TAMPA, FL. A state inspector visiting Grillsmith Carrollwood on North Dale Mabry Highway on May 18 found that the restaurant was serving food that had not been cooked to required minimum temperatures, with no person in charge present or performing duties, and no procedures in place to destroy parasites in fish or other high-risk proteins.
The inspection documented six high-severity violations and two intermediate violations. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooked food violation is the most direct threat to anyone who ate there that day. Salmonella survives in poultry that does not reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A single serving can cause illness serious enough to require hospitalization.
The parasite destruction citation compounded that risk. When fish, pork, or wild game is not properly frozen or cooked before service, parasites including Anisakis and Trichinella can survive and infect customers. The inspector found the restaurant had not followed the procedures required to eliminate that risk.
Shell stock records were also inadequate. Grillsmith Carrollwood serves shellfish, and without proper tagging and sourcing records, there is no way to trace an oyster or clam back to its harvest bed if a customer becomes ill.
No consumer advisory was posted for raw or undercooked items. That notice is required specifically to warn elderly diners, pregnant women, young children, and anyone with a compromised immune system that certain menu items carry elevated risk.
Inspectors also cited improper sewage or wastewater disposal, an intermediate violation that carries its own contamination risk throughout the facility.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no person in charge and no employee illness reporting is what food safety investigators call a management failure cascade. CDC data indicates that establishments without active managerial control accumulate critical violations at roughly three times the rate of those with a manager actively on the floor. When no one is accountable for food safety protocols in real time, the other violations on this list become more likely, not less.
The illness reporting failure is separately alarming. Food workers who do not report symptoms of illness are the leading cause of multi-victim outbreaks. Norovirus, in particular, spreads rapidly when an infected employee continues to handle food. A single sick worker without reporting requirements in place can expose dozens of customers in a single shift.
The shellfish traceability violation matters most after the fact. If a customer falls ill from a contaminated oyster or clam, public health investigators need harvest records to identify the source and pull product from other locations. Without those records, the investigation stops before it starts.
Improper use of wiping cloths, the second intermediate violation, is a cross-contamination vehicle. A cloth used on a raw protein surface and then used on a prep area or utensil moves pathogens across the kitchen without any visible sign that it has happened.
The Longer Record
This was not a bad week in an otherwise clean history. The May 2026 inspection is the worst single visit on record for Grillsmith Carrollwood, but it sits inside a pattern that goes back years.
The restaurant has 25 inspections on record and 225 total violations. The October 2025 inspection produced five high-severity and three intermediate violations. The June 2025 inspection produced three high-severity and two intermediate violations. The January 2025 visits, two within eight days of each other, produced a combined four high-severity violations.
December 2023 produced six high-severity violations in a single inspection, matching the count from May 2026. That visit came just ten days after a clean inspection with zero high-severity findings, which suggests the December 2023 problems were not a slow accumulation but a sudden operational breakdown.
Grillsmith Carrollwood has never been emergency-closed in 25 inspections. That is a fact the record holds alongside 225 total violations and a pattern of recurring high-severity citations across multiple years.
Still Open
Florida's emergency closure authority is triggered when an inspector determines that continued operation poses an immediate threat to public health. Six high-severity violations on May 18, including undercooked food, failed parasite destruction procedures, and no manager on duty, did not meet that threshold at Grillsmith Carrollwood.
The restaurant on North Dale Mabry remained open after the inspection.