TEMPLE TERRACE, FL. A state inspector visiting Hyderabad Biryani House on Fowler Avenue on May 29 found that the restaurant was not following parasite destruction procedures, a failure that can leave live parasites including Anisakis and tapeworm in fish and pork served to customers. That violation was one of seven high-severity citations documented during the visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The parasite destruction citation is among the most serious on the list. Proper freezing or cooking protocols exist precisely to kill organisms like Anisakis in fish and Trichinella in pork before they reach a plate. When those protocols are not followed, the food moves from kitchen to customer with no safeguard in place.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled. Chemicals stored near or above food preparation areas can contaminate food directly, and mislabeled containers create the conditions for accidental poisoning.
Inspectors also cited the restaurant for inadequate shellfish traceability records. Oysters, clams, and mussels are high-risk foods, and without proper shell stock tags, there is no way to trace the source if a customer becomes ill. That paper trail exists for exactly one reason: outbreak investigation.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and a separate intermediate violation found that sanitizing solution itself was improper. The combination means surfaces used to prepare food were not being adequately decontaminated, and the chemical meant to finish that job was also failing.
Two additional high-severity violations pointed to systemic gaps. The restaurant had no written employee health policy, meaning no formal process existed to keep sick workers out of food preparation. Inspectors also documented improper handwashing technique, meaning that even when employees attempted to wash their hands, the method left pathogens behind.
Customers who ordered dishes containing raw or undercooked ingredients were given no advisory warning them of the risk. That violation matters most for elderly diners, pregnant women, and anyone with a compromised immune system.
What These Violations Mean
The parasite destruction failure is not a paperwork problem. Fish and pork served without verified freezing or cooking protocols can carry live parasites into a customer's digestive system. Anisakis, found in raw or undercooked fish, causes intense abdominal pain and can require surgical removal. The procedure to prevent this is straightforward, and its absence at Hyderabad Biryani House on May 29 was flagged as a high-severity violation.
The shellfish traceability failure compounds the risk in a different direction. If a customer falls ill after eating oysters or clams, health investigators need the shell stock tags to identify the harvest location and pull product from the supply chain. Without those records, an outbreak investigation stalls at the first step.
The combination of improperly cleaned food contact surfaces and a failing sanitizer solution is particularly layered. Cutting boards, prep surfaces, and utensils that are not properly sanitized become transfer points for bacteria including Salmonella and E. coli. When the sanitizing solution meant to address that is also at the wrong concentration, there is no corrective step left in the process.
The absence of an employee health policy means the restaurant had no formal mechanism to identify and exclude workers showing symptoms of Norovirus, Hepatitis A, or other communicable illnesses. Norovirus alone accounts for roughly 20 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States each year, and food workers are a primary transmission route.
The Longer Record
The May 29 inspection was not an outlier. State records show Hyderabad Biryani House has been inspected 29 times and has accumulated 278 total violations across that history. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
The three most recent inspections before May 29 each produced seven high-severity violations. The April 13 inspection found seven high and three intermediate violations. The March 31 inspection found the same: seven high, three intermediate. The January 7 inspection found four high-severity violations.
That means in the five months between January and May 2026, inspectors documented a combined 29 high-severity violations across four visits. The categories have not changed in any meaningful way across that stretch.
Going further back, the December 17, 2024 inspection also produced seven high-severity violations and three intermediate ones. The April 2024 inspection found five high-severity violations. The pattern across eight documented inspections is consistent: this restaurant has not had a single inspection in recent years that came back clean.
Still Open
Florida's emergency closure authority is triggered when an inspector determines that conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. Seven high-severity violations on May 29, following two prior inspections at the same level, did not result in a closure order.
Hyderabad Biryani House on Fowler Avenue was open for business after the inspection.