JACKSONVILLE, FL. Fuji Buffet on Dunn Avenue drew the week's most alarming inspection report, with 10 high-severity violations documented in a single visit, including food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers and no written employee health policy in place.
State inspectors visited 15 Jacksonville-area restaurants between April 20 and April 26, 2026, and found high-severity violations at every one of them. The week's findings ranged from unapproved food sources and parasite destruction failures to improperly stored toxic chemicals and employees not reporting illness symptoms.
The Worst of the Week
Fuji Buffet's violations this week included inadequate shellfish identification records, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, improper use of time as a public health control, and employees observed using improper handwashing technique. Inspectors also found no employee health policy and no mechanism for workers to report illness symptoms.
JVille Seafood and More on Blanding Boulevard came in second with nine high-severity violations. Inspectors cited the restaurant for food in poor condition, parasite destruction procedures not followed for fish, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, inadequate shellfish records, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
Charleys Wings Cheesesteaks on Dunn Avenue drew eight high-severity violations alongside seven intermediate citations, the highest combined intermediate count of the week. The high-severity list included food not cooked to required minimum temperature, toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, no allergen awareness demonstrated, and food in poor condition or adulterated.
Dua Lounge on Baymeadows Road also received eight high-severity violations. Inspectors found inadequate handwashing facilities, food from unapproved or unknown sources, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods. No person in charge was present or performing duties during the inspection.
Sara's of San Marco on Hendricks Avenue matched that count with eight high-severity violations of its own, including food contaminated by chemical, physical, or biological hazards, food in poor condition, inadequate shellfish identification records, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled.
Familiar Names, Serious Findings
Doubletree by Hilton on Riverplace Boulevard received seven high-severity violations. Inspectors found no person in charge present, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Sahara Cafe on Beach Boulevard also drew seven high-severity violations, including two separate chemical-related citations: toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Inspectors also found no person in charge, no employee health policy, no consumer advisory for raw foods, and improperly cleaned food contact surfaces.
Jimmy John's on North Laura Street received six high-severity violations, among them a citation for parasite destruction procedures not followed, a serious finding for a sandwich chain that serves fish. Inspectors also documented toxic chemicals improperly stored, no allergen awareness demonstrated, and improper handwashing technique.
Cowford Chophouse on East Bay Street drew six high-severity violations including food not cooked to required minimum temperature, time as a public health control not properly used, two separate toxic substance violations, no allergen awareness, and inadequate handwashing by food employees. Inspectors also documented improper sewage or wastewater disposal as an intermediate violation.
Chart House on River Place Boulevard received six high-severity violations, including food from unapproved or unknown sources and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. No person in charge was present during the inspection.
Metro Diner on Hendricks Avenue, China Dragon on Baymeadow Road, and Hello Lumpia on Atlantic Boulevard each received six high-severity violations. China Dragon was cited for inadequate handwashing facilities alongside improper technique, no allergen awareness, and toxic chemicals improperly stored. Hello Lumpia, which has only two prior inspections on record, was cited for parasite destruction procedures not followed, inadequate shellfish identification records, and no allergen awareness.
Wasabi Japanese Steakhouse on Rivercoast Drive received the week's lowest high-severity count among the flagged facilities, with two violations: no person in charge present, and an employee not reporting symptoms of illness.
Chelsea's Bar and Grille on Baymeadows Road was the only facility this week to avoid a high-severity citation, drawing one intermediate violation for single-use items improperly reused.
What These Violations Mean
The most widespread violation this week was employees not reporting symptoms of illness, cited at twelve of the fifteen facilities, including Fuji Buffet, JVille Seafood and More, Charleys Wings Cheesesteaks, Dua Lounge, Sara's of San Marco, Doubletree by Hilton, Sahara Cafe, Jimmy John's, Metro Diner, China Dragon, Hello Lumpia, and Wasabi Japanese Steakhouse. Food workers who are sick with Norovirus can contaminate hundreds of meals before a single customer reports symptoms. The violation does not require an employee to actually be ill. It means the facility has no documented mechanism to catch the problem before it spreads.
Food from unapproved or unknown sources, cited at Fuji Buffet, Dua Lounge, and Chart House, carries a specific traceability problem. When a customer gets sick and investigators need to trace the source, unapproved suppliers are invisible. There are no USDA or FDA inspection records, no harvest tags, no delivery logs to follow.
Parasite destruction failures, cited at JVille Seafood and More, Jimmy John's, and Hello Lumpia, mean that fish served at those locations may not have been frozen to temperatures required to kill parasites including Anisakis. This is a direct food safety failure, not a paperwork problem.
The toxic chemical violations at Charleys Wings Cheesesteaks, Sara's of San Marco, Sahara Cafe, Jimmy John's, Cowford Chophouse, Chart House, Metro Diner, and China Dragon represent a different category of risk. Cleaners and sanitizers stored near or above food preparation surfaces can contaminate food directly, and mislabeled chemical containers have caused acute poisonings in restaurant settings.
The Longer Record
Wasabi Japanese Steakhouse has 51 prior inspections on record, the longest history of any facility cited this week. That volume of inspections across years means this week's violations, including a missing person in charge and an employee illness reporting failure, are part of a pattern that state inspectors have visited repeatedly.
Fuji Buffet has 32 prior inspections on record and produced the week's worst single-visit high-severity count. Sahara Cafe and China Dragon each have 29 prior inspections. Sara's of San Marco has 24, and the Doubletree by Hilton and Chart House each have 23. These are not new facilities working through initial compliance. These are established operations with long inspection histories.
Charleys Wings Cheesesteaks has only three prior inspections on record and already produced eight high-severity violations this week, the joint-highest total alongside Dua Lounge and Sara's of San Marco. Hello Lumpia has just two prior inspections and was cited for six high-severity violations including parasite destruction failures. JVille Seafood and More has seven prior inspections and drew nine high-severity violations.
Cowford Chophouse has 17 prior inspections on record. This week's findings at the East Bay Street location included improper sewage or wastewater disposal, a violation that inspectors had not yet resolved by the time the report was filed.