ST. PETERSBURG, FL. Back in April, a state inspector walked into Gianni's at 936 N 58th Street and documented nine high-severity violations in a single visit, including food contaminated by chemical, physical, or biological hazards and a complete failure to follow parasite destruction procedures for fish and other proteins. The restaurant was not closed.

The April 17 inspection also found that employees were not reporting illness symptoms, that handwashing technique was improper, and that the restaurant had no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods. Three intermediate violations accompanied the nine high-severity citations, covering improperly cleaned utensils, inadequate cold-holding equipment, and insufficient toilet facilities.

That is twelve violations total. Nine of them were high-severity.

What Inspectors Found

1HIGHFood contaminated by chemical, physical, or biological hazardsHigh severity
2HIGHParasite destruction procedures not followedHigh severity
3HIGHEmployee not reporting symptoms of illnessHigh severity
4HIGHImproper hand and arm washing techniqueHigh severity
5HIGHFood contact surfaces not properly cleaned/sanitizedHigh severity
6HIGHTime as a public health control not properly usedHigh severity
7HIGHNo consumer advisory for raw/undercooked foodsHigh severity
8HIGHRequired procedures for specialized processes not followedHigh severity
9INTERMEDIATEMulti-use utensils not properly cleanedIntermediate

The parasite destruction finding is one of the most specific risks in the April record. When a restaurant serves fish, pork, or wild game without following proper freezing or cooking protocols, parasites including Anisakis and Trichinella can survive and infect customers. This is not a theoretical risk. It is a documented gap in the kitchen's food safety process.

The food contamination violation compounds that concern. Food contaminated by chemicals, physical objects, or biological hazards is, by definition, adulterated. Customers who ate at Gianni's in the days around that April inspection had no way of knowing what the inspector found.

The time-as-a-public-health-control violation is a separate category of risk. When a restaurant uses time rather than temperature to keep food safe, it operates under strict limits: food must be tracked, labeled, and discarded within a defined window. The April inspection found those procedures were not being followed, meaning food could have remained in the bacterial growth zone well past safe limits.

What These Violations Mean

The illness reporting failure is the violation with the most direct path to a multi-victim outbreak. Food workers who do not report symptoms of illness, including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, can transmit norovirus and other pathogens directly into food they are preparing. This is not a paperwork violation. It is the mechanism behind some of the largest restaurant-linked outbreaks on record.

The handwashing technique citation makes that risk worse. Inspectors cited improper technique, not just absence of handwashing. A worker who attempts to wash hands but does so incorrectly still leaves pathogens on their skin. Combined with the illness reporting failure, these two violations at Gianni's describe a kitchen where contamination could move from a sick employee to a customer's plate without any effective barrier in place.

The inadequate cold-holding equipment citation, listed as intermediate, has high-severity consequences in practice. Equipment that cannot maintain required temperatures allows food to drift into the danger zone, the range between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit where bacteria multiply rapidly. That finding, alongside the time control failure, means temperature safety at Gianni's had multiple points of breakdown on April 17.

The missing consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods is a legal requirement that exists specifically to protect elderly diners, pregnant women, children, and anyone with a compromised immune system. Without that notice, those customers cannot make an informed choice about what they order.

The Longer Record

Gianni's Inspection History: High-Severity Violations by Visit

April 17, 20269 high-severity, 3 intermediate violations.
April 24, 2026 (follow-up)4 high-severity, 1 intermediate violations remained.
December 1, 20257 high-severity, 1 intermediate violations.
February 20, 20247 high-severity, 2 intermediate violations.
October 16, 20237 high-severity, 1 intermediate violations.
November 15, 20245 high-severity, 0 intermediate violations.

The April 17 inspection was not an anomaly. Gianni's has 27 inspections on record and 203 total violations across that history. Of the eight most recent inspections before April 17, every single one included high-severity violations. The lowest count in that stretch was two high-severity violations in April 2023. The highest, before this month, was seven, recorded in December 2025, February 2024, and October 2023.

The restaurant has never been emergency-closed. Not once across 27 inspections and 203 violations.

The follow-up inspection on April 24, one week after the April 17 visit, found that four high-severity violations and one intermediate violation remained unresolved. The nine had become four. The restaurant was still open.

Still Open

State records do not show an emergency closure order issued for Gianni's at any point in its inspection history. The April 17 inspection, which documented contaminated food, parasite risk, illness reporting failures, and improper handwashing technique across nine high-severity citations, did not change that.

A week later, inspectors returned and found four high-severity violations still on the books.

Gianni's remained open throughout.