ORLANDO, FL. Inspectors walked into the Hungry Howie's at 11774 E Colonial Drive on August 26, 2026, and found food not being cooked to required minimum temperatures, toxic chemicals stored improperly near food, and no written policy to keep sick employees from handling what customers eat. The restaurant collected six high-severity violations and two intermediate violations in that single visit. It was never closed.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooking violation is the most direct threat to anyone who ate there. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and inspectors documented that this location was not meeting required minimum cooking temperatures. At a pizza chain, that means toppings, not just the crust, are the hazard.
Inspectors also cited improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals. The violation indicates chemicals were positioned or identified in a way that created contamination risk for food being prepared nearby.
The third high-severity finding was the absence of a written employee health policy. Without one, there is no formal system to keep workers with active illness away from food preparation. Two more high-severity violations covered food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and parasite destruction procedures that were not being followed. The sixth high-severity citation was the absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items.
Staff were also found reusing single-use items, an intermediate violation, and the facility had inadequate ventilation and lighting.
What These Violations Mean
Undercooking is among the most direct routes from kitchen to emergency room. Poultry that does not reach 165 degrees can harbor live Salmonella. Pork and certain fish carry their own risks when temperature thresholds are skipped. At a pizza operation, where toppings are layered and cooking times vary by load, the margin for error is narrow.
The absence of an employee health policy compounds every other violation. Norovirus, one of the most contagious foodborne pathogens, spreads when sick workers handle food without any formal barrier. A written policy is the baseline mechanism that tells employees when to stay home and gives management a documented standard to enforce. Without it, the system depends entirely on individual judgment in the middle of a busy shift.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces are a primary transfer point for bacteria between ingredients, prep surfaces, and finished food. At this location, inspectors flagged both the cleaning failure and the parallel problem of single-use items being reused, meaning contamination risk was present at multiple points in the prep process.
Toxic chemicals stored near food create the possibility of acute poisoning from contamination or mislabeling. That violation sits alongside undercooking and unsanitized surfaces in the same inspection report, which is not a coincidence so much as a portrait of a kitchen operating without consistent safety discipline.
The Longer Record
The August 26 inspection does not represent a new low for this location. It represents a continuation. State records show 26 inspections on file for this address, with 215 total violations accumulated across that history.
The pattern in recent years is consistent. The inspection on August 25, 2026, the day before the visit detailed here, produced eight high-severity violations and four intermediate violations. The follow-up on September 2 brought the count down to one high and one intermediate, but the cycle that preceded it had already run its course. In November 2025, the location drew six high-severity violations and two intermediate ones. In April 2025, it was five high and four intermediate. In September 2024, six high and three intermediate. In May 2024, five high and three intermediate.
That is six consecutive inspection periods, spanning two years, each producing at least five high-severity violations. The location has never been emergency-closed.
Still Open
State inspectors returned on September 2, 2026, a week after the August 26 visit, and found one high-severity violation and one intermediate violation remaining. The correction was documented. The restaurant had been open and serving customers throughout.
The August 26 inspection, with its six high-severity citations covering undercooking, toxic chemical storage, unsanitized food contact surfaces, missing parasite destruction procedures, no employee health policy, and no consumer advisory, did not result in a closure order. Under Florida's inspection framework, emergency closure requires an immediate threat to public health. Regulators determined that threshold was not met.
The Hungry Howie's on East Colonial Drive has 215 violations on record across 26 inspections and has never been closed.
