FORT MYERS, FL. Back in April 2026, state inspectors walked into a Fort Myers First Watch and documented something that would give most breakfast diners pause: fish on the menu that could not be verified as safe from parasites, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and toxic chemicals stored or labeled in a way that violated state standards, all in the same visit.
The April 3 inspection of First Watch Restaurant #159 at 8061 Dani Drive turned up six high-severity violations and six intermediate violations. The restaurant was not emergency-closed.
What Inspectors Found
The parasite destruction citation is among the most specific risks in the record. When fish is served without verified freezing protocols, parasites including Anisakis, a roundworm capable of burrowing into the stomach lining, can survive to the plate. First Watch's menu leans heavily on eggs and fresh ingredients, but the chain also serves smoked and cured fish items where parasite destruction requirements apply.
The shellfish traceability violation compounds that concern. Inspectors found inadequate shell stock identification or records, meaning that if a customer became ill after eating oysters, clams, or mussels, there would be no documented chain of custody to trace the source.
The undercooking violation stands alongside those two. Food not brought to required minimum internal temperatures is one of the most direct paths to a Salmonella or Campylobacter exposure, particularly in a breakfast-focused kitchen turning out eggs and poultry dishes at high volume.
Toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled rounded out the high-severity tier. That violation means cleaning agents or other hazardous materials were kept in a way that created a contamination pathway to food or food-contact surfaces.
The absence of a person in charge performing duties was also cited as high-severity. That one matters beyond the paperwork: inspectors and public health researchers have documented that kitchens without active managerial oversight at the time of an inspection tend to accumulate more critical violations, not fewer.
What These Violations Mean
The parasite destruction failure is worth understanding in plain terms. State and federal food codes require that fish intended to be served raw, undercooked, or in certain cured preparations be frozen to specific temperatures for a set duration before service. That process kills parasites that cooking alone, at lower temperatures, would not. When a facility cannot document that the procedure was followed, there is no way to know whether it was.
The shellfish traceability requirement exists for a single, practical reason: shellfish harvested from contaminated waters can carry norovirus, Vibrio, and hepatitis A. The tag system, which identifies the harvest date, harvest location, and dealer for every batch of shellfish, is the only mechanism that allows health officials to pull a product when an outbreak is traced to a specific bed or distributor. Without those records, the chain of investigation stops at the kitchen door.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, combined with the intermediate citation for multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, describe a kitchen where the surfaces touching food cannot be confirmed as free of bacterial contamination between uses. Bacterial biofilms can establish on cutting boards, prep surfaces, and utensils within 24 hours of inadequate cleaning, and standard sanitizer concentrations do not penetrate an established biofilm effectively.
The sewage disposal violation is the one that tends to stop readers cold. Improper wastewater handling in a food preparation environment creates a direct pathway for fecal contamination, which carries pathogens including E. coli and norovirus, into a space where food is being prepared and plated.
The Longer Record
The April 2026 inspection was the 21st on record for this location. Across those inspections, the facility has accumulated 60 total violations. It has never been emergency-closed.
The prior history shows a facility that has not been a consistent high-severity outlier, but one with a clear escalating pattern in recent years. The August 2025 inspection, less than eight months before this one, already produced five high-severity violations and one intermediate. Before that, the record was comparatively quiet: single high-severity violations in January 2025, August 2024, March 2024, and three inspections across 2023.
The jump from one high-severity violation per visit to five, and then to six in the following inspection, is the most significant feature of this location's history. Two consecutive inspections, in August 2025 and April 2026, produced 11 high-severity violations between them.
The April 2026 inspection set a new high for this location in a single visit. It also marked the first time inspectors cited parasite destruction failures, shellfish traceability failures, and toxic chemical storage violations at this address, all in the same report.
Open for Business
State inspectors documented twelve violations at this First Watch location on April 3, 2026, six of them carrying the highest severity designation the state assigns. The parasite destruction failure, the shellfish traceability gap, the undercooked food, the chemical storage problem, the unsanitized food contact surfaces, and the absent or disengaged person in charge were all in the same building, on the same morning.
The restaurant stayed open.