KISSIMMEE, FL. State inspectors visiting Grill & Wings 88 LLC at 377 Cypress Pkwy on May 19 documented that the restaurant had not followed parasite destruction procedures, a failure that means fish, pork, or wild game served there could have reached customers with live parasites intact.
That was one of six high-severity violations cited that day. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The parasite violation is among the most specific food-safety failures a restaurant can accumulate. Proper parasite destruction requires fish to be frozen to precise temperatures for set periods before being served raw or undercooked. When that process is skipped, parasites including Anisakis roundworms and tapeworms can survive into the finished dish.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled. Chemicals stored near or above food preparation areas can contaminate food directly, and mislabeled containers create a secondary risk: a worker reaching for one product and using another.
Inspectors also cited food contact surfaces, including cutting boards and prep equipment, as not properly cleaned or sanitized. Those surfaces are a direct transfer route for bacteria from one food to the next, and from raw proteins to ready-to-eat items.
The restaurant also lacked shell stock identification records for its shellfish. Oysters, clams, and mussels are typically consumed raw or lightly cooked, and without harvest tags linking a batch to its source, there is no way to trace a contaminated shipment if customers get sick.
No consumer advisory was posted for raw or undercooked menu items, meaning customers with compromised immune systems, elderly diners, pregnant women, and young children had no notice that certain dishes carried elevated risk.
Three intermediate violations added to the picture: multi-use utensils were not properly cleaned, cooling equipment was found inadequate, and single-use items were being reused.
What These Violations Mean
The parasite destruction failure is not a paperwork problem. Anisakis larvae, which live in the flesh of fish like cod, salmon, and herring, cause severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and in some cases require surgical removal. Trichinella, found in undercooked pork and wild game, can cause muscle pain and fever lasting weeks. The freezing and cooking protocols that prevent these outcomes exist precisely because the parasites are invisible to the naked eye and survive light cooking.
The handwashing technique violation compounds the surface sanitation failure. An employee who attempts to wash hands but uses improper technique, rushing the process or skipping specific steps, leaves pathogens on skin that then transfer to food or surfaces. Combined with food contact surfaces that were not properly sanitized, the inspection documented two overlapping contamination pathways operating at the same time.
The missing consumer advisory at Grill & Wings 88 is a legal requirement, not a courtesy. Florida requires restaurants serving raw or undercooked animal products to post a written warning. Without it, a customer with an autoimmune condition or a pregnant woman ordering a dish with undercooked fish had no information on which to base a safer choice.
Inadequate cold holding equipment is a systemic failure rather than a one-time lapse. A refrigerator that cannot maintain temperatures below 41 degrees allows bacteria including Salmonella and Listeria to multiply in every item stored inside it, across every hour the equipment runs short of standard.
The Longer Record
The May 19 inspection was not an aberration. State records show Grill & Wings 88 has accumulated 368 total violations across 30 inspections on record, and has been emergency-closed twice.
The first emergency closure came in September 2021 for roach activity. The restaurant reopened the following day. The second came in June 2023, again for rodent, roach, and fly activity, and again the restaurant reopened within 24 hours.
The inspection record since that second closure shows no sustained improvement. In December 2024, inspectors cited 11 high-severity violations in a single visit, the worst single-inspection total in the recent history visible in state records. In March 2024, the count was 7 high-severity violations. The October 2025 inspection matched May 2026 exactly: 6 high, 3 intermediate.
The April 2026 inspection, just six weeks before the May visit, found 3 high-severity and 2 intermediate violations. The May inspection more than doubled the high-severity count from that prior visit.
Open for Business
Florida's emergency closure authority applies when an inspector determines that conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. Six high-severity violations, including failures in parasite destruction, chemical storage, surface sanitation, and shellfish traceability, did not meet that threshold on May 19.
Grill & Wings 88 at 377 Cypress Pkwy remained open after the inspection.