FORT MYERS, FL. Metro Cafe on Metro Parkway drew four high-severity violations in a single inspection during the week of June 10, 2026, including a citation for employees not reporting symptoms of illness, the violation type state health officials identify as the number one cause of multi-victim foodborne outbreaks.
The cafe also had no written employee health policy, improper handwashing technique documented among staff, and food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized. No intermediate violations were recorded, but the four high-severity findings put it among the most cited facilities inspected in Fort Myers that week.
Eight restaurants in the city drew high-severity violations between June 10 and June 16. Together they accumulated 19 high-severity citations and seven intermediate ones.
What Inspectors Found
The Lodge on First Street and Heritage Palms Country Club on Washingtonia Palm Way each drew three high-severity violations. The Lodge's citations covered improper handwashing technique, no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Inspectors also found inadequate cooling and cold holding equipment and inadequate toilet facilities, both intermediate violations.
Heritage Palms Country Club's three high-severity findings were in a different category entirely. Inspectors cited inadequate shell stock identification records, meaning the club could not document the source of shellfish it was serving. They also cited failure to follow parasite destruction procedures for fish, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
10 Twenty Five on Patio de Leon was cited for inadequate handwashing facilities and for failing to follow parasite destruction procedures. Multi-use utensils not properly cleaned rounded out its inspection as an intermediate violation.
Cowboy Up Saloon on Hendry Street drew citations for food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated, and for no allergen awareness demonstrated among staff. Inspectors also found improper sewage or wastewater disposal, an intermediate violation.
Taco Works, located just two addresses down from Cowboy Up on Hendry Street, was cited for failing to follow parasite destruction procedures and for not following required procedures for specialized food processes. Its intermediate violation was improperly cleaned multi-use utensils.
Capones Coal Fired Pizza on First Street was cited for improper handwashing technique and for posting no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Multi-use utensils not properly cleaned was its intermediate citation.
Farmers Market Restaurant on Edison Avenue drew the fewest violations of any facility on the list this week, one high-severity and one intermediate. Inspectors cited food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, and inadequate cooling or cold holding equipment.
What These Violations Mean
The illness-reporting failures at Metro Cafe are among the most acutely dangerous violations inspectors can document. When a food worker with Norovirus, Salmonella, or Hepatitis A continues handling food without disclosing symptoms, every dish that leaves the kitchen is a potential transmission vehicle. A written employee health policy is not a formality; it is the mechanism that gives workers clear instruction on when to stay home and gives managers authority to act. Metro Cafe had neither the policy nor evidence that employees understood the obligation to report.
Three facilities this week, Metro Cafe, the Lodge, and Capones Coal Fired Pizza, were cited for improper handwashing technique. This is distinct from simply skipping handwashing. Studies show that a flawed technique, washing for less than the required 20 seconds, skipping the wrist and forearm, or not using soap throughout, can leave pathogen loads on hands nearly as high as no washing at all. When that failure is documented at multiple facilities in the same week, it points to a training gap, not an isolated lapse.
Heritage Palms Country Club's shellfish traceability violation carries a specific risk that most diners would not anticipate. Shellfish harvested from contaminated waters and improperly tagged cannot be traced back to their source if a customer falls ill. That gap in the record is precisely what makes outbreak investigations fail. The club's parasite destruction failure adds a second layer: fish served without proper freezing or cooking can carry live Anisakis larvae or tapeworm, parasites that survive in the flesh and cause illness hours or days after the meal.
The toxic substances violation at the Lodge and the sewage disposal violation at Cowboy Up Saloon represent two of the most immediate physical hazards on this week's list. Improperly stored or unlabeled chemicals can contaminate food or injure staff; improper sewage disposal introduces fecal pathogens into the facility environment, potentially reaching food preparation surfaces.
The Longer Record
Farmers Market Restaurant on Edison Avenue carries the longest inspection history of any facility cited this week, 36 prior inspections on record. A facility with that many visits has been scrutinized more than most, and the appearance of a food contact surface violation and inadequate cooling equipment in the current inspection raises a question the record alone cannot fully answer: whether these categories have appeared in prior visits.
The Lodge and 10 Twenty Five each have 29 prior inspections on record, as does Capones Coal Fired Pizza. All three were cited for violations this week that touch on fundamental food safety practices, handwashing technique and consumer advisory posting at both the Lodge and Capones, and handwashing infrastructure at 10 Twenty Five. Twenty-nine inspections is a substantial history for any restaurant, and violations in basic categories at that stage of a facility's record draw attention.
Heritage Palms Country Club has 26 prior inspections and Metro Cafe has 25. Metro Cafe's four high-severity violations this week, including the illness-reporting and health policy failures, are particularly notable given that the facility has been inspected two dozen times. Shellfish traceability and parasite destruction failures at Heritage Palms, a private club serving members who may include elderly or immunocompromised individuals, are among the higher-consequence findings of the week given the population being served.
Cowboy Up Saloon and Taco Works are the newest entrants on this week's list, with 10 and 8 prior inspections respectively. Both are still early in their inspection histories, and both drew two high-severity violations. Taco Works was cited for failing to follow procedures for specialized food processes, a violation that requires understanding of specific protocols that go beyond basic food handling. At eight inspections in, that gap is already documented.
The Pattern
Parasite destruction failures appeared at three separate facilities this week: Heritage Palms Country Club, 10 Twenty Five, and Taco Works. That is not a coincidence of geography. It points to a category of compliance that multiple Fort Myers kitchens are not meeting, whether the issue is documentation of freezing logs, sourcing fish from suppliers with verified parasite destruction records, or understanding which preparations require the procedure at all.
Improperly cleaned multi-use utensils showed up as an intermediate violation at four facilities: Heritage Palms, 10 Twenty Five, Taco Works, and Capones Coal Fired Pizza. Bacterial biofilms can establish on utensil surfaces within 24 hours of inadequate cleaning and resist standard sanitizing once formed.
Metro Cafe's inspection record now includes documented failures in employee illness reporting, health policy, handwashing technique, and surface sanitation, all four high-severity violations from a single visit. Whether a follow-up inspection was conducted before the end of the reporting week, and what it found, is not reflected in the data for the week of June 10.