ORLANDO, FL. Inspectors visiting Hungry Crab on South Apopka Vineland Road on May 13 found the restaurant could not document where its shellfish came from, a violation that state records flag as a direct risk of Listeria and Salmonella contamination in food consumed raw or lightly cooked. The restaurant collected six high-severity violations that day. It was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The shellfish violations are the most acute concern for a restaurant built around seafood. Inspectors cited both food from an unapproved or unknown source and inadequate shell stock identification records. Those two violations together mean the restaurant lacked the paperwork to show where its oysters, clams, or mussels came from, and that the supply chain itself may not have been subject to USDA or FDA oversight.
The restaurant also had no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods. That notice is the only mechanism by which a customer, say a pregnant woman or an elderly diner with a compromised immune system, would know to avoid certain menu items.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled. That citation places cleaning agents or other hazardous substances in proximity to food or food-contact surfaces, a scenario that can cause acute poisoning without any visible sign of contamination.
The person in charge was either absent or not actively performing supervisory duties. Inspectors also documented improper hand and arm washing technique among staff. These two violations compound each other: without active management oversight, technique failures go uncorrected.
Three intermediate violations rounded out the inspection: multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities.
What These Violations Mean
The shellfish sourcing violations carry a specific and serious risk at a seafood restaurant. Shellfish consumed raw or lightly cooked, such as oysters on the half shell, are among the highest-risk foods in any kitchen. When a restaurant cannot produce shell stock identification records, there is no chain of custody. If a customer gets sick, investigators have no records to trace the illness back to a harvest site or processor.
Food from an unapproved source compounds that problem. Suppliers in the regulated supply chain are subject to inspection and must meet federal safety standards. Food that bypasses that system may harbor Listeria, Salmonella, or Vibrio, pathogens that can cause severe illness or death in vulnerable populations.
The missing consumer advisory matters in the same context. Hungry Crab is a seafood restaurant. Customers who are pregnant, elderly, or immunocompromised face elevated risk from raw or undercooked shellfish and need that information at the point of ordering.
The improper chemical storage citation is a separate category of risk. Mislabeled or improperly stored cleaning agents near food preparation areas can contaminate food without any detectable change in appearance or smell. Customers would have no way of knowing.
The Longer Record
Hungry Crab Inspection History
Across 12 inspections on record, Hungry Crab has accumulated 121 total violations. The May 13 inspection was not an outlier. It was the eighth consecutive inspection to produce multiple high-severity citations.
The single worst inspection on record was April 16, 2024, when inspectors documented 10 high-severity and 5 intermediate violations in a single visit. That was followed by a November 2024 visit with fewer citations, then a return to 7 high-severity violations in April 2025. The pattern has not meaningfully improved.
The restaurant has never been emergency-closed. In the two weeks before the May 13 inspection, a visit on April 29 had already produced 5 high-severity violations. Inspectors returned two weeks later and found six.
The May 13 inspection ended, the inspector left, and Hungry Crab remained open for business.