JACKSONVILLE, FL. Morton's The Steakhouse on East Coastline Drive drew 10 high-severity violations in a single inspection during the week of May 11, 2026, the highest count among 15 Duval County restaurants cited for serious health code failures.
The violations at Morton's included food from unapproved or unknown sources, inadequate shellfish identification records, and improperly cleaned food contact surfaces. Inspectors also cited the restaurant for no written employee health policy, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, and multiple handwashing failures including improper technique.
That is a rare convergence of breakdowns: sourcing, hygiene, and illness reporting all failing in the same kitchen during the same visit.
The Week's Worst Findings
Dapper D's Cigars and Restaurant on North Ocean Street was second on the list with eight high-severity violations. Inspectors cited the restaurant for food in poor condition, failure to follow parasite destruction procedures for fish, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and improperly stored toxic chemicals. The restaurant also had no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods.
Dapper D's was also cited for time not being properly used as a public health control, meaning food was held in the temperature danger zone longer than permitted without documentation or corrective action.
Hard Pressed Burgers on Hendricks Avenue followed with seven high-severity violations, including no employee health policy, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, inadequate shellfish identification records, parasite destruction failures, food not cooked to minimum temperature, and time-as-public-health-control violations. Inspectors also noted multi-use utensils that were not properly cleaned.
Element Bistro, Bar and Lounge at 333 East Bay Street drew six high-severity violations. The list included no employee health policy, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. Inspectors also noted that single-use items were being reused.
Rainbow Sushi on Beach Boulevard was cited for five high-severity violations, among them inadequate shellfish identification records, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, improperly stored chemicals, and no allergen awareness demonstrated by staff. The allergen citation is notable at a sushi restaurant, where fish species substitution and cross-contact with common allergens like shellfish and sesame are established risks.
Lamai Thai on Argyle Forest Boulevard also drew five high-severity violations, and the first one on the list is telling: no person in charge was present or performing duties during the inspection. The remaining violations, including an employee not reporting illness symptoms, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, no consumer advisory, and toxic chemicals improperly stored, all followed from that absence of oversight.
Further Down the List
Splitz on Youngerman Circle was cited for four high-severity violations, including inadequate handwashing facilities, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and two separate chemical storage failures. Intermediate violations included improper sewage or wastewater disposal and inadequate toilet facilities, a combination that signals infrastructure problems beyond the kitchen.
Seven Wonders Bakery and Grill on Timuquana Road drew four high-severity violations including food from an unapproved or unknown source, food in poor condition, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and no employee health policy.
Seasons 52 on Big Island Drive and Moe's Southwest Grill on Applecross Road each received four high-severity violations, with nearly identical citation profiles: improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and two chemical storage violations. Both also had inadequate or improperly maintained facilities noted in intermediate violations.
Blue Fish on St. Johns Avenue was cited for food from an unapproved source, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and improperly stored chemicals, alongside two intermediate violations including single-use items being reused.
Taco Bell on San Jose Boulevard drew three high-severity violations: food not cooked to required minimum temperature, no consumer advisory, and improperly stored chemicals.
Wok N Roll on Argyle Forest Boulevard, located in the same shopping center as Lamai Thai, was cited for no employee health policy, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and improperly stored chemicals.
El Botanero Cantina on Beney Road drew two high-severity violations, inadequate handwashing by food employees and food not cooked to required minimum temperature, plus four intermediate violations including improperly maintained toilet facilities and single-use items being reused.
Jollibee on Atlantic Boulevard was cited for an employee not reporting illness symptoms and inadequate shellfish identification records, with intermediate violations including inadequate cooling equipment and equipment in poor repair.
What These Violations Mean
The cluster of illness-reporting failures across this week's inspections is the most acute concern. At Morton's, Hard Pressed Burgers, Rainbow Sushi, Lamai Thai, and Jollibee, inspectors cited employees for not reporting symptoms of illness. A food worker who handles ingredients while sick with Norovirus can contaminate hundreds of meals before anyone knows there is a problem. Norovirus is the leading cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, and it spreads through contact with contaminated surfaces and food at levels too small to see or taste.
The food-from-unapproved-sources violations at Morton's, Seven Wonders Bakery and Grill, and Blue Fish carry a different kind of risk. When food arrives from an uninspected or undocumented supplier, there is no traceability. If a customer gets sick, investigators cannot trace the ingredient back to its origin to determine whether others were exposed or whether the supply chain is still distributing contaminated product.
Shellfish traceability failures, cited at Morton's, Hard Pressed Burgers, Rainbow Sushi, and Jollibee, compound that risk. Shellfish are filter feeders that concentrate bacteria and viruses from the water they grow in. State law requires shellfish tags to be kept on file precisely so that a Vibrio or hepatitis A cluster can be traced to a specific harvest location and date. Without those records, an outbreak investigation stops cold.
The chemical storage violations that appeared at nine of the 15 facilities this week represent a different category of danger entirely. Cleaning chemicals stored near or above food, or in unlabeled containers, can cause acute poisoning in a single exposure. The breadth of this violation across restaurants as different as a national steakhouse chain, a fast-food taco outlet, and a neighborhood sushi restaurant suggests it is not a single kitchen's carelessness but a systemic training gap.
The Longer Record
Moe's Southwest Grill on Applecross Road carries the longest inspection history of any facility on this week's list, with 36 prior inspections on record. Four high-severity violations at a location that has been inspected that many times raises a straightforward question about whether prior inspections produced lasting corrections.
Blue Fish on St. Johns Avenue and Rainbow Sushi on Beach Boulevard are not far behind, with 31 and 29 prior inspections respectively. Rainbow Sushi's allergen awareness failure is particularly significant given that sushi menus regularly involve species that trigger severe allergic reactions and cross-contact with shellfish is a routine preparation risk.
Element Bistro and Seasons 52 each carry 24 prior inspections. Wok N Roll has 25. The fact that basic violations, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces and improperly stored chemicals, are still appearing at facilities with two dozen inspections behind them suggests the violations are being corrected at the time of inspection and then recurring.
El Botanero Cantina on Beney Road stands apart from the rest of the list with only seven prior inspections on record, making it one of the newer operations in this week's findings. Two high-severity violations and four intermediate citations in the early stages of a facility's inspection history is a pattern worth watching.
Hard Pressed Burgers, despite 21 prior inspections, drew seven high-severity violations this week including both illness-reporting and parasite destruction failures. Whether those categories have appeared in prior inspections at that address is not reflected in this week's data.