JACKSONVILLE, FL. The inspector who walked into Fancy Sushi on Collins Road on April 29 found a restaurant that could not document it was doing anything to destroy parasites in the raw fish it was serving to customers.
That single violation, on its own, is the kind that closes restaurants. It did not close this one.
State records show inspectors cited Fancy Sushi with eight high-severity violations and two intermediate violations during the April 29 visit. The restaurant remained open.
What Inspectors Found
The parasite destruction citation is the most direct threat to anyone who ordered raw fish. Sushi restaurants are required to freeze fish at specific temperatures for specific durations before serving it raw, a process that kills parasites including Anisakis roundworm and tapeworm species that survive in raw seafood. Fancy Sushi could not demonstrate it was doing that.
Inspectors also cited the restaurant for inadequate shell stock identification records. Shellfish served raw or lightly cooked, including oysters, clams, and mussels, require tags linking each batch to its harvest location and date. Without those records, there is no way to trace a shellfish illness back to its source.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Inspectors also found toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled near food areas.
The management picture was equally stark. No person in charge was present or performing supervisory duties. The restaurant had no written employee health policy, and employees were not reporting illness symptoms. Handwashing facilities were inadequate.
What These Violations Mean
The parasite destruction failure is not a paperwork problem. Anisakis, a roundworm found in raw fish, causes severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and in some cases requires surgical removal. Proper freezing kills it. A sushi restaurant that cannot document its freezing protocol has no way to confirm that safeguard is working.
The cluster of illness-reporting violations compounds the risk. No written employee health policy means workers have no documented guidance about when to stay home. Employees not reporting symptoms means sick workers may be handling food. CDC data links food worker illness directly to Norovirus outbreaks, which account for roughly 20 million infections annually in the United States.
The handwashing infrastructure violation closes the loop. If proper handwashing is impossible because the facilities are inadequate, then illness carried by a worker's hands moves directly to food and surfaces. The food contact surface citation confirms those surfaces were not being adequately cleaned.
Improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals near food require no elaborate failure chain. A mislabeled chemical or one stored too close to food preparation areas can contaminate food directly.
The Longer Record
The April 29 inspection was not an anomaly. It was the fourth consecutive inspection, going back to January 2024, in which Fancy Sushi logged three or more high-severity violations.
State records show the restaurant has accumulated 188 total violations across 24 inspections on record. The most recent inspection before April 29, in October 2025, produced five high-severity and three intermediate violations. The one before that, in April 2025, produced nine high-severity and three intermediate violations.
Fancy Sushi: Recent Inspection History
The restaurant was emergency-closed once before, in November 2023, after inspectors found roach activity. It took three follow-up inspections over four days before it was cleared to reopen.
The violations documented in the most recent inspections are not the same as the roach infestation that triggered that closure. But the pattern of high-severity findings persisting across inspection after inspection, across different violation categories, points to something inspectors note correlates with broader control failures: the absence of active managerial oversight. That was cited again on April 29.
As of the April 29 inspection, Fancy Sushi remained open and serving customers.