SEBRING, FL. State inspectors visiting Hibachi Buffet on US Highway 27 on May 21 found food sourced from unknown or unapproved suppliers on the premises, a violation that means the restaurant was serving customers food that had bypassed federal safety inspection entirely.
That was one of six high-severity violations documented during the visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation stands out in any inspection report. When a restaurant cannot document where its food came from, there is no supply chain record to trace if a customer gets sick. The USDA and FDA inspections that licensed suppliers must pass exist specifically to screen for pathogens like Listeria and Salmonella before food reaches a kitchen. Food from an unknown source has cleared none of those checkpoints.
The chemical violations compound the picture. Inspectors cited the facility twice for issues involving toxic substances, once for improper storage or labeling and once for improper identification, storage, or use. The two citations together indicate chemicals were present near food in ways that created direct contamination risk.
Food contact surfaces were found not properly cleaned or sanitized. Combined with the intermediate citation for multi-use utensils not properly cleaned and a separate finding that the sanitizing solution or procedures were improper, the inspection describes a kitchen where the tools used to prepare food were not being adequately decontaminated between uses.
Employees were observed using improper handwashing technique. Even when a handwashing attempt is made, incorrect technique leaves pathogens on hands and transfers them directly to food. The inspector also noted that no person in charge was present or performing supervisory duties during the visit.
Single-use items were found being reused, a practice that introduces contamination from items designed to be discarded after one contact.
The Longer Record
The May 21 inspection is not an outlier. State records show Hibachi Buffet has been inspected 28 times and has accumulated 303 total violations across its history. Every inspection in the available prior record produced high-severity citations.
The most recent prior inspection, in November 2025, yielded seven high-severity and two intermediate violations. The one before that, in March 2025, produced five high-severity and three intermediate violations. Going back further, the pattern holds without exception: six high in March 2024, nine high in October 2023, six high in January 2023, seven high in September 2022.
The single prior emergency closure came on January 9, 2025, when inspectors found roach activity and ordered the restaurant shut. It reopened the following day. The inspection conducted on that reopening date, January 10, found two additional high-severity violations.
The facility has never, in the available inspection history, produced a clean report.
What These Violations Mean
The food sourcing violation carries consequences that extend beyond the day of the inspection. If a customer becomes ill after eating at Hibachi Buffet and the ingredient responsible came from an unverified supplier, investigators have no paper trail to follow. Licensed suppliers are traceable. Unknown sources are not. That traceability gap is the difference between a contained outbreak and an unresolved one.
The dual chemical violations describe a kitchen where substances capable of causing acute poisoning were not properly controlled. Mislabeled chemicals can be mistaken for food-safe products. Chemicals stored near food preparation areas can contaminate surfaces, equipment, or food directly. The two separate citations suggest the problem was not isolated to a single cabinet or container.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces and utensils, combined with a sanitizing solution that did not meet proper concentration or procedure standards, create conditions for bacterial transfer on every surface a food item touches. Bacterial biofilms can develop on inadequately cleaned utensils within 24 hours and resist standard cleaning once established.
The absence of a person in charge during an inspection is consistently associated with higher violation counts across facilities statewide. CDC data links establishments without active managerial oversight to three times more critical violations than those with engaged management present. At Hibachi Buffet, that management gap was documented during a visit that also turned up food from unknown sources, improperly handled chemicals, and unsanitized food contact surfaces.
Open for Business
State inspectors documented all nine violations on May 21 and left the restaurant open.
Hibachi Buffet has now accumulated six or more high-severity violations in at least six of the eight most recent inspections on record. The facility has 303 total violations across 28 inspections and one prior emergency closure for roaches. After the May visit, it continued serving customers on US Highway 27 in Sebring.