ORLANDO, FL. Toxic chemicals were stored improperly near food at Cucina Pizza & Bar on West Church Street when state inspectors arrived on September 8, one of eight high-severity violations documented at the downtown Orlando restaurant that day. The facility was not closed.
The inspection also found no written employee health policy, improper handwashing technique among staff, food in poor or adulterated condition, food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked menu items. Inspectors further cited the restaurant for improper use of time as a public health control. That is eight high-priority violations in a single visit, plus four intermediate citations.
The restaurant at 54 W. Church St. remained open after the inspection.
What Inspectors Found
The chemical storage violation is among the most acute risks in the report. When cleaning agents, sanitizers, or other toxic compounds are kept near food or food-preparation surfaces without proper labeling or separation, they can contaminate ingredients through spills, aerosol drift, or simple misidentification. Acute chemical poisoning does not require a large dose.
The person in charge was either absent or not performing supervisory duties during the inspection. That single condition helps explain the rest of the list. When no one is actively overseeing the kitchen, violations across every category tend to accumulate together.
Inspectors also found that staff were not washing their hands correctly. That citation matters because improper technique, even when a worker does step to the sink, leaves pathogens on the hands. Combined with food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, the conditions for bacterial transfer from worker to surface to food were present at the same time.
What These Violations Mean
The absence of an employee health policy is not a paperwork problem. Without a written policy, a worker who comes in sick has no formal obligation to report symptoms or stay home. Norovirus, one of the most common causes of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, spreads rapidly through a single infected food handler. The CDC estimates it causes roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, and restaurants are a primary transmission point.
The time-as-public-health-control violation deserves attention. Some foods are intentionally held outside refrigeration temperatures for service, which is permitted only when a facility tracks the exact time those foods were placed out and discards them on a strict schedule. When that system breaks down, food sits in the bacterial growth zone, between 41 and 135 degrees, for an unknown period. The restaurant had no compliant system in place on September 8.
The sewage and wastewater disposal citation adds a separate contamination pathway. Improper waste disposal creates the possibility of fecal contamination spreading through a facility. Combined with inadequate toilet facilities and improperly maintained restrooms, the conditions that support basic employee hygiene were compromised at multiple points simultaneously.
The missing consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items affects customers who cannot make an informed choice. Pregnant women, elderly diners, and people with compromised immune systems face elevated risk from undercooked proteins. Without a posted advisory, they have no way of knowing which menu items carry that risk.
The Longer Record
The September 8 inspection was not an outlier. State records show Cucina Pizza & Bar has been inspected 26 times, accumulating 342 total violations across that history. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern in recent inspections is consistent. On September 4, four days before this inspection, the restaurant logged 9 high-severity and 5 intermediate violations. On September 15, one week after, inspectors returned and found 7 high-severity and 4 intermediate violations. The numbers have not moved significantly in either direction.
Looking back further, the restaurant logged 11 high-severity violations on February 3, 2025, and 10 high-severity violations on February 12, 2025. It logged 9 high-severity violations on both August 11 and August 21 of 2025. The 8 high-severity violations on September 8, 2026 represent a continuation of that range, not a departure from it.
The person-in-charge violation has appeared in multiple inspection cycles. So have food contact surface and handwashing citations. A facility that logs high-severity violations across seven consecutive inspections spanning more than a year, in overlapping categories, is not experiencing isolated incidents.
Still Open
State inspectors documented eight high-severity violations at Cucina Pizza & Bar on September 8, 2026, including toxic chemicals stored near food, no employee health policy, improper handwashing by staff, unsanitary food contact surfaces, and food in poor condition.
The restaurant was not closed.
It had 342 violations on record across 26 inspections, zero emergency closures, and a string of high-severity citations stretching back through 2024 and 2025. When inspectors left on September 8, the doors stayed open for dinner.
