ORMOND BEACH, FL. A state inspector walked into Fletcher's Irish Pub on West Granada Boulevard on September 17 and found food that had not been cooked to the required minimum temperature, a finding that places customers at direct risk of Salmonella and other pathogens that survive undercooking.
That was one of ten high-severity violations documented in a single visit. The pub remained open.
What Inspectors Found
The inspector's report documented failures that stacked on top of each other in a way that food safety experts describe as cascading. There was no person in charge present or performing duties. There was no written employee health policy. At least one employee was not reporting symptoms of illness.
From there, the record shows handwashing problems at two levels: employees not washing their hands adequately, and those who did attempt to wash their hands using improper technique. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized.
Toxic chemicals were improperly stored or labeled near the food operation. The pub was also using time as a public health control, a practice that allows food to sit at room temperature for a defined window instead of being kept cold, and that practice was not being followed correctly. No consumer advisory was posted to warn customers that some menu items are served raw or undercooked.
What These Violations Mean
The undercooking violation is the most direct threat on the list. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A customer eating undercooked food at Fletcher's on September 17 had no way of knowing the item on their plate had not reached a safe internal temperature.
The absence of an employee health policy and the failure of at least one employee to report illness symptoms compound that risk significantly. Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, spreads directly from sick food workers to customers through food handling. A written health policy is the mechanism that keeps a symptomatic employee out of the kitchen. Without one, there is no formal barrier.
The handwashing findings matter because they represent two separate breakdowns. Not washing hands at all is one failure. Washing hands with improper technique is a second, distinct failure, because pathogens remain on hands even after an attempt is made. Both were documented at Fletcher's in the same inspection.
Improperly stored or labeled chemicals near food create a risk of acute poisoning that is separate from any bacterial concern. A mislabeled chemical can be mistaken for a food-safe product and introduced directly into food preparation. That violation, alongside ten others of equal or greater severity, was not enough to prompt an emergency closure.
The Longer Record
The September 17 inspection was not the first time Fletcher's accumulated serious violations in a single visit. State records show 25 inspections on file for the West Granada Boulevard location, with 152 total violations documented across that history.
The pattern in recent years is uneven but persistent. In January 2025, inspectors cited four high-severity and five intermediate violations. Six months later, in July 2025, there were four high-severity and two intermediate violations. The pub passed cleanly in September 2025 and again in April 2026, with zero violations at both visits.
That makes the September 2026 inspection harder to read as an isolated bad day. The clean visits in between show the pub is capable of meeting state standards. The violations documented this month, ten of them high-severity, represent a return to a level of failure the record shows is not new.
Going further back, the inspection in January 2024 produced six high-severity and three intermediate violations. The one in July 2024 produced five high-severity and one intermediate. Fletcher's has never been emergency-closed in its inspection history on record.
Open for Business
State inspectors have the authority to order an emergency closure when conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. Pest infestations, sewage backups, and loss of running water are among the most common triggers.
Ten high-severity violations, including undercooked food, no illness policy, no active manager, improper handwashing at two levels, unsanitized food contact surfaces, and improperly stored chemicals, did not meet that threshold on September 17.
Fletcher's Irish Pub on West Granada Boulevard was open when the inspector arrived and open when the inspector left.
