CLERMONT, FL. A state inspector visiting Hibachi Express on Citrus Tower Boulevard on May 27 found food being sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, a violation that means the meat, produce, or other ingredients on customer plates had bypassed federal safety inspections entirely, with no traceability if someone got sick.
That was one of ten high-severity violations documented in a single inspection. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The food-sourcing violation is serious on its own. Add to it food found in poor condition or adulterated, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and the inspection describes a kitchen where contamination had multiple entry points on a single afternoon.
The inspector also documented that the restaurant had no written employee health policy and that employees were not reporting symptoms of illness. Those two violations work together: without a policy requiring workers to disclose when they are sick, and without workers actually reporting symptoms, a contagious employee can move through a kitchen shift without anyone stopping them.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled, a finding that puts them in proximity to food preparation. Inspectors also noted no demonstrated allergen awareness among staff, a gap that affects the roughly 32 million Americans with food allergies who rely on restaurant employees to know what is in a dish before they order it.
Three intermediate violations rounded out the report: multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, inadequate cooling and cold-holding equipment, and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved sources is not a paperwork problem. When ingredients enter a kitchen outside the licensed supply chain, there is no federal inspection record, no chain of custody, and no way to trace an illness back to a specific batch or supplier if customers become sick. Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli have all been linked to uninspected food sources.
The combination of no employee health policy and employees not reporting symptoms is what state investigators describe as an outbreak enabler. Norovirus, which causes the majority of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States, spreads directly from sick food workers to customers through food they handle. A written policy alone is not enough; inspectors found both the policy was absent and that workers were not disclosing symptoms regardless.
Undercooking is its own separate risk. Salmonella in poultry requires an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit to be destroyed. At a hibachi restaurant where proteins are cooked to order in front of customers, the margin for error is visible but not always measurable by a diner. Inspectors documented that food was not reaching required minimums.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces and multi-use utensils that were not properly cleaned compound every other risk on the list. A cutting board or prep surface that carries residue from a prior protein becomes a transfer point for whatever pathogen that protein carried, to every food item prepared on that surface afterward.
The Longer Record
Hibachi Express: Inspection History
The May 27 inspection was not an aberration. State records show Hibachi Express has accumulated 245 violations across 25 inspections on record. The restaurant has reached ten high-severity violations in a single inspection three times: May 27, 2026; January 22, 2025; and May 9, 2023.
The day after the May 27 inspection, a follow-up visit still found seven high-severity violations and two intermediate ones. The problems documented on May 27 were not resolved overnight.
No emergency closure has ever been ordered at this location. The January 2025 inspection, which also reached ten high-severity violations, did not result in a closure. Neither did the identical count in May 2023. The pattern across three years shows the same ceiling reached repeatedly, with the restaurant continuing to operate through each cycle.
Hibachi Express on Citrus Tower Boulevard remained open after the May 27 inspection, with ten high-severity violations on the books and a follow-up the next day that found seven more.