MERRITT ISLAND, FL. State inspectors walked into Hibachi Buffet at 735 N. Courtenay Pkwy on June 29 and found that the restaurant was serving food sourced from suppliers that have not been approved or verified by state or federal regulators, one of the most serious categories of violation in Florida's food safety code.
That was one of ten high-severity violations documented that afternoon. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The unapproved food source citation is significant at any restaurant, but carries particular weight at a buffet operation where shellfish and fish are served. Inspectors separately cited the restaurant for failing to maintain shell stock identification records, which are the tags and logs that allow health officials to trace shellfish back to a specific harvest bed if customers get sick.
Parasite destruction procedures were also not being followed. For a hibachi-style buffet that serves fish, that means customers may have consumed fish that had not been properly frozen or cooked to kill parasites including Anisakis and tapeworm.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled, a violation that sits alongside the food sourcing and parasite citations as one of the three most acute risks documented that day.
A Cascade of Control Failures
The remaining high-severity violations point to a kitchen operating without functional oversight. No person in charge was present or performing supervisory duties. There was no written employee health policy. Employees were not reporting illness symptoms.
Those three violations together describe a workplace where a sick employee has no formal obligation to tell anyone, no manager is checking, and no written policy exists to require either.
Inspectors also found that handwashing technique was improper, meaning employees were attempting to wash their hands but doing it in a way that leaves pathogens behind. Food contact surfaces had not been properly cleaned or sanitized. Time as a public health control, a method that allows food to sit in the temperature danger zone for a defined window before being discarded, was not being used correctly.
Single-use items, such as gloves, cups, or foil, were being reused. Ventilation and lighting were inadequate.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of unapproved food sourcing and missing shellfish traceability records is not a paperwork problem. If a customer becomes ill after eating oysters or clams at this restaurant, health investigators would have no documentation to identify where those shellfish came from, which harvest bed, which date, which distributor. The trail ends at the restaurant's door.
The parasite destruction failure compounds that. Fish served at a buffet that has not been properly frozen or fully cooked can harbor Anisakis larvae, which cause severe abdominal pain and can require surgical removal, or tapeworm species that establish in the human gastrointestinal tract. These are not theoretical risks. They are the reason parasite destruction requirements exist in the code.
The illness reporting and health policy violations are what epidemiologists call outbreak enablers. Norovirus, which causes the majority of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States, spreads most efficiently when an infected food worker continues handling food without anyone knowing. A written health policy and a present, engaged manager are the two primary mechanisms that interrupt that chain. Neither was in place on June 29.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, combined with improper handwashing technique, mean that pathogens from raw proteins can transfer to ready-to-eat foods through cutting boards, prep surfaces, and workers' hands.
The Longer Record
This inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Hibachi Buffet has been inspected 19 times and has accumulated 189 total violations across its history, with zero emergency closures.
The pattern in the inspection log is consistent and specific. In September 2025, inspectors found 11 high-severity and 4 intermediate violations. A follow-up the next day showed zero. In April 2025, inspectors found 9 high-severity and 6 intermediate violations. A follow-up nine days later showed zero. In February of this year, inspectors found 8 high-severity and 2 intermediate violations. A follow-up two days later showed zero.
June 29 produced 10 high-severity violations. The cycle has repeated at least four times in the past 14 months: a heavy violation count on an initial inspection, a clean bill on the follow-up, then a return to high counts at the next routine visit.
That pattern suggests the restaurant is correcting violations when inspectors are present and returning to prior practices in between. The record does not show a facility that has solved these problems. It shows one that has passed follow-up inspections.
As of the June 29 inspection, Hibachi Buffet at 735 N. Courtenay Pkwy remained open to the public.
