CLEARWATER, FL. A US Highway 19 Asian grill accumulated seven high-severity violations in a single inspection during one of the busiest tourist weeks of the year, including purchasing food from unapproved sources and serving items that had not been cooked to required minimum temperatures, state records show.
The Violations
Green Mint Asian Grill at 25821 US Hwy 19 N drew the week's most serious inspection report, with seven high-severity citations covering nearly every stage of food handling. Inspectors found no adequate employee health policy, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, food from an unapproved or unknown source, food contact surfaces that had not been properly cleaned or sanitized, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items.
That is a facility where the supply chain, the kitchen, the preparation surfaces, and the people handling food all drew high-severity citations in the same visit.
Jersey Mike's Sub Shop at 4695 Gulf Blvd in St. Pete Beach sits directly on the tourist corridor running along the Gulf, and it logged four high-severity violations during the week. Inspectors cited an employee not reporting illness symptoms, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. The chemical storage violation adds a contamination risk that goes beyond bacteria.
The Floridian at 230 107th Ave in Treasure Island also drew four high-severity violations. Inspectors found food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated; inadequate shell stock identification records for shellfish; no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items; and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. A waterfront restaurant serving shellfish without adequate traceability records presents a specific and serious risk to diners.
Jason's Deli at 25801 US 19 N, in the same Clearwater commercial corridor as Green Mint, received three high-severity violations: an employee not reporting illness symptoms, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Econo Lodge Inn and Suites at 2061 Gulf to Bay Blvd drew two high-severity violations, both directly tied to food safety fundamentals: improper hand and arm washing technique, and food not cooked to required minimum temperatures. A hotel food operation serving guests who may have no other nearby dining option makes those two violations particularly consequential.
Subway 3412 at 3753 Ulmerton Rd was cited for inadequate shell stock identification records, a striking finding for a sandwich chain, and for food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
Steak 'n Shake at 2490 SR 580 drew two high-severity violations: an employee not reporting illness symptoms, and inadequate shell stock identification records.
What These Violations Mean
Four of the seven facilities, Green Mint Asian Grill, Jersey Mike's, Jason's Deli, and Steak 'n Shake, were cited for employees not reporting illness symptoms. That single violation category is the documented driver of multi-victim Norovirus outbreaks. A sick food worker who continues handling food can expose dozens or hundreds of customers before anyone recognizes a pattern, and tourists who fall ill hours or days after leaving a restaurant rarely connect their illness to a specific meal.
The food-from-unapproved-sources violation at Green Mint Asian Grill carries a different kind of risk. Regulated food suppliers are subject to USDA and FDA inspection at the point of production. Food that bypasses that system, whether sourced informally, purchased from an unlicensed distributor, or brought in without documentation, has no chain of accountability if someone becomes sick. Inspectors cannot trace it, and the restaurant cannot recall it.
The shell stock traceability violations at The Floridian, Subway 3412, and Steak 'n Shake deserve specific attention. Shellfish, including oysters, clams, and mussels, are consumed raw or lightly cooked and are among the highest-risk foods served in any restaurant. Shell stock identification tags are required precisely because shellfish-related illnesses, including Vibrio infections, require rapid traceability back to a specific harvest bed. Without those records, an outbreak investigation stalls at the kitchen door.
Toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, cited at both Jersey Mike's and The Floridian, represent a hazard that is immediate rather than cumulative. A cleaning chemical stored adjacent to food or in an unlabeled container can contaminate a meal directly, with no bacterial growth period required.
The Longer Record
The inspection histories for several of these facilities place this week's findings in sharper context. Green Mint Asian Grill's seven high-severity violations in a single visit, at a location on one of Clearwater's busiest commercial strips, represent a concentration of failures that inspectors do not typically find at a well-managed establishment regardless of its age or size.
The Floridian in Treasure Island is a waterfront location where tourists are a primary customer base, and the combination of shellfish traceability failures and food in poor or adulterated condition suggests gaps in receiving and storage practices that should be foundational at any seafood-serving restaurant.
Jason's Deli and Green Mint Asian Grill share the same US-19 corridor in Clearwater, and both drew citations this week for employees not reporting illness symptoms and for food contact surfaces that had not been properly cleaned or sanitized. Two separate facilities in proximity, drawing the same high-severity categories in the same inspection week, reflects a pattern worth noting.
Steak 'n Shake's shell stock identification violation stands out because the chain's menu is not built around shellfish. The presence of that violation suggests a documentation or receiving failure rather than a cuisine-specific lapse, which raises questions about what other records may be incomplete.
The Longer Record
Seven facilities across Clearwater, St. Pete Beach, and Treasure Island logged 24 high-severity violations combined during the week of September 1 through September 7, a period that falls within Florida's peak late-summer tourist season. Labor Day weekend concentrates visitors in exactly the beach-corridor restaurants and hotel dining operations where several of these violations were found.
Green Mint Asian Grill's inspection produced more high-severity violations in one visit than four other facilities on this list produced combined. The facility had no consumer advisory, no adequate employee health policy, and food from a source inspectors could not verify as approved.
