FORT MYERS, FL. Inspectors visiting Morning Bloom on Daniels Parkway this week found six high-severity violations in a single visit, including food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, an employee failing to report illness symptoms, and a failure to properly use time as a public health control. It was the heaviest single-facility violation count among 15 Fort Myers restaurants cited for high-severity findings during the week of September 16 through September 22, 2026.
The same week, Nardette Take Out Restaurant at 3082 Fowler Street was ordered closed after an inspector documented active roach activity on September 17.
What Inspectors Found
Morning Bloom's six high-severity findings included inadequate shellfish identification records, food in poor condition or mislabeled, and no written employee health policy. Inspectors also cited the facility for failing to properly apply time as a public health control, a procedure that requires precise documentation when temperature monitoring is not used.
Little Sicily on Six Mile Commercial Court drew five high-severity violations, among the most structurally serious of the week. Inspectors found inadequate handwashing facilities and improper handwashing technique cited as separate violations, meaning the infrastructure to wash hands correctly was absent and employees were not washing correctly even when facilities were available. Toxic chemicals were improperly stored or labeled, and food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Inspectors also documented improper sewage or wastewater disposal and improperly cleaned multi-use utensils.
Fancy's Southern Cafe on Salrose Lane accumulated three high-severity and three intermediate violations. The high-severity findings included no employee health policy, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. Inspectors also cited the facility for improper sewage or wastewater disposal and inadequate ventilation.
Jalapeno's on Cleveland Avenue drew four high-severity violations, including both no employee health policy and an employee not reporting illness symptoms. Those two findings together indicate neither the written framework nor the individual behavior needed to keep sick workers out of the kitchen was in place. Inspectors also found food contact surfaces not properly cleaned and toxic substances improperly stored.
Taco Vazquez Inc on South Tamiami Trail was cited for four high-severity violations, including no allergen awareness demonstrated and required procedures for specialized processes not followed. The allergen finding is notable at a Mexican restaurant where common ingredients including wheat in tortillas and dairy in sauces require staff to be able to answer customer questions accurately.
Bellini's on McGregor Boulevard drew four high-severity violations, among them no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Inspectors also cited improper handwashing technique and no employee health policy.
Leeman Holdings Group on Fowler Street recorded four high-severity violations, with two separate chemical storage findings: toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. The facility was also cited for an employee not reporting illness symptoms and no allergen awareness demonstrated.
Snappers Comedy Club on College Parkway drew four high-severity violations, including inadequate handwashing by food employees, parasite destruction procedures not followed, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized. The parasite destruction finding indicates that fish or other products requiring freezing or cooking to kill parasites were not being handled under verified protocols.
Tap 42 on South Cleveland Avenue drew a single high-severity violation for parasite destruction procedures not followed, the same finding documented at Snappers. Two separate restaurants on opposite sides of Fort Myers were cited for the same fish-handling failure in the same week.
Biscottis on San Carlos Boulevard was cited for four high-severity violations including no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, no allergen awareness demonstrated, inadequate shellfish identification records, and time as a public health control not properly used.
Sushi Sake on McGregor Boulevard drew three high-severity violations, including an employee not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, and improper handwashing technique. At a sushi restaurant where raw fish is handled throughout service, the combination of those three findings describes a kitchen where the most basic contamination barrier was compromised.
Mellow Mushroom on Daniels Parkway was cited for food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. The cooking temperature violation is among the most direct pathogen-survival risks in the week's data.
Blu Sushi on McGregor Boulevard drew three high-severity violations including no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods and no allergen awareness demonstrated, findings that parallel those at Biscottis and raise the same concern about customers with immune vulnerabilities or food allergies receiving no warning.
Pao de Minas Bakery on Winkler Avenue was cited for two high-severity violations: no employee health policy and inadequate shellfish identification records. A bakery serving shellfish without traceability records means there is no way to identify the harvest source if a customer falls ill.
Two Meatballs in the Kitchen on Salrose Lane recorded no high-severity violations, drawing only two intermediate citations for improper sewage disposal and single-use items being reused.
What These Violations Mean
The employee illness reporting failures documented this week at Morning Bloom, Jalapeno's, Leeman Holdings Group, Sushi Sake, and Mellow Mushroom represent one of the most direct routes from an infected worker to a sick customer. Norovirus, which causes the majority of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, can be transmitted through a single infected employee who continues working. A written health policy, the absence of which was cited at Morning Bloom, Fancy's Southern Cafe, Jalapeno's, Bellini's, and Pao de Minas Bakery, is the mechanism that tells workers what symptoms require them to stay home and gives management the authority to send them there.
The food from unapproved sources finding at Morning Bloom is among the most serious in the week's data. When food enters a kitchen outside the regulated supply chain, there is no inspection record, no lot number, and no way to trace it if customers become ill. The same traceability gap applies to the shellfish identification failures documented at Morning Bloom, Little Sicily, Biscottis, and Pao de Minas Bakery. Oysters, clams, and mussels are filter feeders that concentrate bacteria and viruses from the water they inhabit. The harvest tags that inspectors look for are the only tool available to identify a contaminated batch before more people eat from it.
The chemical storage violations documented at Fancy's Southern Cafe, Little Sicily, Jalapeno's, Bellini's, Taco Vazquez, Leeman Holdings Group, and Snappers represent a different category of risk. Cleaning chemicals stored near or above food preparation surfaces can contaminate food through spills or mislabeling. A bottle of sanitizer mistaken for a cooking ingredient, or a cleaning solution dripped onto an open food container, can cause acute poisoning with no warning.
The consumer advisory failures at Bellini's, Biscottis, Blu Sushi, and Mellow Mushroom remove the last line of protection for the customers most at risk. Pregnant women, elderly diners, and people with compromised immune systems are the populations for whom raw or undercooked food carries the highest chance of a serious outcome. Without a written menu advisory, they have no way to make an informed choice.
The Longer Record
Several of this week's facilities have inspection histories that stretch back dozens of visits. Blu Sushi carries the longest record in this group, with 52 prior inspections on file, and still drew three high-severity violations this week including the allergen awareness and consumer advisory failures. Leeman Holdings Group has 44 prior inspections and recorded four high-severity violations, including two separate chemical storage findings. Jalapeno's has 37 prior inspections, as does Two Meatballs in the Kitchen, which had the cleanest record of the week.
Fancy's Southern Cafe, with 34 prior inspections, and Taco Vazquez, with 32, both drew multiple high-severity violations this week. Bellini's has 31 inspections on record and Biscottis has 30. The volume of prior contact with state inspectors at these facilities makes this week's findings a continuation of a long record rather than an isolated event.
Morning Bloom, with 24 prior inspections, drew the most high-severity violations of the week. That record is not short, and it includes a week where food from unapproved sources and an employee failing to report illness symptoms were both documented in the same visit.
Pao de Minas Bakery, with only 6 prior inspections, is among the newest facilities in this week's data and already carries two high-severity violations. Tap 42, with 8 prior inspections, drew the parasite destruction failure in what is still an early inspection record.
Nardette Take Out Restaurant on Fowler Street was emergency-closed on September 17 for roach activity. Whether prior inspections at that address had documented pest conditions before this week's closure is not reflected in the data available.
