FLORIDA. Three restaurants across the state each accumulated 13 high-severity violations during a single inspection the week of July 31, 2026, and a fourth logged 12, as state inspectors documented food from unapproved sources, missing employee illness policies, and parasite-destruction failures at buffets, sushi bars, and neighborhood restaurants from Jacksonville to Tampa to St. Petersburg.
The Worst of the Week
New Chinese Buffet Inc on East Highway 50 in Clermont led the week with 13 high-severity violations and 8 intermediate ones, the highest combined total of any restaurant inspected during the period. Among the most serious findings: no person in charge was present or performing duties, no written employee health policy existed, employees were not reporting illness symptoms, and the restaurant had no adequate handwashing facilities. Inspectors also cited food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers and inadequate shell stock identification records, meaning shellfish served at the buffet could not be traced if a customer became ill.
Parasite-destruction procedures were not being followed at the Clermont location. For a buffet serving raw or lightly cooked seafood, that combination of an untraceable food source and no parasite controls represents two overlapping failures in the same supply chain.
Salsas Mexican Restaurant on West Beaver Street in Jacksonville matched that 13-violation high-severity count. Inspectors found no person in charge, no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing by food employees, inadequate handwashing facilities, and improper hand and arm washing technique. Food from an unapproved or unknown source was also documented, along with food inspectors described as in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated.
Shogun Sushi on North Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa also reached 13 high-severity violations. The sushi restaurant had no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, and improper hand and arm washing technique. Inspectors found food from unapproved or unknown sources and food in poor condition or mislabeled. Shell stock identification records were inadequate. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized.
The St. Petersburg Problem
Two St. Petersburg restaurants appeared in the week's worst ten, and together they accounted for 18 high-severity violations.
Engine No.9 on Dr. MLK Jr. Boulevard in St. Petersburg logged 12 high-severity violations and 6 intermediate ones. No person in charge was present. The restaurant had no employee health policy and employees were not reporting illness symptoms. Inspectors also cited improper hand and arm washing technique, food from unapproved sources, inadequate shell stock identification, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, and food not cooked to the required minimum temperature. That last violation, undercooking, is among the most direct routes to a Salmonella outbreak.
Angelo's on 1st Avenue North in St. Petersburg drew 6 high-severity violations. Inspectors cited no employee health policy, inadequate handwashing by food employees, inadequate shell stock identification records, improper use of time as a public health control, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and no allergen awareness demonstrated by staff. The allergen finding is notable: without staff trained to recognize or communicate allergen risks, a customer with a severe allergy has no reliable way to make a safe choice.
Jacksonville, Tampa, and Beyond
Jacksonville produced two entries in the worst-ten this week.
Thai Spice Kitchen on Bowden Road in Jacksonville logged 12 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate ones. The inspection record shows no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing by food employees, and improper hand and arm washing technique. Food from unapproved sources was documented. Food was found in poor condition or mislabeled. Shell stock identification records were inadequate. Parasite-destruction procedures were not being followed, a significant finding at a restaurant serving fish-based dishes where Anisakis and tapeworm are known risks when proper freezing protocols are skipped.
China Buffet on East Fowler Avenue in Tampa accumulated 12 high-severity violations. Inspectors found no person in charge, no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing by food employees, and improper hand and arm washing technique. Food from unapproved sources was documented. Shell stock identification records were inadequate. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized.
Samira's Cafe on Bartram Oaks Walk in Saint Johns matched that 12-violation total. No person in charge was present. The cafe had no employee health policy and employees were not reporting illness symptoms. Inspectors cited improper hand and arm washing technique, food from unapproved or unknown sources, inadequate shell stock identification records, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, and food not cooked to the required minimum temperature.
Ocean Buffet on East Colonial Drive in Orlando drew 3 high-severity violations. Inspectors documented improper hand and arm washing technique, no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled near food. That last finding, chemicals in proximity to food without proper labeling, is one of the few inspection violations that can cause immediate acute harm rather than illness that develops over hours or days.
Morgans on Northwest 7th Avenue in Miami was the least severe entry this week, with no high-severity violations. Inspectors noted two intermediate violations: single-use items being improperly reused and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
What These Violations Mean
The most common violation cluster across this week's worst inspections was the combination of no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, and no person in charge. Seven of the ten restaurants had at least one of those three findings, and several had all three simultaneously. CDC research shows that establishments without active managerial control produce three times as many critical violations as those with a designated, trained person in charge. When that management gap is paired with workers who have no policy requiring them to report illness, the kitchen has no mechanism to stop a sick employee from preparing food.
Food from unapproved or unknown sources appeared at six of the ten facilities this week, including New Chinese Buffet Inc in Clermont, Salsas in Jacksonville, Shogun Sushi in Tampa, Engine No.9 in St. Petersburg, Thai Spice Kitchen in Jacksonville, China Buffet in Tampa, and Samira's Cafe in Saint Johns. The specific danger is traceability: food sourced outside USDA and FDA-regulated supply chains has not been inspected for Listeria, Salmonella, or E. coli, and if a customer gets sick, investigators have no way to trace the contamination back to its origin.
Shellfish traceability failures appeared at six facilities as well, including both Jacksonville entries and both Tampa buffets. Shellfish are consumed raw or lightly cooked, meaning any pathogen present in the animal at harvest survives to the plate. The shell stock identification requirement exists so that a specific harvest lot can be pulled from circulation within hours if illness cases are reported. Without those records, that system cannot function.
The parasite-destruction failure at New Chinese Buffet Inc in Clermont and Thai Spice Kitchen in Jacksonville is worth isolating. Both restaurants serve fish, and both were cited for not following the freezing or cooking protocols that kill parasites including Anisakis and tapeworm. These are not paperwork violations. They describe a gap between what the menu offers and what the kitchen is doing to make that food safe.
The Longer Record
The data provided for this week does not include prior inspection counts for each facility, so a direct comparison of inspection histories is not possible from the available records. What the violation totals themselves establish, however, is the scale of failure at the week's top offenders. A restaurant logging 13 high-severity violations in a single inspection has not stumbled across a few overlooked items. That number reflects systemic gaps: no health policy, no person in charge, unverified food sources, and compromised handwashing infrastructure, all present at the same time.
The geographic spread this week is also a fact worth noting. The ten worst inspections touched Orlando, Clermont, Jacksonville, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Saint Johns, and Miami. No single region or restaurant category dominated. Buffets, sushi bars, a Mexican restaurant, a cafe, and a bar-and-grill all appeared. The violations that connected them, missing illness policies, food from unknown sources, parasite controls ignored, were not the product of one kitchen's bad week. They were documented in seven cities in five days.
Samira's Cafe in Saint Johns, the smallest market on this week's list, logged 12 high-severity violations including food not cooked to the required minimum temperature. For a neighborhood cafe in a suburban setting where customers have few alternatives nearby, that finding sits unresolved in the inspection record.
