FORT MYERS, FL. Inspectors cited Mastello Italian Restaurant and Steak House on Summerlin Lakes Drive for six high-severity violations in a single visit during the week of October 3, including food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, failure to follow parasite destruction procedures, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items on the menu. No employee was reporting illness symptoms as required, and the person in charge was either absent or not performing supervisory duties. It was the most alarming single-facility inspection of the week across fifteen Fort Myers restaurants that collectively logged 52 high-severity violations.
The Week's Findings
At Club at Shell Point-Vue on On Par Boulevard, inspectors documented five high-severity violations, including employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, toxic substances improperly stored or used, and no allergen awareness demonstrated by staff. The club's dining operation also had no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods.
Cheesesteaks.com on Gladiolus Drive drew five high-severity citations. Inspectors found inadequate shell stock identification records, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, and improper use of time as a public health control. Employees were also cited for improper handwashing technique and failure to report illness symptoms.
Fort Myers Dinner Theatre on Crystal Drive was cited for four high-severity violations: improper handwashing, unsanitized food contact surfaces, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and no allergen awareness. Inspectors also noted inadequate ventilation and lighting as an intermediate violation.
Grimaldi's Pizzeria on Cleveland Avenue received four high-severity citations, including food from unapproved or unknown sources, failure to follow parasite destruction procedures, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and no allergen awareness demonstrated by staff.
Perkins Restaurant and Bakery on North Cleveland Avenue also drew four high-severity citations. The person in charge was not present or not performing duties. Employees were not reporting illness symptoms. Inspectors found inadequate shell stock identification records and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used.
Quality Inn Fort Myers Central on South Cleveland Avenue was cited for four high-severity violations, including employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing, food in poor condition or mislabeled, and improperly cleaned food contact surfaces.
Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre on Colonial Boulevard drew three high-severity violations: food from unapproved sources, failure to follow parasite destruction procedures, and no allergen awareness. Inspectors also noted improperly cleaned multi-use utensils and inadequate toilet facilities as intermediate violations.
Tres Amigos Taqueria on Gladiolus Drive was cited for food from unapproved sources, unsanitized food contact surfaces, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, all at the high-severity level.
La Kasita LLC on Fowler Street received three high-severity violations, including no written employee health policy, improper handwashing technique, and failure to follow required procedures for specialized food processes.
Los Molcajetes on Cleveland Avenue was cited for no employee health policy, food in poor condition or mislabeled, and improperly cleaned food contact surfaces.
Lindy's Cafe on Shell Point Plaza drew three high-severity violations: no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and no allergen awareness demonstrated by staff.
Dunkin on Colonial Boulevard was cited for no employee health policy, food from unapproved or unknown sources, and improperly cleaned food contact surfaces.
European American Bakery Cafe on Metro Parkway received two high-severity violations for improper use of time as a public health control and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, along with an intermediate citation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal.
Discovery Village at the Forum on Forum Boulevard, a senior living facility, was cited for inadequate shell stock identification records, failure to follow parasite destruction procedures, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
What These Violations Mean
The most frequently cited violation this week was employees not reporting illness symptoms, found at Mastello Italian, Club at Shell Point-Vue, Cheesesteaks.com, Quality Inn Fort Myers Central, and Perkins Restaurant and Bakery. When a sick food worker handles ingredients without disclosing symptoms, norovirus, the pathogen responsible for 20 million U.S. cases annually, can move directly from an infected employee's hands onto food served to customers within minutes. A written health policy, which was also missing at La Kasita LLC, Los Molcajetes, and Dunkin, is the mechanism that requires workers to self-report and managers to act.
Food from unapproved or unknown sources, documented at Mastello Italian, Grimaldi's Pizzeria, Tres Amigos Taqueria, Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre, and Dunkin, means inspectors could not verify that the food in those kitchens passed through USDA or FDA-regulated supply chains. If a customer becomes ill after eating at one of those restaurants, traceback investigations depend on intact supplier records. Without them, the source of contamination may never be identified.
Parasite destruction failures, cited at Mastello Italian, Grimaldi's Pizzeria, Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre, and Discovery Village at the Forum, are specifically dangerous in fish and pork dishes. Proper freezing protocols exist to kill Anisakis worms and Trichinella before those proteins reach a plate. When those protocols are skipped, the risk passes directly to the diner. At Discovery Village, a senior living community where residents are among the most immunologically vulnerable diners in the county, that citation carries particular weight.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, cited at Cheesesteaks.com, Fort Myers Dinner Theatre, Grimaldi's Pizzeria, Quality Inn Fort Myers Central, Tres Amigos Taqueria, Los Molcajetes, and Dunkin, are among the most direct vectors for bacterial cross-contamination in a kitchen. A cutting board or prep surface that carries residue from raw meat to a ready-to-eat ingredient can transmit Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria without any visible sign of contamination.
The Longer Record
Grimaldi's Pizzeria leads all facilities in this week's roundup with 35 prior inspections on record, followed closely by Fort Myers Dinner Theatre at 34, La Kasita LLC at 32, and European American Bakery Cafe at 31. That Grimaldi's, with the longest inspection history in this group, still drew four high-severity violations including unapproved food sourcing and parasite procedure failures suggests those categories have not been resolved across dozens of prior visits.
Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre carries 27 prior inspections and was cited again this week for the same categories that appear repeatedly in long-tenured food service operations: unapproved sourcing, parasite destruction, and allergen awareness. Perkins Restaurant and Bakery has 28 inspections on record and still drew a citation for no person in charge performing supervisory duties, a management-level failure that inspectors have correlated with higher rates of critical violations across a facility.
At the other end of the history spectrum, Dunkin on Colonial Boulevard has only 4 prior inspections on record and already accumulated three high-severity violations this week, including no employee health policy and food from unapproved sources. Lindy's Cafe on Shell Point Plaza has 7 prior inspections and drew three high-severity citations, including toxic chemicals improperly stored near food and no allergen awareness.
Discovery Village at the Forum, with 20 prior inspections, serves a resident population that includes elderly adults for whom a foodborne illness episode carries significantly higher risk of hospitalization than it would for a younger diner. Its three high-severity citations this week, including failure to track shellfish provenance and skipped parasite destruction steps, had not been resolved as of the inspection record.
