HIGHLANDS COUNTY, FL. A Sebring Subway location on US Highway 98 was cited for seven high-severity violations in a single inspection last week, including an employee failing to report illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, and food in poor condition — findings that put it in a tie for the worst performance in the county with a Village Inn just down the road.
State inspectors swept 16 Highlands County facilities during the week of August 7 through August 13, 2026. Ten of those 16 came back with two or more high-severity violations. That is a 62.5 percent failure rate among facilities inspected, across a county whose restaurant corridor runs almost entirely along US Highway 27 through Sebring and into Avon Park.
The Two Worst Facilities
Village Inn Restaurant #26 at 3101 US Highway 27 South drew seven high-severity citations. Inspectors flagged the person in charge as absent or not performing duties, documented improper handwashing technique, found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, and cited improperly cleaned food contact surfaces. Two additional high-severity violations involved the misuse of time as a public health control and the failure to post a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
The seventh high-severity violation at Village Inn involved required procedures for specialized food processes not being followed. Three intermediate violations accompanied those findings, including inadequate ventilation and lighting.
Subway at 6126 US Highway 98 matched that high-severity count. An employee was not reporting illness symptoms, a violation inspectors classified as an outbreak enabler. The facility also lacked adequate handwashing infrastructure and employees were observed using improper technique when they did attempt to wash. Food in poor condition was documented, along with a citation for inadequate shell stock identification records and a failure to follow parasite destruction procedures for fish.
That last citation at the Highway 98 Subway is notable at a sandwich shop. Parasite destruction requires fish to be frozen to specific temperatures for specific durations before service. The intermediate violation at that location involved improper sewage or wastewater disposal.
The Rest of the Worst
Brewhahas Burger Emporium at 301 Circle Park Drive collected five high-severity violations with zero intermediate citations. The facility had no written employee health policy, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, misuse of time as a public health control, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items, and toxic chemicals stored or labeled improperly near food.
Dairy Queen at 3359 US Highway 27 South was cited for four high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved or unknown source, failure to follow parasite destruction procedures, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. Two intermediate violations also appeared: multi-use utensils not properly cleaned and inadequate cooling or cold-holding equipment.
Dunkin Donuts at 201 US Highway 27 North in Avon Park drew three high-severity violations for food from an unapproved source, failure to follow parasite destruction procedures, and improperly cleaned food contact surfaces. Both intermediate violations mirrored Dairy Queen's: unclean multi-use utensils and inadequate cooling equipment.
Three facilities each logged two high-severity violations. Subway at 910 Sebring Square was cited for inadequate handwashing facilities and failure to follow required procedures for specialized processes, along with improper sewage disposal and inadequate cooling equipment. Domino's Pizza 5036 at 313 US Highway 27 North drew citations for parasite destruction failures and improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, plus inadequate cooling equipment. The breakfast kitchen at Sebring Hotel, 6525 US Highway 27 North, was cited for inadequate handwashing by food employees and food not cooked to the required minimum internal temperature.
Pizza Hut #4649 at 2109 US Highway 27 South received two high-severity violations for food from an unapproved source and failure to follow required procedures for specialized processes. Subway at 3212 US Highway 27 South drew two high-severity citations for an employee not reporting illness symptoms and improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, plus sewage disposal and ventilation violations at the intermediate level.
What These Violations Mean
The single most acute public health risk documented this week was the employee illness reporting failure at both the Highway 98 Subway and the Highway 27 South Subway. Food workers who do not report illness symptoms are the primary driver of multi-victim outbreaks. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness in the United States, spreads through direct contamination from an infected worker's hands to food. A single ill employee can expose dozens of customers before anyone knows an outbreak has begun.
The handwashing failures across multiple locations compound that risk directly. Inadequate handwashing facilities were cited at the Highway 98 Subway and the Sebring Square Subway. Improper technique was documented at both Village Inn and the Highway 98 Subway. The Sebring Hotel breakfast kitchen was cited for inadequate handwashing by employees. These are not duplicative violations. A facility can have a working sink and still have employees using it incorrectly. Both conditions are required for hand hygiene to function as a barrier to contamination.
Food from unapproved or unknown sources, cited at Village Inn, Dairy Queen, Dunkin Donuts, and Pizza Hut, removes the traceability chain entirely. When a customer gets sick, investigators trace illness back through the supply chain to identify the contaminated lot and issue recalls. Food bought outside approved channels has no such chain. If someone becomes ill after eating at one of these locations, identifying the source becomes significantly harder.
Toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, documented at both Brewhahas and Dairy Queen, represent a different category of risk entirely. Chemical poisoning from improperly stored cleaning agents or pesticides near food can cause acute illness within minutes of ingestion. It does not require a bacterial incubation period.
The Longer Record
Village Inn Restaurant #26 carries the longest inspection history of any facility flagged this week. Its state record identifier, SEA3800331, places it among the earliest-registered facilities in the county's database. Seven high-severity violations in a single inspection at a long-established location suggests these are not startup-phase compliance gaps.
The Highway 98 Subway's record, SEA3801008, and the Sebring Square Subway, SEA3801158, and the Highway 27 South Subway, SEA3800929, represent three separate Subway franchise locations in Sebring facing high-severity violations in the same week. The three locations collectively account for eleven high-severity citations and six intermediate violations. The illness-reporting failure and sewage disposal citation at two separate Subway locations in the same county in the same week is the kind of pattern that warrants attention beyond any single inspection report.
Dairy Queen's record number, SEA3800336, places it in the same early-registration tier as Village Inn, suggesting a well-established facility. Finding food from an unapproved source and improperly stored toxic chemicals at a location with that length of operating history is a different finding than encountering them at a newer establishment.
Brewhahas Burger Emporium, registered as SEA3801212, carries a higher record number consistent with a more recently established facility. Five high-severity violations at a newer location, including no written employee health policy and improperly stored chemicals, raises questions about whether foundational food safety infrastructure was ever put in place. The Sebring Hotel breakfast kitchen, SEA3800447, is among the older registrations in the dataset and was still cited for food not reaching minimum cooking temperatures, one of the most fundamental and long-standing food safety requirements in the code.
