WELLINGTON, FL. An inspector visiting CMX Wellington Cask and Shaker at 10312 W. Forest Hill Blvd. on May 20, 2026, found food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, an employee who had not reported symptoms of illness, and toxic substances improperly stored, among six total high-severity violations. The restaurant, which operates inside a movie theater complex, was not closed.
State records show the May 20 inspection produced six high-severity violations and two intermediate violations. That tally matches the second-worst single-day result in the facility's documented history, and it came from a bar where customers order food and drinks before and during films.
What Inspectors Found
The food temperature violation is the most direct threat to anyone who ate there. Undercooking is one of the leading documented causes of foodborne illness, and pathogens including Salmonella in poultry survive below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Inspectors cited this violation on May 20 and the facility remained in service.
The employee illness violation compounds that risk. An employee working while symptomatic, or without having disclosed symptoms, is the most direct human transmission route for outbreaks. Norovirus, which spreads rapidly in food service environments, requires only a small number of viral particles to infect a customer.
Inspectors also cited improper handwashing technique. This is distinct from not washing hands at all. Technique failures leave pathogens on hands even when a worker goes through the motions of washing. Combined with an unreported illness and undercooked food, the three violations together describe a kitchen where basic contamination controls were not functioning.
The fourth high-severity citation involved shellfish traceability records. Without proper shell stock identification, there is no way to trace oysters, clams, or mussels back to their harvest source if customers become sick. Shellfish are consumed raw or lightly cooked and carry elevated risk compared to most other proteins.
Toxic substances were also cited as improperly identified, stored, or used. Chemical contamination from cleaning agents or pesticides stored near food or food-contact surfaces creates immediate risk that does not require a second exposure to cause harm.
Rounding out the high-severity list, the person in charge was not present or not performing required duties. That finding is significant on its own, and it is especially significant alongside five other high-severity violations. Facilities without active managerial oversight accumulate critical violations at roughly three times the rate of those with it, according to CDC data cited in state inspection records.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of violations documented on May 20 at CMX Wellington Cask and Shaker describes a facility where multiple independent safeguards failed on the same day. Each violation in isolation is serious. Together, they describe a kitchen where no single layer of protection was working as designed.
The food temperature violation is the one most likely to have directly harmed a customer who ate there that day. There is no visible sign that food was undercooked. A customer ordering from the bar menu would have had no way to know.
The shellfish traceability violation matters most if someone does get sick. Without proper shell stock records, health investigators cannot identify the harvest source, cannot issue a targeted warning, and cannot stop other restaurants from serving product from the same contaminated bed. The traceability system only works if the records exist.
The person-in-charge violation ties the others together. When no one with authority is actively monitoring the kitchen, violations in handwashing, temperature control, illness reporting, and chemical storage do not get caught before they reach customers.
The Longer Record
The May 20 inspection is not an isolated event. State records show 28 total inspections on file for this location, with 129 total violations documented across that history. The facility has been closed by emergency order once before, in October 2025, after inspectors found sewage issues and fly activity. It was allowed to reopen the following day.
The pattern around that prior closure is notable. The October 1, 2025 inspection that triggered the emergency closure found three high-severity and two intermediate violations. Less than two months later, on December 2, 2025, inspectors returned and found five high-severity and two intermediate violations. That December inspection did not result in a closure.
March 2026 brought three more high-severity violations. Then May 20 produced six. The facility's violation counts have not trended downward over time. They have climbed.
The two follow-up inspections conducted the day after the May 20 visit, on May 21, 2026, showed zero high-severity violations on both visits, with one intermediate on the first. That rapid turnaround is consistent with the October 2025 pattern, when the facility also cleared its violations within 24 hours of a serious inspection.
Still Open
State inspectors did not issue an emergency closure order after finding six high-severity violations on May 20. Customers who visited CMX Wellington Cask and Shaker that evening, bought a drink, and ordered food from the bar menu, did so while those violations were on record and unresolved.
The facility has now accumulated 129 documented violations across 28 inspections, one prior emergency closure, and a May 2026 inspection that matched its second-worst single-day total. It remained open.