PALM COAST, FL. Food was not cooked to the required minimum temperature at Cinco de Mayo Authentic Mexican Restaurant on East Highway 100 when state inspectors walked in on August 31, and that was not the only thing wrong.
Inspectors documented eight high-severity violations and four intermediate violations during that visit. The restaurant was not emergency-closed.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooked food violation is among the most serious a kitchen can receive. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit and can cause severe illness within hours of consumption. There is no visible indicator that food is undercooked, which means customers have no way to know.
Two separate violations involved toxic chemicals. Inspectors cited the restaurant for chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and separately for toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Both violations were classified as high-severity.
No person in charge was present or performing duties at the time of the inspection. Inspectors also found that employees were not reporting symptoms of illness, and that handwashing technique was improper.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. The restaurant also lacked a consumer advisory notifying customers that raw or undercooked foods were on the menu.
At the intermediate level, inspectors found multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, single-use items being reused, wiping cloths used improperly, and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
What These Violations Mean
The undercooked food finding is not a paperwork problem. Undercooking is a leading documented cause of foodborne illness in the United States, and the danger is invisible. A customer ordering chicken or another protein at Cinco de Mayo on August 31 had no reliable way to assess whether it had reached a safe internal temperature.
The two chemical storage violations compound that risk in a different direction. When toxic substances are improperly stored near food or mislabeled, the contamination pathway is direct. Acute chemical poisoning from restaurant food is rare but not unheard of, and the consequences can be severe.
The illness-reporting failure is what public health officials call an outbreak enabler. When employees do not report symptoms, a sick worker can move through an entire shift, handling food for dozens of customers, without any intervention. Norovirus, one of the most contagious foodborne pathogens, spreads through exactly this mechanism.
The absence of a person in charge at the time of inspection is not incidental to the other violations. CDC data links establishments without active managerial control to three times as many critical violations. The failures documented on August 31 reflect what happens in a kitchen when no one is accountable.
The Longer Record
The August 31 inspection was not an isolated bad day. State records show Cinco de Mayo has been inspected 24 times and has accumulated 214 total violations across its history. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern in the inspection record is striking. On March 17, 2025, inspectors found 11 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate violations. A follow-up three days later showed zero. On October 7, 2025, inspectors found 9 high-severity violations and 3 intermediate violations. A follow-up the next day showed zero again.
The same cycle repeated in 2026. On March 18, inspectors documented 9 high-severity violations and 2 intermediate violations. A clean inspection followed five days later. Then, beginning August 31, the restaurant logged 8 high-severity violations, followed by 8 more on September 2, and 4 more on September 8.
That is a restaurant that has demonstrated it can pass an inspection, which means the conditions inspectors keep finding are not the result of an unfamiliar code. The violations recur. The restaurant passes a follow-up. Then the violations recur again.
Open for Business
State inspectors left Cinco de Mayo on August 31, 2026 after documenting eight high-severity violations, including undercooked food, two separate chemical hazards, no manager on duty, and employees not reporting illness.
The restaurant remained open.
