DAYTONA BEACH, FL. State inspectors walked into Fancy Q Sushi and Thai at 2525 W. International Speedway on September 24 and found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, a violation that means customers had no way of knowing whether what they ate had ever passed a federal safety inspection.
That was one of six high-severity violations documented that day. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The shellfish citation compounded the sourcing problem. Inspectors found inadequate shell stock identification and records, meaning that if a customer became ill after eating oysters, clams, or mussels, there would be no reliable way to trace where those shellfish came from or whether they had been harvested from approved waters.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. That means cutting boards, prep surfaces, or utensils that touched raw fish could have transferred bacteria to the next item placed on them.
Inspectors also cited the restaurant for misusing time as a public health control. When a restaurant cannot or does not use refrigeration to keep food cold, state rules allow it to use time instead, tracking how long food sits in the temperature danger zone between 41 and 135 degrees. The citation means that system was not working properly, leaving food at bacterial growth temperatures for an undocumented or excessive period.
No person in charge was present or performing duties. Employees were also cited for improper hand and arm washing technique, meaning that even when workers went through the motions of washing their hands, the method used was insufficient to remove pathogens.
What These Violations Mean
The food sourcing and shellfish citations are among the most consequential a restaurant can receive. Food from unapproved sources bypasses USDA and FDA inspection entirely. If that food carries Listeria, Salmonella, or another pathogen, there is no inspection record, no supplier documentation, and no traceability if someone gets sick. Shellfish carry a particular risk because they are frequently eaten raw or only lightly cooked, and without proper harvest records, there is no way to confirm they came from waters that meet safety standards.
The unsanitized food contact surfaces citation at Fancy Q is especially significant for a sushi operation. Raw fish moves across prep surfaces constantly. A cutting board or knife that carries bacteria from one item to the next is a direct transfer route, and no cooking step eliminates that risk when the final product is served raw.
The combination of no person in charge and improper handwashing technique is what inspectors and public health researchers describe as a systemic failure. CDC data shows that establishments without active managerial control accumulate critical violations at three times the rate of those with engaged management on the floor. When no one is directing food safety practice, and workers are not washing their hands correctly, every other safeguard in the kitchen is weakened.
The Longer Record
September 24 was not a bad day at an otherwise clean restaurant. State records show Fancy Q Sushi and Thai has been inspected 30 times and has accumulated 237 total violations.
The pattern in recent years is consistent. Inspectors found five high-severity violations in April 2026, five high-severity violations in September 2025, and seven high-severity violations in April 2024. The November 2025 inspection produced zero high-severity violations, but that result sits between two inspections each carrying five or more.
The restaurant was emergency-closed once before, in November 2020, for rodent activity. Records show it reopened the same day. The 2024 and 2025 inspection cycles both included visits where high-severity violations were found, corrected enough to pass a follow-up, and then reappeared months later.
The December 2023 inspection found five high-severity and four intermediate violations. The April 2024 inspection found seven high-severity violations, the highest single-day count in the recent record before this week's six.
Still Open
Florida's emergency closure authority requires inspectors to find an "imminent threat to public health" before ordering a restaurant shut. The six high-severity violations documented on September 24, including food from an unknown source and shellfish with no traceability records, did not meet that threshold.
The restaurant remained open after the inspection.
