JACKSONVILLE, FL. Back in April 2026, state inspectors walked into Fore Score Gate on Gate Parkway and found toxic chemicals stored or labeled improperly, no functioning handwashing infrastructure, and not a single written policy to keep sick employees out of the kitchen. They documented six high-severity violations and two intermediate ones. The restaurant stayed open.
The April 6 inspection produced one of the more troubling violation clusters in recent Duval County records, not because any single finding was unprecedented, but because of how many foundational safeguards were absent at once.
What Inspectors Found
The chemical storage violation stands as the most immediately dangerous finding. Inspectors cited improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals, a condition that creates a direct contamination pathway if a mislabeled cleaner ends up near food prep surfaces or, in a worst-case scenario, near food itself.
Compounding that finding: the handwashing setup was inadequate. Inspectors also cited employees for improper hand and arm washing technique. When the infrastructure for hand hygiene is broken and the technique is wrong regardless, the two violations together mean contaminated hands were almost certainly touching food.
No one was running the floor. Inspectors cited the absence of a person in charge performing their duties, a violation that state and federal food safety data consistently link to higher rates of critical failures throughout a facility.
The consumer advisory violation is quieter but carries real consequences. Without a posted notice about raw or undercooked items, customers who face elevated health risks, including pregnant women, elderly diners, and people with compromised immune systems, have no way to make an informed choice about what they order.
Sewage disposal was also flagged as improper, and multi-use utensils were found not properly cleaned, both intermediate-level violations but serious in the context of everything else inspectors documented that day.
What These Violations Mean
The absence of an employee health policy is not a paperwork technicality. Without a written policy, there is no mechanism to keep a worker who is sick with Norovirus or Salmonella out of the kitchen. Norovirus alone accounts for roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, and food workers are among the most efficient transmission routes. At Fore Score Gate, that protection did not exist on paper in April.
The handwashing violations, taken together, describe a facility where proper hand hygiene was structurally impossible. Inadequate facilities mean workers lack the physical setup to wash correctly. Citing improper technique on top of that means that even when attempts were made, pathogens were left behind. Studies on foodborne illness consistently identify hand contamination as one of the primary vectors from kitchen to customer.
Improperly stored chemicals near food create a risk that is less common than bacterial contamination but more acute when it occurs. A mislabeled chemical used to wipe down a prep surface, or stored where it can drip or spill onto food, can cause poisoning that shows up within hours and does not look like a typical foodborne illness.
The sewage violation adds a layer that most diners would find alarming. Improper wastewater disposal creates a pathway for fecal contamination to reach surfaces throughout a facility. Combined with inadequate handwashing and unclean utensils, the April inspection described a kitchen where multiple contamination routes were open simultaneously.
The Longer Record
Fore Score Gate has seven inspections on record in state data, accumulating 33 total violations across that history. The April 2026 inspection was not the first time the facility drew serious scrutiny.
In August 2025, inspectors found five high-severity violations and four intermediate ones. Five months later, on January 30, 2026, inspectors returned and documented four high-severity violations and four intermediate ones. Both of those inspections represent significant failure clusters, not isolated bad days.
The two inspections that immediately preceded April, on January 31 and February 12, each showed just one intermediate violation and no high-severity findings. That apparent improvement makes the April collapse more striking: six high-severity violations in a single visit, after two consecutive clean-ish inspections.
The facility has never been emergency-closed. Despite the August 2025 cluster, the January 2026 cluster, and now the April 2026 cluster, state records show no order to shut the doors.
Open for Business
The pattern across three separate inspection periods shows a facility that corrects enough to pass follow-up checks, then accumulates serious violations again. August 2025. January 2026. April 2026. Each time, the high-severity count climbed back into the range that in other facilities has triggered emergency closure orders.
In April 2026, with toxic chemicals improperly stored, no handwashing infrastructure in place, no employee health policy, and sewage disposal flagged as improper, Fore Score Gate on Gate Parkway remained open.