HOWEY IN THE HILLS, FL. A state inspector visiting Grove House at 10400 CR 48 on June 24 found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, a violation that means some of what was served that day had never passed a USDA or FDA safety inspection. The facility was not closed.
The June inspection produced seven high-severity violations and four intermediate violations. State records show the restaurant has now accumulated 141 total violations across 21 inspections on record.
What Inspectors Found
The unapproved food source violation is serious on its own. The shellfish traceability citation compounds it. Inspectors found inadequate shell stock identification records, meaning there was no documentation showing where the oysters, clams, or mussels served at Grove House originated.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled near food. That violation, combined with the two sourcing citations, means customers on June 24 were exposed to risks on multiple independent fronts simultaneously.
The inspector also cited Grove House for having no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods, for food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, for employees using improper handwashing technique, and for having no adequate employee health policy. The intermediate violations included improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and improper use of wiping cloths.
What These Violations Mean
The food from unapproved sources violation is not a paperwork problem. Suppliers that operate outside USDA and FDA oversight are not subject to routine safety inspections. If someone becomes ill after eating at Grove House and the source of the food cannot be traced, investigators have nowhere to start. The shellfish citation sharpens that risk considerably. Oysters, clams, and mussels are frequently consumed raw or lightly cooked, and shellfish are among the most common vehicles for Norovirus and Vibrio infections. Without shell stock identification tags on file, there is no way to connect a sick customer to a specific harvest lot or growing region.
The absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods matters most to the people least equipped to absorb the risk. Elderly diners, pregnant women, young children, and anyone with a compromised immune system rely on that posted notice to make an informed choice about what they order. Grove House gave them no such notice on June 24.
Improperly stored toxic chemicals near food represent an acute, immediate hazard. Mislabeled or misplaced cleaning agents can contaminate food directly, and the symptoms of chemical ingestion can be severe enough to require emergency medical care. The improper sewage disposal citation, an intermediate violation, adds a fecal contamination pathway to a list of risks that was already long before that finding was written down.
The Longer Record
The June 24 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Grove House has been inspected 21 times and has accumulated 141 total violations. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
The prior inspection history shows a facility that has cycled through high-severity violations repeatedly without the pattern breaking. The November 2025 inspection produced seven high-severity violations and one intermediate, the same high-severity count as June 2026. The June 2025 inspection found four high-severity violations. The December 2024 inspection found five. Going back further, the May 2023 inspection found eight high-severity violations with no intermediate violations, the single highest high-severity count in the available history.
The only clean inspection on record in recent years was May 30, 2023, four days after the eight-violation inspection. That gap is worth noting: a facility can pass an inspection and fail the next one. The record since that clean visit includes 23 high-severity violations across five inspections before June 2026 was even counted.
Grove House has never been cited for emergency closure across all 21 inspections on record. That fact belongs alongside the 141 total violations and the seven high-severity findings from June 24. The restaurant remained open after the latest inspection.
