PORT ORANGE, FL. State inspectors visited Ginza Steak House & Sushi Bar on Clyde Morris Boulevard on June 10 and found food coming from unapproved or unknown sources, a violation that means inspectors could not confirm whether the restaurant's ingredients had ever passed a federal safety inspection.
That finding alone carries serious weight at a sushi bar, where raw and lightly cooked proteins are a routine part of every table's order. But it was one of six high-severity violations cited that day. Inspectors found zero intermediate violations alongside them.
The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
Beyond the sourcing problem, inspectors cited food not cooked to the required minimum temperature. At a restaurant serving both grilled steaks and sushi, that citation covers a wide range of potential hazards, from Salmonella surviving in undercooked poultry to pathogens in improperly handled fish.
Inspectors also found inadequate shell stock identification records. Shellfish, including oysters, clams, and mussels, are frequently consumed raw, and the tags that accompany each harvest lot are the only mechanism that allows a sick customer's illness to be traced back to a specific source. Without those records, that traceability disappears.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Cutting boards, prep tables, and utensil surfaces that carry residue from one protein to the next are a direct pathway for cross-contamination in any kitchen, and particularly in one handling raw seafood alongside cooked dishes.
Two of the remaining violations involved the people preparing and serving the food. Inspectors found improper hand and arm washing technique, meaning employees were washing their hands but not correctly enough to remove pathogens. They also found that at least one employee was not reporting symptoms of illness, the condition that public health officials consistently identify as the starting point for multi-victim outbreaks.
What These Violations Mean
The food sourcing violation is the one that most directly removes a layer of protection customers never see. When a restaurant buys from approved, licensed suppliers, those suppliers have been inspected and their products have moved through a federally monitored chain. At Ginza on June 10, inspectors could not confirm that chain existed for at least some of the food being served.
The shell stock records violation compounds that concern. Shellfish are among the highest-risk foods on any menu because they are eaten raw or barely cooked, and they filter water that can carry Vibrio, norovirus, and other pathogens. The harvest tags that must accompany each lot tell regulators exactly where the shellfish came from and when, so that if a customer gets sick, the source can be identified and pulled from the market. Ginza's records were inadequate.
The illness-reporting violation is the one that most directly threatens the people sitting at the next table. Norovirus is shed at extremely high concentrations in the stool of infected individuals, and a food worker who doesn't report symptoms, and isn't sent home, can contaminate every surface they touch. Combined with the finding that handwashing technique was also improper at this visit, those two violations together describe a kitchen where sick workers could have been preparing food without adequate hand hygiene.
Undercooking closes the loop. Even if a food source is legitimate and workers are healthy, proteins that do not reach minimum internal temperatures allow surviving bacteria to reach customers. Salmonella in poultry requires 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Below that threshold, it survives.
The Longer Record
The June 10 inspection was not an anomaly. Thirteen days earlier, on May 28, inspectors had already cited Ginza for six high-severity and two intermediate violations. The restaurant has now logged high-severity violations in back-to-back inspections separated by less than two weeks.
The pattern extends much further back. Records show 28 total inspections on file, with 233 total violations accumulated across that history. In April 2024, a single inspection turned up 10 high-severity and 2 intermediate violations. In November 2023, inspectors found 8 high-severity violations. In December 2025, inspectors found 7 high-severity violations, followed two weeks later by a clean inspection with zero violations, followed fourteen months later by the current string of high-severity findings.
That oscillating pattern, serious violations, a clean visit, serious violations again, is documented across multiple inspection cycles at this address. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed in its inspection history on record.
Still Open
Six high-severity violations in a single inspection, at a restaurant that had already accumulated six high-severity violations thirteen days before, did not result in an emergency closure order on June 10.
Ginza Steak House & Sushi Bar remained open for business.