MEDLEY, FL. Inspectors visiting Cubachobee Restaurant at 7400 NW South River Drive on May 27, 2026 found food sourced from suppliers that have not been approved or verified by state or federal regulators, one of six high-severity violations documented that day. The restaurant was not closed.
The full list of high-severity findings reads like a catalog of the conditions most likely to make someone sick. Inspectors cited improper handwashing technique, food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, toxic chemicals stored improperly near food, no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked items, and no written employee health policy to keep sick workers out of the kitchen.
Three intermediate violations accompanied the six high-severity citations: inadequate cooling and cold-holding equipment, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and improper use of wiping cloths.
What Inspectors Found
The unapproved food source violation is among the most serious an inspector can document. When ingredients arrive from suppliers outside the USDA and FDA inspection system, there is no paper trail. If a customer gets sick, investigators have no way to trace the food back through the supply chain to identify a contamination source or recall a product.
The toxic chemical citation compounds that concern. Cleaning agents and sanitizing chemicals stored near or above food preparation areas can contaminate ingredients directly, whether through a spill, a mislabeled container, or contact with food-prep surfaces. The risk is not theoretical.
The absence of a written employee health policy means there is no formal mechanism requiring workers to report symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, or jaundice before handling food. Norovirus, one of the most common foodborne illness culprits in the United States, spreads readily from sick food workers to customers through exactly this gap.
What These Violations Mean
The handwashing technique violation deserves particular attention. Inspectors do not cite this when an employee simply skips the sink. They cite it when an employee goes through the motions of washing hands but does so incorrectly, meaning pathogens remain on the skin even after the attempt. Combined with improperly sanitized food contact surfaces, the conditions document two separate routes by which bacteria and viruses can move from a contaminated surface directly onto food being prepared.
The cooling equipment deficiency adds a third route. Without adequate cold-holding capacity, food can drift into the temperature range between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit where bacteria multiply rapidly. That risk is compounded when the same food was prepared on surfaces that were not properly sanitized to begin with.
The missing consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods matters most for specific customers: pregnant women, elderly diners, young children, and anyone with a compromised immune system. These groups face significantly elevated risk from pathogens like Salmonella and E. coli that survive in undercooked meat or eggs. Without a posted advisory, those customers have no way to make an informed choice about what they order.
Wiping cloths, the subject of the third intermediate violation, are a contamination multiplier. A cloth used to wipe a raw-protein prep surface and then used elsewhere in the kitchen can spread pathogens across the entire food preparation area. Improper storage of cloths between uses, such as leaving them on counters rather than in sanitizing solution, turns a basic cleaning tool into a vector.
The Longer Record
The May 2026 inspection is not an outlier. Cubachobee has 26 inspections on record and 249 total violations accumulated over its history. The pattern of high-severity citations is consistent and recurring.
The March 2026 inspection, just ten weeks before this one, produced six high-severity and five intermediate violations. The October 2025 visit was worse, with nine high-severity and two intermediate violations. February 2025 logged eight high-severity and two intermediate violations. August 2024 produced another eight high-severity and two intermediate violations.
The two inspections from spring 2025, in April and May, showed zero high-severity and zero intermediate violations. Those clean visits sit between two stretches of serious citations, in February 2025 before and October 2025 after.
The restaurant has never been emergency-closed in its inspection history. That fact is notable given the volume and consistency of high-severity findings across multiple inspection cycles.
Open for Business
Six high-severity violations in a single inspection, at a facility that has logged high-severity citations in five of its last six substantive inspections, and Cubachobee remained open on May 27, 2026.
State inspectors documented food from an unapproved source, toxic chemicals improperly stored near food, no mechanism to keep sick workers out of the kitchen, improperly sanitized surfaces, and equipment unable to hold food at safe temperatures.
The restaurant was not closed.