PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL. State inspectors walked into Great Greek Mediterranean Grill at 11300 Legacy Ave on May 11, 2026, and found food from unapproved or unknown sources being served to customers, with no way to trace where it came from if someone got sick.
That was one of eight high-severity violations documented that afternoon. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The unapproved food source citation is among the most serious a restaurant can receive. It means inspectors could not confirm that some food being served to customers had passed through any USDA or FDA inspection point. If a patron became ill, there would be no supply chain record to trace.
Alongside it, inspectors cited inadequate shell stock identification records. Great Greek's menu includes Mediterranean dishes that can incorporate shellfish, and shellfish consumed raw or lightly cooked carry an elevated risk of Vibrio and norovirus. Without proper tagging records, there is no way to identify the harvest location or date if an illness is reported.
The employee illness reporting violation compounds both of those risks. Workers were not following required procedures to report symptoms before handling food, which is the most direct human transmission route for norovirus and hepatitis A.
Inspectors also found that food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, that the kitchen was not correctly using time as a public health control for foods held outside of safe temperature ranges, and that no consumer advisory was posted for raw or undercooked items on the menu. Customers with compromised immune systems, pregnant women, and the elderly have no way to make an informed choice about those risks if the advisory is absent.
Three intermediate violations accompanied the eight high-severity citations: multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, single-use items being reused, and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved sources is not a paperwork problem. It means the restaurant cannot confirm that the food in its kitchen cleared federal safety checkpoints designed to screen for Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli. If a customer gets sick, investigators need that supply chain. Without it, an outbreak can spread further before it is identified and stopped.
The shellfish traceability failure operates the same way. Oysters, clams, and mussels are legally required to carry harvest tags because they filter large volumes of water and concentrate whatever pathogens are present. A missing or inadequate tag record means there is no way to link a sick diner back to a specific harvest bed or date.
The illness reporting violation is the one that most directly puts other diners at risk. Norovirus, the leading cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States, can be shed by a food worker before symptoms are severe and can contaminate dozens of meals before anyone realizes a worker is sick. The requirement to report is a first-line defense, and it was not being followed here.
The absence of an active person in charge ties all of these violations together. CDC data consistently shows that restaurants without engaged managerial oversight accumulate critical violations at roughly three times the rate of those with active supervision. Eight high-severity violations in a single inspection is consistent with that pattern.
The Longer Record
The May 11 inspection was not an isolated bad day. Great Greek at Legacy Ave has 26 inspections on record and 148 total violations documented across those visits.
The facility was emergency-closed on March 9, 2026, after inspectors found roach activity. It passed a follow-up inspection the next day and reopened. Then, on March 2, just one week before that closure, inspectors had already cited five high-severity violations and three intermediate ones.
The December 2024 inspection produced 11 high-severity violations and one intermediate, the worst single-visit tally in the available history. The September 2025 visit added three more high-severity citations. The May 11, 2026, inspection, with eight high-severity violations, falls in the middle of that range but arrives with a more alarming combination: food sourcing, illness protocols, and shellfish traceability all failing at once.
The day after the May 11 inspection, a follow-up visit on May 12 still found four high-severity violations outstanding.
Open for Business
State inspectors documented eight high-severity violations at Great Greek on May 11, including food from an unapproved source and no system for tracing shellfish back to its harvest origin. They did not order the restaurant closed.
A follow-up inspection the next morning found four high-severity violations still on the books.
The restaurant served customers through both days.