HOLLYWOOD, FL. A state inspector walked into DiSalvo's Pizza on N 46th Avenue on September 23 and found employees not reporting illness symptoms, two separate handwashing failures, improperly sanitized food contact surfaces, toxic substances stored incorrectly, and a sewage disposal problem, all in a single visit. The restaurant was not closed.
The inspection logged seven high-severity violations and two intermediate violations. It was the third time in less than two months that inspectors had visited the Hollywood location and found five or more high-severity violations.
What Inspectors Found
The illness-reporting violation is the one that most directly puts customers at risk. State records show an employee was not reporting symptoms of illness to management, which inspectors flagged as a high-severity finding. A sick food worker who keeps preparing food is the most direct route for norovirus and similar pathogens to reach customers.
The handwashing record is also notable. Inspectors cited two separate violations: employees not washing hands adequately, and employees using improper technique even when they did wash. Both were flagged as high-severity. That means the facility failed on handwashing twice in a single visit, once for frequency and once for method.
Toxic substances were improperly identified, stored, or used, a high-severity finding that carries the risk of chemical contamination of food. The sewage disposal violation, logged as intermediate, flagged improper handling of wastewater in a facility where food is being prepared.
The multi-use utensil violation rounds out the picture. Improperly cleaned utensils accumulate bacterial biofilms within 24 hours, films that standard washing does not reliably remove.
What These Violations Mean
The illness-reporting and handwashing violations together represent the most dangerous combination an inspector can find in a food service kitchen. When a sick employee continues working and also fails to wash hands properly, every surface they touch, every utensil they handle, and every item of food they prepare becomes a potential transmission vehicle. Norovirus in particular can survive on surfaces for days and requires only a tiny number of particles to cause illness in a healthy adult.
The food contact surface violation compounds that risk. Cutting boards, prep surfaces, and equipment that are not properly sanitized between uses transfer bacteria from one food item to the next. In a pizza kitchen where raw dough, raw toppings, and ready-to-eat items share workspace, that pathway is direct.
The time-as-public-health-control violation deserves plain-language explanation. When a facility uses time rather than temperature to keep food safe, it is operating under a specific protocol: food must be tracked, labeled, and discarded within a set window. Inspectors found that protocol was not being followed at DiSalvo's on September 23. That means food that should have been discarded may have remained in service.
The missing consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items means that customers who are pregnant, elderly, or immunocompromised had no way of knowing they were at elevated risk. That disclosure is not a formality. For vulnerable diners, it is the only warning they get.
The Longer Record
The September 23 inspection did not happen in isolation. State records show DiSalvo's Pizza has been inspected 37 times and has accumulated 366 total violations across that history. The facility has also been emergency-closed once before, in May 2015, after inspectors found roach activity. It was allowed to reopen the following day.
The recent inspection pattern is striking. On August 6, inspectors found eight high-severity and four intermediate violations. On September 2, they returned and found five high-severity and two intermediate violations. The September 23 visit brought that count back up to seven high-severity violations. That is three inspections in 49 days, each with a significant high-severity violation count.
Go back further and the pattern holds. Inspectors found seven high-severity violations on August 11, 2025, and returned the next day to find one high and three intermediate. They visited again on July 24, 2025, and found four high and three intermediate. On July 14, 2025, the count was six high and three intermediate.
Since July 2025, the facility has been inspected at least eight times. Not one of those inspections came back clean.
Still Open
State records do not show an emergency closure following the September 23 inspection. Despite seven high-severity violations that included an employee not reporting illness, two handwashing failures, improperly sanitized food contact surfaces, and improper sewage disposal, DiSalvo's Pizza on N 46th Avenue remained open to customers.
The 37th inspection on record found the same categories of violations that have appeared in inspection after inspection going back more than a year. The restaurant was serving food when the inspector arrived, and it was still serving food after the inspector left.
