DELAND, FL. Back in April 2026, a state inspector walked into a DeLand cocktail bar and eatery and found food that had not been cooked to the minimum required temperature, a kitchen where employees were washing their hands incorrectly, and no written policy to keep sick workers out of the kitchen. The restaurant stayed open.
The April 10 inspection of DeLand Eatery and Cocktail Bar at 442 E New York Ave turned up six high-severity violations and three intermediate violations. State records show the facility was not emergency-closed despite the findings.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooking violation was the most direct danger on the list. Inspectors cited food not reaching the minimum required internal temperature, the threshold that kills pathogens like Salmonella in poultry, which survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Alongside it, inspectors found that food contact surfaces had not been properly cleaned or sanitized. Cutting boards, prep tables, and similar surfaces that come into direct contact with food are a primary transfer point for bacteria, and a failure to sanitize them means contamination can move from one dish to the next without any visible sign.
The handwashing citation compounded that risk. Inspectors noted that employees were using improper technique, meaning that even when workers attempted to wash their hands, pathogens were likely remaining on their skin and transferring to food.
No one in a supervisory role was present or actively performing oversight duties during the inspection. State data consistently shows that kitchens without active managerial control accumulate critical violations at roughly three times the rate of supervised kitchens.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of undercooked food and unsanitized food contact surfaces is among the most direct paths to a foodborne illness outbreak. Salmonella and E. coli do not announce themselves. A customer eating poultry that never reached a safe internal temperature, prepared on a surface that was not sanitized, has no way of knowing the food was dangerous.
The absence of an employee health policy removed a critical safeguard. Without a written policy requiring sick workers to stay home or report symptoms, there is no documented standard to enforce. Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States annually, spreads through exactly this route: an infected food handler working without restriction.
The lack of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items closed off the last line of defense. Customers with compromised immune systems, elderly diners, pregnant women, and young children rely on that disclosure to make an informed decision about what to order. Without it, they had none.
Multi-use utensils that are not properly cleaned develop bacterial biofilms within 24 hours. Those biofilms resist standard sanitizers, meaning the problem compounds with every use. Reusing single-use items adds another layer: items designed to be discarded after one use were being used again, defeating the contamination barrier those items are meant to provide.
The Longer Record
The April 2026 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show 15 inspections on file for DeLand Eatery and Cocktail Bar, with 91 total violations accumulated across that history.
The pattern of high-severity citations runs back years. The August 2025 inspection turned up five high-severity and two intermediate violations. The December 2023 inspection also produced five high-severity citations and one intermediate. The September 2023 inspection on the 21st of that month found five high-severity violations and two intermediate ones, and inspectors returned eight days later to find the same categories still generating citations.
The April 2026 visit, with six high-severity violations, was the highest single-inspection count in the available record. The facility has never been emergency-closed in any of those 15 inspections.
Two inspections in late 2023, on November 29 and September 28, showed zero high-severity violations, which means the kitchen is capable of meeting standards. The record since then has moved in the opposite direction.
Open for Business
State inspectors documented six high-severity violations at DeLand Eatery and Cocktail Bar on April 10, 2026. Food was not cooked to safe temperatures. Surfaces that touched food had not been sanitized. Workers were not washing their hands correctly. No one was managing the kitchen. There was no policy to keep sick employees away from food.
The restaurant was not closed.