PORT CHARLOTTE, FL. State inspectors walked into Inka Grill Peruvian Cuisine at 1900 Tamiami Trail on August 12 and documented food coming from unapproved or unknown sources, a finding that means there is no paper trail to follow if a customer gets sick.
That was one of eleven high-severity violations cited that day. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The inspection record lists eleven high-severity violations in total. Beyond the unapproved food sourcing, inspectors cited food in poor condition or adulterated, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and improper use of time as a public health control. All three violations can put pathogens directly on a customer's plate.
Inspectors also cited inadequate shell stock identification records. Shellfish served without proper tagging cannot be traced to a harvest location or date if someone becomes ill.
The remaining high-severity findings covered the full chain of food handling. No person in charge was present or performing duties. An employee was not reporting symptoms of illness. Handwashing technique was improper. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. No consumer advisory was posted for raw or undercooked foods. And no allergen awareness was demonstrated by staff.
Six intermediate violations accompanied the eleven high-severity ones. Inspectors documented multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, single-use items being reused, improper use of wiping cloths, inadequate ventilation and lighting, improper waste disposal, and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities.
What These Violations Mean
Food from an unapproved or unknown source is one of the most consequential violations an inspector can write. USDA and FDA inspections exist to screen for Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli before food reaches a kitchen. When a restaurant bypasses that system, there is no way to trace contamination back to its origin if customers fall ill.
Undercooking compounds that risk. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. When food arrives from an uninspected source and is then undercooked, two of the most basic safeguards in food service fail at the same time, at Inka Grill, on the same inspection day.
The illness-reporting and handwashing violations close the loop. An employee who does not report symptoms and does not wash hands properly is a direct transmission route from an infected person to a customer's food. CDC data links this combination to multi-victim outbreaks, not isolated incidents.
The allergen finding is a separate category of danger. Food allergies affect 32 million Americans and cause roughly 30,000 emergency room visits annually. When staff cannot demonstrate allergen awareness, customers with serious allergies who ask about ingredients cannot trust the answer they receive. At Inka Grill, that failure was documented by the state on August 12.
The Longer Record
The August 12 inspection was not the first time Inka Grill accumulated a serious violation count in a single visit. State records show eleven inspections on file for this location, with 122 total violations across that history.
The inspection on March 6, 2026 produced eight high-severity and four intermediate violations. The September 2, 2025 inspection produced nine high-severity and one intermediate violation. The restaurant passed clean inspections on April 23, 2025 and March 11, 2026, which means the pattern is not one of steady accumulation. It is one of sharp spikes, brief recoveries, and then another spike.
August 12 was the worst single-day total in the record, at eleven high-severity violations. The follow-up inspection on August 13 found two high-severity and three intermediate violations remaining, a reduction but not a clean bill.
Inka Grill has never been emergency-closed in its inspection history. That fact sits alongside a record that includes food from unapproved sources, repeated high violation counts across multiple inspection cycles, and a September 2025 visit that itself produced nine high-severity citations.
Open for Business
State inspectors documented eleven high-severity violations at Inka Grill on August 12, 2026, including food from unknown sources, undercooking, no allergen awareness, and an employee not reporting illness symptoms.
The restaurant remained open.
