage citation placed a different kind of risk on the table entirely. Cleaning agents and sanitizers stored or labeled incorrectly near food preparation areas can contaminate food directly, and mislabeled containers create the conditions for accidental poisoning.
Four intermediate violations accompanied the seven high-severity citations. Multi-use utensils had not been properly cleaned, wiping cloths were being used improperly, ventilation and lighting were inadequate, and toilet facilities were inadequate or improperly maintained. Improperly cleaned utensils develop bacterial biofilms within 24 hours, biofilms that standard washing often fails to remove once established.
What These Violations Mean
The food-from-unapproved-sources violation is not a paperwork technicality. USDA and FDA inspections exist to screen for contamination at the point of production, before food reaches a kitchen. When a restaurant sources ingredients outside that system, there is no record of where the food came from, no inspection certificate, and no way for public health officials to identify a source if customers become ill. Anyone who ate at Cinco de Mayo on or before May 1 and developed symptoms consistent with Salmonella, Listeria, or E. coli would have no traceable supply chain to investigate.
The absence of an employee health policy compounds that risk directly. Without a written policy requiring sick employees to stay home or report symptoms, a worker with Norovirus, Hepatitis A, or Salmonella has no formal obligation to disclose illness before handling food. Norovirus alone accounts for an estimated 20 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States each year, and it spreads efficiently from contaminated hands to food surfaces.
Improper handwashing technique makes that pathway worse. The violation does not mean employees skipped handwashing entirely. It means the technique used was insufficient to remove pathogens, so the act of washing provided a false assurance of cleanliness while bacteria remained on the hands preparing food.
The missing consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items left the most vulnerable customers without the information they needed to make a safe choice. Elderly diners, pregnant women, young children, and anyone with a compromised immune system face sharply elevated risk from undercooked proteins and raw shellfish. The advisory requirement exists precisely because those customers cannot always identify the risk on their own from a menu description.
The Longer Record
The May 1 inspection was not an outlier. State records show 24 inspections on file for Cinco de Mayo, with 255 total violations accumulated across that history.
The pattern in recent years is consistent. Inspectors documented 11 high-severity violations in February 2023, then returned two weeks later and found 11 more. A September 2023 visit produced 10 high-severity violations. The February 2025 inspection found 4 high-severity violations, followed by a May 2025 visit that found 8 high-severity violations, followed five days later by a clean inspection with zero high-severity citations. Then November 2025 brought 7 high-severity violations. Then May 2026 brought 7 more.
The restaurant has never been emergency-closed in its inspection history on record.
That clean visit in May 2025 is worth noting. The restaurant demonstrated it can pass an inspection. What the cumulative record shows is that passing one inspection has not translated into sustained compliance across the visits that follow.
Still Open
Under Florida's inspection system, a restaurant can accumulate high-severity violations and remain open as long as inspectors determine an emergency closure is not warranted. The threshold for an emergency closure typically involves conditions presenting an immediate, acute threat, such as sewage backups, active pest infestations, or loss of running water.
Seven high-severity violations, including food from an unknown source and toxic chemicals stored near food, did not meet that threshold on May 1.
Cinco de Mayo Authentic Mexican Restaurant was serving customers when inspectors arrived. It was serving customers when they left.