NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FL. When state inspectors visited CS Waffles on S. Atlantic Avenue on August 13, they found that no employee health policy existed at the restaurant, meaning any sick worker who showed up to handle food had no written obligation to report symptoms or stay home.
That was one of six high-severity violations documented that day. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The inspection record shows no responsible person in charge was present or actively performing duties during the visit. CDC data associates that condition with three times as many critical violations at a facility, because active managerial oversight is what catches problems before an inspector does.
Inspectors also cited employees for not reporting illness symptoms. That violation compounds the missing health policy: without a written policy requiring disclosure, and without anyone in charge enforcing it, a worker who came in sick had no formal barrier between themselves and customer food.
The handwashing violation adds another layer. Inspectors documented improper hand and arm washing technique, meaning employees were going through the motion of washing without executing it correctly. Pathogens can survive an incomplete wash and transfer directly to food or prep surfaces.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Those surfaces include anything that touches the food customers receive: cutting boards, prep counters, utensils. Bacterial transfer from an unsanitized surface is one of the most direct routes from a contaminated kitchen to a sick diner.
The restaurant also lacked a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. For a waffle and breakfast spot where eggs are a staple, that omission means customers with compromised immune systems, the elderly, pregnant women, and young children had no notice that a dish might carry elevated risk.
Three intermediate violations rounded out the inspection: improper sewage or wastewater disposal, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities. The sewage violation is not minor. Improper wastewater disposal can introduce fecal contamination into a facility's environment, a risk that exists independently of anything happening at the prep line.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no employee health policy and no one reporting illness symptoms is the pairing that produces outbreaks. Norovirus, which accounts for roughly 20 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States annually, spreads most efficiently when a symptomatic food worker handles ready-to-eat items. A written health policy is the mechanism that removes that worker from the kitchen. Without one at CS Waffles, the system had no trigger.
The missing consumer advisory matters specifically because of the menu. Runny eggs, a common breakfast order, carry a Salmonella risk that is disclosed to diners through advisory language on menus or posted notices. Without that language, a customer who orders eggs over easy at CS Waffles has no way of knowing the restaurant is not flagging the risk.
The sewage and toilet facility violations are connected. Inadequate toilet facilities reduce the likelihood that employees use them properly, which feeds directly back into the handwashing problem already documented. A facility where the bathrooms are not properly maintained, where handwashing technique is already deficient, and where no one in charge is monitoring either, is a facility where the basic hygiene chain has broken down at multiple points simultaneously.
The Longer Record
The August 13 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show CS Waffles has been inspected 38 times and has accumulated 263 total violations. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
The most recent eight inspections before August 13 all included high-severity violations. The September 2023 inspection matched this month's count exactly, with six high-severity violations and two intermediate ones. The inspections in between ranged from three to four high-severity violations each time, without a single clean visit in the record.
The employee health policy and illness-reporting violations documented in August are not new categories for this facility. A restaurant that has cycled through 38 inspections and 263 violations without a single emergency closure has a long record, but not a record of improvement.
Still Open
State inspectors found six high-severity violations at CS Waffles on August 13, 2026. They documented a facility with no health policy for sick workers, no one enforcing the rules, improper handwashing, unsanitized food contact surfaces, a sewage disposal problem, and broken toilet facilities.
The restaurant remained open.
