CLERMONT, FL. A state inspection of First Watch Restaurant on Hancock Road on July 29 found that the kitchen was not cooking food to required minimum temperatures, a violation that inspectors classify as a direct pathway for pathogens like Salmonella to survive and reach a customer's plate. The restaurant accumulated nine high-severity violations in a single visit. It was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The nine high-severity violations span nearly every critical control point in a commercial kitchen. Inspectors cited the restaurant for improper handwashing technique, meaning employees were washing their hands but not doing so in a way that removes pathogens. They also found that parasite destruction procedures were not being followed, a requirement for fish and certain other proteins that are served undercooked or raw.
Toxic chemicals were improperly stored or labeled. The restaurant also lacked a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, which means customers ordering items like lightly cooked eggs or fish had no way of knowing they were assuming any risk.
The shellfish traceability violation adds another layer. When shellfish records are missing, there is no way to trace an oyster, clam, or mussel back to its harvest site if a customer becomes ill.
What These Violations Mean
The undercooking violation is the most direct threat to anyone who ate at this location on or before July 29. Salmonella in poultry requires an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit to be destroyed. Food that never reaches that temperature can carry live bacteria to a customer's plate with no visible sign that anything is wrong.
The illness-reporting failure compounds that risk. When food workers do not report symptoms, a sick employee can handle food throughout an entire shift. Norovirus in particular spreads through direct contact with contaminated food and is responsible for a large share of multi-victim restaurant outbreaks.
The parasite destruction failure at this Clermont location is a separate problem. Fish served raw or undercooked must be frozen to specific temperatures for specific periods to kill parasites including Anisakis and tapeworm. If that process was not being followed, customers who ordered dishes with lightly cooked or cured fish received food that had not gone through that safety step.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, also cited here, are a primary route for cross-contamination. Cutting boards, prep surfaces, and utensils that carry bacteria from one food to another can turn a single contamination event into a kitchen-wide problem. The intermediate violation for multi-use utensils not properly cleaned reinforces that finding.
The Longer Record
The July 29 inspection was not an isolated bad day. State records show 20 inspections on file for this location, with 179 total violations documented across that history.
The pattern in the most recent inspections is consistent. The April 2026 visit found five high-severity and three intermediate violations. The September 2025 inspection found six high-severity violations, followed by a follow-up the next day that found two more. February 2025 produced six high-severity violations. August 2024 produced five high and four intermediate.
The worst single-inspection counts before July 29 came in March 2024 and November 2023, both of which produced nine and eight high-severity violations respectively. The May 2023 inspection found eight high-severity and seven intermediate violations, the largest combined total in the record.
The facility has never been emergency-closed in those 20 inspections. That is a fact the record holds alongside 179 documented violations.
Open for Business
First Watch is a national breakfast and brunch chain with locations across Florida. The Clermont location on Hancock Road serves a morning and midday crowd.
On July 29, state inspectors left that kitchen with a citation sheet listing nine high-severity violations, including undercooking, parasite control failures, illness-reporting gaps, improperly stored chemicals, and missing shellfish records.
The restaurant was not closed.
