CLAY COUNTY, FL. A barbecue restaurant in Keystone Heights drew seven high-severity violations in a single inspection last week, including citations for food sourced from unapproved suppliers and inadequate shellfish traceability records, leading a week in which all six Clay County facilities inspected logged at least two critical violations.
State inspectors conducted seven inspections across six restaurants between July 27 and August 2, 2026. Every facility came back with high-severity findings. The county logged 26 high-severity violations in seven days.
The Worst of the Week
Johnny's Bar B Q on SR 21 in Keystone Heights led the county with seven high-severity violations in a single visit. Inspectors cited the restaurant for sourcing food from unapproved or unknown suppliers, a finding that stood alongside inadequate shellfish identification records, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and two separate chemical storage violations involving both toxic chemicals and toxic substances.
The restaurant also drew a citation for improper handwashing technique and for failing to post a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. An intermediate violation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal rounded out the inspection.
Three facilities tied for second place, each with five high-severity violations.
Subway #17485 on SR 100 in Keystone Heights was cited for having no person in charge present or performing duties, an employee failing to report illness symptoms, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, missing consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items, and improperly identified or stored toxic substances. Intermediate violations included single-use items being reused, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and improper use of wiping cloths.
Poke Bowl on CR 220 in Fleming Island, which serves raw fish, was cited for failing to follow parasite destruction procedures, a critical gap for a restaurant whose menu depends on raw seafood. Inspectors also found no person in charge present, no employee health policy, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, and improper handwashing technique.
Big Dawgs Family Sports Restaurant on Blanding Boulevard in Orange Park was cited for an employee not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, inadequate shellfish identification records, food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, and improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals.
Food not reaching minimum cooking temperature is a direct pathogen survival risk. Salmonella in poultry requires an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit to be destroyed. Big Dawgs also drew intermediate violations for reusing single-use items and inadequate ventilation.
Sonic Drive In 4505 on Blanding Boulevard in Orange Park was cited for improper handwashing technique and improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals, along with intermediate violations for inadequate cooling equipment and ventilation.
Taco Bell 3037112 on Green Way in Keystone Heights drew two high-severity violations, both chemical-related: improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals and improperly identified or stored toxic substances.
What These Violations Mean
The handwashing technique citation, which appeared at Johnny's Bar B Q, Poke Bowl, Big Dawgs, and Sonic, is not the same as failing to wash hands at all. It means employees made an attempt and still left pathogens on their hands. The technique gap matters most at a place like Poke Bowl, where raw fish moves from prep surfaces to a customer's bowl without a cooking step to kill anything transferred in the process.
The food from unapproved source violation at Johnny's Bar B Q carries a specific traceability risk. When food bypasses USDA or FDA inspection channels, there is no documented chain of custody. If a customer gets sick, investigators cannot trace the product back to its origin, which makes identifying a contamination source and pulling affected product from other restaurants nearly impossible.
The employee illness reporting failures at Subway, Poke Bowl, and Big Dawgs represent the single most direct route from a sick worker to a sick customer. Norovirus, which causes the majority of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, spreads through exactly this pathway. An employee who does not report symptoms and continues handling food can infect dozens of customers before anyone connects the illnesses to the restaurant.
The chemical storage violations at four facilities, Johnny's Bar B Q, Subway, Big Dawgs, Sonic, and Taco Bell, are worth reading as a pattern, not just individual slip-ups. Improperly stored or unlabeled chemicals near food preparation areas create acute poisoning risk. Mislabeled containers are particularly dangerous because workers may unknowingly use a chemical on a food surface or in a food preparation context.
The Longer Record
The data does not include prior inspection counts for these facilities, which limits the ability to place this week's findings against a documented history of compliance or repeated failure. What the week's record does show is that six of six inspected facilities produced high-severity violations, and three of those six produced five or more.
The concentration of illness-reporting failures across three separate restaurants in one week is notable. Subway, Poke Bowl, and Big Dawgs each drew a citation for employees not reporting illness symptoms. Poke Bowl also had no written employee health policy at all, meaning there was no documented standard in place for workers to follow even if they wanted to comply.
Johnny's Bar B Q produced the most varied violation profile of any facility inspected this week, with citations spanning food sourcing, shellfish records, surface sanitation, chemical storage, handwashing, consumer advisories, and wastewater disposal. That breadth, seven high-severity violations touching nearly every category of food safety risk, sets it apart from facilities where inspectors found a cluster of related problems.
Poke Bowl's parasite destruction citation remains the most operationally specific finding of the week. Restaurants serving raw fish are required to use fish that has been commercially frozen to kill parasites, or to freeze it on-site under documented protocols. Without that step, parasites including Anisakis, which can cause severe abdominal pain and require surgical removal in serious cases, survive in the fish that reaches the customer's bowl.
