PORT CHARLOTTE, FL. An inspector visiting Gina's Pizza Bar on Tamiami Trail on July 29 found food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled near food, and employees washing their hands incorrectly, or not washing them at all. The restaurant was not closed.
The inspection logged 8 high-severity violations and 3 intermediate violations, one of the worst single-visit tallies in the facility's documented history. State records show that 12 inspections on file for this location have produced 84 total violations since the restaurant first appeared in the system.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooking violation is among the most direct food safety failures an inspector can document. Food that does not reach minimum internal temperatures, particularly poultry, can carry live Salmonella to a customer's plate.
The chemical storage violation compounds the risk. Improperly stored or unlabeled chemicals near food preparation areas can contaminate food directly, or can be mistaken for food-safe products by employees working without adequate supervision. The inspector also cited a person in charge as absent or not performing duties, which regulators identify as a condition that correlates with higher rates of critical violations throughout a facility.
Two separate handwashing violations were cited on the same visit. Inspectors documented both inadequate handwashing by employees and improper hand and arm washing technique, meaning staff either skipped handwashing or performed it incorrectly. Those are two distinct failures, and both were recorded the same day.
The shellfish traceability violation adds a third category of risk. Without proper shell stock identification records, there is no way to trace oysters, clams, or mussels back to their harvest source if a customer becomes ill.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of violations documented on July 29 covers three of the most direct routes from kitchen to illness: undercooked food, contaminated surfaces, and contaminated hands.
Food cooked below the required minimum temperature is not a paperwork problem. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. When food is served undercooked and a customer becomes ill, the incubation period means days pass before anyone connects the meal to the outcome.
Improper handwashing is classified by food safety researchers as the single most significant factor in spreading foodborne illness. The July 29 inspection at Gina's Pizza Bar found both that employees were not washing their hands adequately and that those who did wash were using incorrect technique. Either violation alone is serious. Both together, on the same day, in the same kitchen, represent a compounding failure.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, including cutting boards and prep tables, allow bacteria from one food to transfer to the next. When those surfaces are also being handled by employees who are not washing their hands correctly, the contamination pathway widens. The intermediate citation for multi-use utensils not properly cleaned fits the same pattern.
The Longer Record
The July 29 inspection was not an anomaly. It matched, almost exactly, an inspection from March 14, 2024, which also produced 8 high-severity violations and 3 intermediate violations.
Gina's Pizza Bar: Inspection History
Of the 12 inspections on record, only one, in May 2024, produced fewer than 2 high-severity violations. Every other visit documented multiple high-severity citations. The facility has logged 84 total violations across its inspection history.
The March 2024 emergency closure came after inspectors found rodent activity. The restaurant was allowed to reopen the same day. Two months later, inspectors returned to find a single high-severity violation. By August 2025, the number had climbed back to 2. By May 2025, it was 6. By February 2026, it was 6 again. The pattern does not describe a facility that corrected its problems after the closure. It describes a facility that cycled back.
The July 29 inspection tied the worst single-visit count in the facility's recorded history. Six of the 8 high-severity violations from that visit, including inadequate handwashing, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, and the absence of an active person in charge, are categories that appeared in earlier inspections as well.
Gina's Pizza Bar remained open after the July 29 inspection.
