FORT MYERS, FL. State inspectors flagged Kelly Greens Golf and Country Club on Kelly Green Boulevard with nine high-severity violations during the week of October 1, the highest single-facility count among 15 Fort Myers establishments cited for serious food safety failures in seven days.
The violations at Kelly Greens covered nearly every layer of food safety infrastructure. Inspectors documented toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, toxic substances improperly identified or used, food in poor condition, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, and shellfish without the required identification records. The person in charge was either absent or not performing required duties. Time as a public health control was not properly implemented.
Nine high-severity violations. One inspection. Twenty-nine prior inspections on record.
What Inspectors Found Across the City
El Cheyo Mariscos, Botanas, y Tacos on McGregor Boulevard drew seven high-severity violations, the second-highest count this week. Inspectors cited the restaurant for sourcing food from an unapproved or unknown supplier, a violation that means the product bypassed federal safety inspection entirely. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Food was not cooked to the required minimum temperature. Shellfish lacked the required identification records. There was no written employee health policy on site.
Fiddlesticks Country Club on Canongate Drive was cited for six high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved source, parasite destruction procedures not followed for fish or other applicable proteins, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, toxic substances improperly stored, and no allergen awareness demonstrated by staff. There was also no employee health policy in place.
Mastello Italian Restaurant and Steak House on Summerlin Lakes Drive collected six high-severity violations. The person in charge was absent or not performing duties. An employee was not reporting illness symptoms. Food came from an unapproved source. Parasite destruction procedures were not followed. Food was not cooked to the required minimum temperature. The restaurant also had no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked items.
Club at Shell Point-Vue on On Par Boulevard was cited for five high-severity violations: an employee not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, toxic substances improperly stored or used, and no allergen awareness demonstrated. Inspectors also noted multi-use utensils not properly cleaned and wiping cloths improperly used.
European American Bakery Cafe on Metro Parkway had five high-severity violations, including no person in charge present or performing duties, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, shellfish without proper identification records, time as a public health control not properly used, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Inspectors also flagged improper sewage or wastewater disposal.
Cheesesteaks.com on Gladiolus Drive was cited for five high-severity violations: an employee not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, inadequate shellfish identification records, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, and time as a public health control not properly used.
Quality Inn Fort Myers Central on South Cleveland Avenue drew four high-severity violations, including an employee not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, food in poor condition, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
Fort Myers Dinner Theatre on Crystal Drive was cited for improper handwashing technique, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items, and no allergen awareness demonstrated.
Grimaldi's Pizzeria on South Cleveland Avenue had four high-severity violations: food from an unapproved source, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, and no allergen awareness demonstrated.
Perkins Restaurant and Bakery on North Cleveland Avenue was cited for an absent or non-performing person in charge, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, shellfish without proper identification records, and toxic substances improperly stored or used.
Busters Sports Tavern and Family Eatery on McGregor Boulevard drew a single high-severity violation for food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated. Tres Amigos Taqueria on Gladiolus Drive was cited for food from an unapproved source, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled.
Pickle and Pub Restaurant on Old McGregor Boulevard had three high-severity violations: no employee health policy, time as a public health control not properly used, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Inspectors also documented improper sewage or wastewater disposal. Jets Pizza on Reflections Parkway was cited for one high-severity violation, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, alongside an improper sewage or wastewater disposal finding.
What These Violations Mean
The food-from-unapproved-source violations at El Cheyo Mariscos, Fiddlesticks Country Club, Mastello Italian Restaurant, Grimaldi's Pizzeria, and Tres Amigos Taqueria carry a specific danger that goes beyond the food itself. When a product enters a kitchen without passing through a USDA or FDA-regulated supplier, there is no paper trail if a customer gets sick. Investigators cannot trace a Listeria or Salmonella outbreak back to a source, cannot issue a recall, and cannot determine who else received the same product.
The parasite destruction failures at Fiddlesticks Country Club, Mastello Italian Restaurant, and Grimaldi's Pizzeria are directly connected to how fish and other proteins are served. Parasites like Anisakis in fish and Trichinella in pork are killed by either sufficient heat or a regulated freezing protocol. When neither is documented, a customer eating a lightly cooked or raw preparation is exposed to organisms that survive the plate.
The employee illness reporting failures documented at Mastello, Club at Shell Point-Vue, European American Bakery Cafe, Cheesesteaks.com, Quality Inn Fort Myers Central, and Perkins represent the most direct transmission route from kitchen to customer. Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million infections annually in the United States, spreads readily from a food worker who handles product while symptomatic. A written health policy does not prevent illness; it creates the system that stops a sick worker from coming in and touching food.
The toxic chemical violations at Kelly Greens, Fiddlesticks Country Club, Club at Shell Point-Vue, Tres Amigos Taqueria, and Perkins are not housekeeping issues. Chemicals stored near or above food, or improperly labeled in secondary containers, can contaminate a meal directly. Mislabeled containers have caused acute poisoning events when staff mistook a cleaning agent for a food-safe product.
The Longer Record
Grimaldi's Pizzeria and Busters Sports Tavern both carry 35 prior inspections on record, the longest histories among the facilities cited this week. Grimaldi's used that span to accumulate four high-severity violations in this inspection alone, including food from an unapproved source and parasite destruction failures. Thirty-five inspections is a long time to still be sourcing food outside regulated channels.
Fort Myers Dinner Theatre carries 34 prior inspections. Fiddlesticks Country Club and Pickle and Pub Restaurant each have 30 on record. European American Bakery Cafe has 30. Kelly Greens Golf and Country Club has 29. These are not new operations encountering their first compliance learning curve. They are establishments with years of documented inspection history that still produced clusters of high-severity findings in a single week.
Tres Amigos Taqueria has only 14 prior inspections on record, the fewest of any facility cited this week. Yet it drew three high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved source and improperly stored toxic chemicals. Quality Inn Fort Myers Central, with 15 prior inspections, produced four high-severity violations.
El Cheyo Mariscos has 23 prior inspections and produced seven high-severity violations this week, including the unapproved food source citation and a food-not-cooked-to-temperature finding. Mastello Italian Restaurant also carries 23 prior inspections and matched that count with six high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved source and undercooking. Both facilities share the same inspection history length and the same sourcing violation.
Mastello Italian Restaurant was cited this week for food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, and no consumer advisory was posted to inform customers that any item on the menu was served raw or undercooked.
