FORT LAUDERDALE, FL. The Crowne Plaza Fort Lauderdale at 455 SR 84 drew the week's highest single-facility violation count, with seven high-severity citations in one inspection, including food from unapproved sources, toxic substances improperly stored, and a failure to follow parasite destruction procedures for fish.
The hotel property also had no adequate employee health policy on file, meaning no formal written process existed to keep sick workers out of the kitchen. Inspectors additionally found food in poor condition or mislabeled, inadequate shellfish identification records, and food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized.
What Inspectors Found
Vale Food Company at 420 N Federal Hwy came in second with five high-severity violations. Inspectors cited employees not reporting illness symptoms, food from unapproved sources, improperly sanitized food contact surfaces, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked items.
Vita Italian Restaurant on Griffin Road also drew five high-severity citations. Among them: improper hand and arm washing technique, inadequate shellfish identification records, improperly sanitized food contact surfaces, failure to properly use time as a public health control, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. The Italian restaurant also had inadequate toilet facilities, a violation that inspectors link directly to reduced employee handwashing compliance.
Waxy O'Connors at 1095 SE 17th Street Causeway collected four high-severity violations, including an employee not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate shellfish identification records, time as a public health control not properly used, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Gyroville 17th Street at 1489 SE 17th St drew four high-severity violations as well, including improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals alongside food, inadequate shellfish records, improperly sanitized food contact surfaces, and a failure to properly apply time as a public health control.
Resto Cafe Corporation at 6700 N Andrews Ave had four high-severity violations with no intermediate citations at all. Inspectors found no employee health policy, improper hand and arm washing technique, improperly sanitized food contact surfaces, and no demonstrated allergen awareness by staff.
Fogo de Chao Brazilian Steakhouse at 201 E Las Olas Blvd also drew four high-severity violations. The person in charge was not present or not performing required duties at the time of inspection. Employees were not reporting illness symptoms, food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned, and no consumer advisory existed for raw or undercooked foods.
Tin Roof at 219 S Andrews Ave drew four high-severity violations, all centered on food handling and sanitation. Inspectors documented inadequate handwashing by food employees, improper hand and arm washing technique, improperly sanitized food contact surfaces, and food not cooked to required minimum temperature.
The two food and beverage outlets at the Omni Fort Lauderdale Hotel each drew separate inspection reports. Tide Coastal Kitchen at 1850 SE 17th St had three high-severity violations, including an employee not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate shellfish identification records, and a failure to follow parasite destruction procedures for fish. Inspectors also cited improper sewage or wastewater disposal as an intermediate violation.
Leeward Market, the second Omni outlet at the same address, drew three high-severity violations: employee not reporting illness symptoms, food from an unapproved or unknown source, and inadequate shellfish identification records.
Mad Chicken at 3045 N Federal Hwy had three high-severity violations, including food in poor condition or mislabeled and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled alongside food items.
Sugar Bae at 8253 Sunset Strip drew three high-severity violations: no employee health policy, improper hand and arm washing technique, and inadequate shellfish identification records.
Just 1 More at 3074 NE 33rd Ave had three high-severity violations with no intermediate citations. Inspectors found inadequate handwashing by food employees, food in poor condition or mislabeled, and food not cooked to required minimum temperature.
Anthony's Clam House and Grill at 2861 E Commercial Blvd also drew three high-severity violations: the person in charge was not present or not performing duties, employees were not reporting illness symptoms, and food came from an unapproved or unknown source.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe at 1851 Cordova Rd closed out the week's list with two high-severity violations, inadequate shellfish identification records and improperly sanitized food contact surfaces, alongside a citation for multi-use utensils not properly cleaned.
What These Violations Mean
The shellfish identification violation appeared at seven of the fifteen facilities this week, including Crowne Plaza, Vita Italian, Waxy O'Connors, Gyroville 17th Street, both Omni outlets, Sugar Bae, and Tropical Smoothie Cafe. Shellfish are consumed raw or lightly cooked, and without proper harvest tags on file, there is no way to trace the origin of an oyster, clam, or mussel if a customer becomes ill. When a shellfish-linked outbreak occurs, that traceability record is the only mechanism for identifying the contaminated harvest lot and pulling it from circulation.
The employee illness reporting failure appeared at six facilities: Vale Food Company, Waxy O'Connors, Fogo de Chao, the Omni's Tide Coastal Kitchen, Leeward Market, and Anthony's Clam House. A worker with Norovirus who continues handling food can infect dozens of customers before anyone connects the illness to a meal. The violation does not mean a sick employee was observed working. It means the facility had no documented system to ensure a sick employee would report symptoms or be sent home.
Parasite destruction failures at Crowne Plaza and Tide Coastal Kitchen are among the least visible but most consequential violations on the list. Fish served raw or undercooked must be frozen to specific temperatures for specific durations to kill parasites including Anisakis, which can cause severe abdominal pain and require surgical removal if lodged in the intestinal wall. Without documented freezing logs, there is no verification that the process was followed.
Food from unapproved sources, cited at Vale Food Company, Crowne Plaza, Leeward Market, and Anthony's Clam House, means the facility could not demonstrate that its ingredients came through a supplier subject to USDA or FDA inspection. If a customer gets sick and investigators need to trace the food back to its origin, that chain is broken.
The Longer Record
Vale Food Company and Gyroville 17th Street each carry 36 prior inspections on record, the highest histories among this week's cited facilities. Both drew four or more high-severity violations this week. A facility with 36 inspections behind it has had ample opportunity to correct recurring problems, and the presence of unapproved food sourcing at Vale and improperly stored toxic chemicals at Gyroville this week suggests those corrections have not fully taken hold.
Vita Italian Restaurant has 25 inspections on record, Waxy O'Connors 24, and Tropical Smoothie Cafe 24. None of these are new operations encountering their first compliance challenges. Crowne Plaza, with 27 prior inspections and the week's highest violation count at seven high-severity citations, presents the starkest contrast between inspection history and current performance.
The two Omni Fort Lauderdale Hotel outlets each show only three prior inspections on record. For relatively new facilities, drawing three high-severity violations each in the same week, including parasite destruction failures at Tide Coastal Kitchen and an unapproved food source at Leeward Market, is a significant early-record concern.
Fogo de Chao on Las Olas has 17 prior inspections on record. The absence of the person in charge during an inspection at a full-service upscale steakhouse, combined with no consumer advisory for undercooked meats at a restaurant that specializes in serving them, is a pairing that inspectors associate with cascading compliance failures. Anthony's Clam House, also with 21 prior inspections, had the same management-absence violation alongside a food from unapproved sources citation, and its name appears on no corrective action record in the data provided this week.
