ORLANDO, FL. Employees at a South Orange Blossom Trail buffet were not reporting illness symptoms to management on October 7, the same inspection that found toxic chemicals improperly stored near food, no written employee health policy, and no person in charge performing supervisory duties. State inspectors cited El Palacio Buffet for 8 high-severity violations and 6 intermediate violations. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The illness-reporting violation is the one that most directly threatened customers on that day. When food workers handle and serve food while experiencing symptoms of Norovirus, Salmonella, or Hepatitis A, and no policy exists requiring them to report those symptoms, the kitchen has no mechanism to remove a sick employee from food contact. At a buffet, where food sits in open trays and is served to dozens of customers in succession, that exposure is compounded.
The toxic chemical violations add a separate and unrelated risk. Improper storage or labeling of chemicals near food creates the possibility of direct contamination, whether through mislabeled containers, spills, or accidental use on food surfaces. Two separate violations in this category were cited on the same inspection.
The absence of a person in charge performing supervisory duties connects all of it. State and CDC data consistently show that facilities without active managerial oversight accumulate critical violations at three times the rate of those with engaged management present.
The Violations in Full
Inspectors also cited improper handwashing technique, meaning employees were making handwashing attempts but executing them incorrectly, leaving pathogens on hands that then contacted food and surfaces. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, creating a direct cross-contamination pathway between raw and prepared foods.
The restaurant had no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked menu items. Without that notice, elderly customers, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems have no way to know they are ordering food that carries elevated risk.
On the intermediate side, inspectors documented improper sewage or wastewater disposal, improper sanitizing solution concentration, reuse of single-use items, inadequate ventilation and lighting, improper wiping cloth use, and inadequate toilet facilities. Each of those violations was cited in addition to the eight high-severity findings.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no employee health policy and employees not reporting illness symptoms is not a paperwork problem. It is the condition that precedes outbreaks. Norovirus alone accounts for an estimated 20 million infections annually in the United States, and food workers are among the most common transmission sources. A buffet with open food service and no mechanism for identifying or removing sick employees is a direct exposure point for every customer who visited on October 7.
The sewage disposal violation carries its own acute risk. Improper wastewater handling creates pathways for fecal contamination to reach food preparation areas, hands, and surfaces throughout the facility. That violation, documented at El Palacio Buffet on October 7, occurred in the same facility and on the same day as the illness-reporting and handwashing failures.
Improperly sanitized food contact surfaces and incorrect sanitizer concentrations, cited together here, mean that even surfaces that were wiped down may not have had pathogens reduced to safe levels. Sanitizer that is too weak leaves bacteria alive. Wiping cloths used improperly can spread contamination from one surface to others rather than removing it.
The Longer Record
El Palacio Buffet: Recent Inspection Pattern
The October 7 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show 61 total inspections on file for El Palacio Buffet, with 869 total violations accumulated across that history. The restaurant has been emergency-closed three times, all in a four-month span between April and July 2025, each time for roach or fly activity.
The 2026 record alone is striking. Inspectors visited on March 30 and found 9 high-severity violations. They returned April 6 and found 8 more. They came back April 9 and found 7. A September 29 inspection, eight days before the inspection that is the subject of this article, produced 11 high-severity violations and 8 intermediate ones, the highest single-inspection count in the recent record.
The October 1 inspection, six days before October 7, also returned 8 high-severity violations and 6 intermediate violations, an identical finding to what inspectors documented one week later.
A follow-up inspection on October 14 showed zero high-severity violations and zero intermediate violations, a clean result that followed the same pattern seen after each prior emergency closure: a sharp correction, then a return to elevated violation counts in subsequent visits.
On October 7, with 8 high-severity violations documented including sick employees serving food and toxic chemicals stored near it, El Palacio Buffet remained open for business.
