OVIEDO, FL. Employees at a Mexican restaurant on Eyrie Drive were not following procedures to destroy parasites in fish and other proteins, state inspectors found during a May 27 visit, one of seven high-severity violations documented at a facility that has accumulated 484 violations across 43 inspections and was not ordered to close.
The restaurant, Habaneros Mexican Grill #5 at 829 Eyrie Dr., also drew citations for employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, inadequate shell stock identification records, no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods, and no person in charge present or performing duties.
Five intermediate violations accompanied the seven high-severity citations. Those included improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, single-use items being reused, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities.
What Inspectors Found
The parasite destruction failure is among the most direct food safety risks documented in the May inspection. When fish, pork, or wild game is served without proper freezing protocols or verified cooking temperatures, parasites including Anisakis and Trichinella can survive and infect customers. The violation matters especially at a Mexican grill, where dishes featuring fish or cured proteins are common.
The illness reporting failure compounds that risk. Food workers who do not report symptoms are the primary driver of multi-victim outbreaks, particularly for norovirus, which spreads rapidly through a kitchen and onto food surfaces. At Habaneros on May 27, inspectors found that reporting protocols were not in place or not being followed.
Improper handwashing technique means that even when an employee attempts to wash their hands, pathogens remain. Combined with food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, the inspection described a kitchen where contamination had multiple uncontrolled pathways to customers' plates.
What These Violations Mean
The absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods is not a paperwork issue. Pregnant women, elderly customers, and anyone with a compromised immune system rely on that posted notice to make informed choices. Without it, those customers have no way of knowing a dish carries elevated risk.
The shell stock identification failure carries a separate and specific danger. Shellfish consumed raw or lightly cooked, including oysters and clams, must be traceable to their harvest source. Without that documentation, if a customer becomes ill from contaminated shellfish, public health investigators cannot identify the source or pull product from other restaurants receiving the same supply.
Improper sewage or wastewater disposal, cited as an intermediate violation, introduces fecal contamination risk throughout the facility. That violation, alongside inadequate toilet facilities, creates conditions where the basic hygiene infrastructure employees need is compromised before they ever reach a food prep station.
The citation for no person in charge present or performing duties connects all of the other violations. CDC data consistently shows that restaurants without active managerial oversight accumulate critical violations at roughly three times the rate of those with engaged management on the floor. On May 27, that oversight was absent.
The Longer Record
Habaneros Mexican Grill #5: Inspection History
The May 2026 inspection is not an outlier. Across 43 inspections on record, Habaneros Mexican Grill #5 has accumulated 484 total violations. The most recent eight inspections alone show a sustained pattern of high-severity citations, with totals of 11, 8, 5, 2, 3, 7, 8, and now 7 high-severity violations in consecutive visits dating to October 2023.
The restaurant was emergency-closed once, in October 2023, after inspectors found roach and fly activity alongside 11 high-severity violations. It reopened the same day. In the 31 months since that closure, the high-severity violation counts have not dropped below two in any documented inspection.
The October 2025 inspection, seven months before this one, produced eight high-severity violations and four intermediate citations. The May 2025 inspection produced seven high-severity violations. The pattern of violations in the same categories, management failures, food handling technique, and traceability gaps, recurs across multiple inspection cycles without apparent resolution.
After the May 27, 2026 inspection, with seven high-severity violations including failures in parasite destruction, illness reporting, handwashing, and surface sanitation, Habaneros Mexican Grill #5 on Eyrie Drive remained open.