CLERMONT, FL. A food worker at Crooked Spoon Gastropub on Citrus Tower Boulevard was not reporting illness symptoms to management, state inspectors documented on September 17, a violation that health officials identify as the single leading cause of multi-victim foodborne outbreaks.
That was one of ten high-severity violations the inspector cited that day. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The inspector's full list ran thirteen violations deep. Beyond the sick employee and the missing health policy, inspectors cited improper handwashing technique, meaning workers were attempting to wash their hands but doing so incorrectly, leaving pathogens in place. Inspectors also found that parasite destruction procedures for fish, pork, or wild game were not being followed, that food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and that time as a public health control was not being applied correctly.
Two separate violations involved toxic chemicals: one for improper storage or labeling, another for improper identification, storage, or use of toxic substances. Both were flagged high-severity. Inspectors also found no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked food items, and documented that required procedures for specialized cooking processes were not being followed.
On the intermediate side, inspectors cited improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
What These Violations Mean
The sick-employee violations, taken together, describe a specific and documented pathway to an outbreak. When a food worker with Norovirus or another gastrointestinal illness continues handling food without reporting symptoms, and no written health policy exists to require reporting, the facility has removed both layers of protection that are supposed to catch that situation before customers are affected. Norovirus spreads in doses as small as 18 viral particles. A single sick worker can expose hundreds of diners in a single shift.
The parasite destruction failure is a different category of risk, but no less serious for customers who ordered fish or pork dishes. Proper parasite destruction requires precise freezing protocols or verified cooking temperatures. Without them, parasites including Anisakis in fish and Trichinella in pork can survive into the finished dish. Crooked Spoon is a gastropub with a menu that markets itself on craft preparation, which makes the failure to follow specialized cooking procedures particularly consequential.
The dual chemical violations found at the September 17 inspection point to a storage or organization problem somewhere in the facility. Chemicals stored near food or improperly labeled create a risk of acute poisoning, not the slow accumulation of bacterial illness but immediate, concentrated exposure. Finding two separate chemical violations in the same inspection suggests the problem was not isolated to a single misplaced bottle.
The sewage disposal violation, classified intermediate, carries its own acute risk. Improper wastewater handling can introduce fecal contamination into the surrounding environment of a working kitchen.
The Longer Record
The September 17 inspection was not an aberration. State records show Crooked Spoon has been inspected 40 times and has accumulated 428 total violations across its history.
The most recent inspections tell a consistent story. In August 2026, inspectors found 6 high-severity and 2 intermediate violations. In June 2026, another 6 high-severity and 2 intermediate. In October 2025, 5 high-severity and 3 intermediate. In May 2025, the violation count matched September exactly: 10 high-severity and 3 intermediate.
The restaurant was emergency-closed once, on July 15, 2026, after inspectors found roach activity inside the facility. It reopened two days later, on July 17, after a follow-up inspection. The July 15 inspection also carried 4 high-severity violations alongside the closure order.
The pattern across eight documented inspections shows high-severity violations present in every single visit except one, a December 2025 inspection that found zero high-severity citations. That inspection stands alone in the record. Every other documented visit found at least 2 high-severity violations, and four of the eight found 6 or more.
The Longer Record in Numbers
Crooked Spoon Gastropub: Recent Inspection History
Across 40 inspections and 428 documented violations, the September 17 visit produced the highest single-day high-severity count in the recent record, tied only with May 2025. The roach closure in July came after months of compounding high-severity citations. The September inspection came six weeks after the August visit that found 6 high-severity violations.
After all of it, on September 17, 2026, Crooked Spoon Gastropub remained open for business.
