DAYTONA BEACH, FL. A Japanese restaurant steps from the tourist waterfront on Beach Street collected 9 high-severity violations in a single inspection last week, the highest total among 12 facilities cited for serious health violations across the Daytona Beach area between July 25 and July 31, 2026.
Ichi Ni San at 246 S Beach St was cited for inadequate handwashing facilities, employees not reporting illness symptoms, food from unapproved sources, improper handwashing technique, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, inadequate shell stock identification, and failure to use time as a public health control. Four intermediate violations accompanied the nine high-severity findings.
The shell stock citation is notable at a restaurant where raw or lightly cooked shellfish may appear on the menu. Without proper tagging and records, there is no way to trace an oyster or clam back to its harvest point if a customer gets sick.
The Violations
BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse 500 at 2514 W International Speedway Blvd drew 8 high-severity violations. Inspectors cited the restaurant for no person in charge, employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing, missing shell stock records, failure to follow parasite destruction procedures for fish, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals.
The parasite destruction citation at BJ's is one of three facilities this week where that violation appeared. Proper freezing protocols for fish are required before serving certain species raw or undercooked. When those protocols are skipped, parasites including Anisakis and tapeworm can survive into the finished dish.
AB Pho and Deli at 312 S Peninsula Dr was cited for 7 high-severity violations, including no person in charge, no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved sources, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and toxic chemicals stored improperly. That combination, management absent, illness reporting absent, and food with no traceable origin, represents a layered breakdown rather than isolated oversights.
Wayback Burgers at 1500 Beville Rd also reached 7 high-severity violations. Among them: food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated; failure to follow parasite destruction procedures; inadequate shell stock records; and no allergen awareness demonstrated. For a burger-focused chain, the shellfish traceability and parasite destruction citations are unexpected, suggesting menu items or ingredients not immediately obvious from the brand.
Mexican Restaurant and Taqueria La Perla at 1186 N Nova Rd received 5 high-severity and 3 intermediate violations. The intermediate list included improper sewage or wastewater disposal, a violation that carries a direct fecal contamination risk throughout the facility, and single-use items being reused.
Bojangles #2090 at 1956 LPGA Blvd was cited for 5 high-severity violations including food from an unapproved or unknown source, food in poor condition, no consumer advisory, and improperly stored toxic chemicals. A fast-food chicken chain receiving a food-from-unapproved-source citation raises immediate questions about supply chain documentation.
Istanbul Turkish Mediterranean Cuisine at 488 S Yonge St in Ormond Beach drew 5 high-severity violations including food not cooked to minimum required temperature, no allergen awareness, and improperly stored chemicals. The undercooking violation is among the most direct pathogen risk: Salmonella in poultry requires 165 degrees Fahrenheit to be destroyed, and it does not survive at temperatures commonly used in Mediterranean-style preparations unless the cook is monitoring carefully.
Bucketlist Bar and Grill at 300 N Atlantic Ave sits on the oceanfront tourist strip and was cited for 4 high-severity violations including no person in charge, employees not reporting illness, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and toxic chemicals stored improperly. Intermediate violations included improper sewage disposal and inadequate toilet facilities.
Port Hole at 932 Herbert St in Port Orange received 4 high-severity violations: no person in charge, employees not reporting illness, inadequate handwashing, and failure to follow parasite destruction procedures. A seafood-oriented name combined with a parasite destruction citation is a specific combination worth noting.
Tasty Wings at 852 N Nova Rd was cited for improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock records, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and failure to follow required procedures for specialized processes. That last citation covers smoking, curing, and reduced-oxygen packaging, processes that require precise temperature and time controls to prevent pathogen growth.
The Holiday Inn Daytona Beach LPGA Blvd at 137 Automall Cir received 2 high-severity violations, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods and improperly stored chemicals, alongside one intermediate citation for multi-use utensils not properly cleaned.
Chipotle Mexican Grill #783 at 2400 W International Speedway Blvd received a single high-severity citation for food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
What These Violations Mean
The most common high-severity violation this week, appearing at nine of the twelve facilities, was some form of handwashing failure: no facilities, inadequate technique, or employees not washing at all. Handwashing is the single most effective barrier between a food worker's illness and a customer's plate. When that barrier fails at Ichi Ni San, AB Pho and Deli, BJ's Brewhouse, Wayback Burgers, La Perla, Port Hole, and others simultaneously during peak tourist season, the risk compounds across the corridor.
The employee illness reporting failures, cited at BJ's, AB Pho, Wayback Burgers, La Perla, Bojangles, Bucketlist Bar and Grill, and Port Hole, are not paperwork violations. Norovirus is responsible for roughly 20 million illnesses annually in the United States, and a single sick food worker who does not report symptoms can infect dozens of customers during a single shift. In a tourist market where visitors are concentrated, rotating, and often eating multiple meals out per day, that transmission window is wider than in a neighborhood restaurant serving repeat customers.
The food-from-unapproved-sources citations at Ichi Ni San, AB Pho and Deli, and Bojangles carry a distinct risk: if a customer becomes ill, investigators cannot trace the ingredient. Approved suppliers are required to maintain documentation precisely for this reason. Without it, an outbreak investigation hits a dead end at the kitchen door.
The undercooking violation at Istanbul Turkish Mediterranean Cuisine is the most direct pathogen risk in this week's data. Salmonella requires reaching 165 degrees Fahrenheit to be destroyed in poultry. A dish that leaves the kitchen below that temperature does not become safe on the table.
The Longer Record
The data does not include prior inspection counts for these facilities, so it is not possible this week to say how many times each location has been visited before or whether these violations represent a new pattern or a documented one. What the record does show is the breadth of the findings: 12 facilities across Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach, and Port Orange all produced high-severity violations in the same seven-day window during one of the busiest tourist weeks of the summer.
Several facilities in this week's data carry violation profiles that suggest systemic rather than incidental failures. AB Pho and Deli's combination of no manager present, no employee health policy, no illness reporting, improper handwashing, and food from unapproved sources is not a list of isolated lapses. Each of those violations feeds the others: without a manager present, there is no one to enforce a health policy; without a health policy, there is no framework for illness reporting; without illness reporting, sick workers prepare food.
BJ's Brewhouse on International Speedway Boulevard, a national chain with standardized training and corporate compliance infrastructure, drew 8 high-severity violations including the absence of a person in charge. That finding at a chain location is notable. Corporate standards do not enforce themselves on a given shift.
Bucketlist Bar and Grill on North Atlantic Avenue, positioned directly in the oceanfront tourist corridor, was cited for sewage disposal problems alongside the absence of a manager and employees not reporting illness. The sewage citation, classified as intermediate, creates a fecal contamination pathway that intersects directly with the handwashing and illness-reporting failures documented in the same visit.
