MINNEOLA, FL. State inspectors walked into Don Ceviche Peru and Mexico on Highway 27 on July 28 and found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, meaning no one could verify whether that food had ever passed a federal safety inspection. The restaurant remained open after the visit.
The July 28 inspection turned up six high-severity violations and two intermediate ones. That tally included toxic chemicals stored improperly near food, food contact surfaces that had not been properly cleaned or sanitized, food described as being in poor condition or adulterated, and no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked items. There was also no written employee health policy on site.
What Inspectors Found
The unapproved food source violation stands out in a restaurant whose menu centers on raw and minimally cooked seafood. Ceviche is prepared by marinating raw fish in citrus juice, a process that does not apply heat. If the fish arrived outside the regulated supply chain, there is no inspection record, no chain of custody, and no way to trace an illness back to its origin if a customer gets sick.
The chemicals violation compounds the picture. Toxic substances stored near or above food preparation areas can contaminate ingredients through spills, mislabeling, or simple proximity. Combined with food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned, the inspection describes a kitchen where multiple contamination pathways were open at once.
The missing consumer advisory matters specifically for the food this restaurant serves. Raw and undercooked seafood carries elevated risk for Listeria, Salmonella, and Vibrio. Pregnant women, elderly customers, and anyone with a compromised immune system are most vulnerable, and a posted advisory is the minimum notice a restaurant is required to give them.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved sources is not a paperwork problem. The USDA and FDA inspection system exists to catch contamination before it reaches a kitchen. When a restaurant bypasses that system, it also bypasses the ability to issue a recall or trace an outbreak. If a customer at Don Ceviche became ill after July 28, investigators would have no supply chain records to follow.
The absence of an employee health policy is a direct transmission risk. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurants, spreads rapidly when sick workers handle food. Without a written policy requiring employees to report symptoms and stay off the line, there is no documented mechanism to stop an infected worker from preparing food.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, including cutting boards, slicers, and prep tables, are among the most reliable routes for cross-contamination in commercial kitchens. In a seafood kitchen, where raw fish and ready-to-eat ingredients share surfaces, that risk is acute. The sewage disposal violation adds a separate concern: improper wastewater handling introduces fecal bacteria into the facility environment, and those bacteria do not stay in one place.
The Longer Record
The July inspection was the sixth on record for Don Ceviche Peru and Mexico. Across those six visits, inspectors have documented 97 total violations. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern in those records is difficult to explain as a series of isolated bad days. On August 6, 2025, inspectors cited 10 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate ones. A follow-up visit the next day, August 7, still produced 5 high-severity violations. By May 2026, the count was back to 10 high-severity violations and 5 intermediate ones. The July 2026 inspection, with 6 high-severity violations, was not an outlier. It was consistent with what inspectors have found on nearly every visit since the facility opened.
The first inspection on record, in August 2024, produced only 1 high-severity violation and 1 intermediate. Every subsequent inspection has found more. The trajectory runs in one direction.
Still Open
Florida's emergency closure authority is triggered when an inspector determines that conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. The standard is not simply the presence of high-severity violations but an inspector's on-site judgment about the level of risk.
After finding food of unknown origin, toxic chemicals stored improperly near food, unsanitized food contact surfaces, and no mechanism to keep sick workers off the line, the inspector on July 28 did not invoke that authority.
Don Ceviche Peru and Mexico was open for business when the inspection ended.
