JACKSONVILLE, FL. State inspectors emergency-closed Thai Cuisine and Noodle House at 11701 San Jose Blvd on October 7 after finding roach and rodent activity inside the restaurant, the only forced closure among 15 Duval County facilities that drew high-severity violations during the week of October 7 through October 13, 2026.
The closure came on the first day of the inspection window. Thai Cuisine and Noodle House, which has 37 prior inspections on record, was cited for just one intermediate violation this week, the reuse of single-use items, but the pest activity was enough for inspectors to pull the plug.
The Violations
The week's two highest violation counts came from sushi restaurants on opposite ends of the city. Fuji 3 at 11362 San Jose Blvd drew 10 high-severity and 6 intermediate violations, the most of any facility inspected. Among them: no person in charge present or performing duties, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, food from an unapproved or unknown source, inadequate shell stock identification, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and time used as a public health control without proper documentation.
Volcano Sushi House at 4765 Hodges Blvd also tallied 10 high-severity violations. Inspectors cited the restaurant for food contaminated by chemical, physical, or biological hazards; food in poor condition or adulterated; inadequate shell stock identification; and failure to follow parasite destruction procedures, a violation that means fish served raw or lightly cooked was not properly frozen to kill parasites such as Anisakis before reaching the table.
China Moon at 8299 W Beaver St drew 8 high-severity violations, including no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Inspectors also cited the restaurant for time as a public health control not properly used.
China Kitchen at 7091 Collins Rd matched that count with 8 high-severity violations of its own. The list included no person in charge, food in poor condition, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, toxic substances improperly identified or stored, no allergen awareness demonstrated, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Steak 'n Shake #583 at 10661 San Jose Blvd drew 7 high-severity violations, including improper sewage or waste water disposal, an unusual citation for a fast-food chain. Inspectors also flagged the location for no person in charge, employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate shell stock identification, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and no allergen awareness.
Tru by Hilton at 4142 Perimeter Industrial Pkwy W also drew 7 high-severity violations. Among them: food not cooked to required minimum temperature, toxic substances improperly identified or stored, no allergen awareness, and improper sewage or waste water disposal. The hotel had only 5 prior inspections on record, making it one of the newest facilities on this week's list.
904 Deli at 5285 Shad Rd collected 7 high-severity violations including no person in charge, no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock identification, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Kazu Sushi Burrito at 117 W Adams St drew 6 high-severity violations, including failure to follow required procedures for specialized processes, inadequate shell stock identification, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Inspectors also cited the downtown restaurant for improper sewage or waste water disposal and multi-use utensils not properly cleaned.
Subway #37825 at 6842 Wilson Blvd drew 6 high-severity violations including parasite destruction procedures not followed, food in poor condition, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and required procedures for specialized processes not followed. The location also had improper sewage or waste water disposal and multi-use utensils not properly cleaned among its intermediate violations.
Celestia's at 6765 Dunn Ave was cited for 6 high-severity violations, including no person in charge, employees not reporting illness symptoms, food in poor condition, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and no allergen awareness. Inspectors also documented multi-use utensils not properly cleaned and single-use items improperly reused.
DoubleTree by Hilton at 1201 Riverplace Blvd drew 2 high-severity violations, including no person in charge and inadequate handwashing facilities, along with single-use items improperly reused.
Fast Eddy's Quick Mideast at 10915 Baymeadows Rd was cited for 2 high-severity violations: employees not reporting illness symptoms and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
La Michoacana Al Natural at 11757 Beach Blvd drew a single high-severity violation for food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated. Umami at 11701 San Jose Blvd was cited for one high-severity violation: no employee health policy.
What These Violations Mean
The most common high-severity violation across this week's inspections was employees not reporting illness symptoms, cited at Fuji 3, Volcano Sushi House, China Moon, China Kitchen, Tru by Hilton, Steak 'n Shake #583, 904 Deli, Celestia's, and Fast Eddy's Quick Mideast. Food workers infected with Norovirus shed the virus before symptoms fully appear, meaning a worker who comes in feeling slightly off can contaminate food, surfaces, and other workers before anyone realizes there is a problem. When there is also no written employee health policy, as inspectors found at China Moon, 904 Deli, and Umami, there is no mechanism to catch that worker at the door.
Parasite destruction failures at Volcano Sushi House and Subway #37825 represent a different but direct risk. Fish served raw or lightly cooked, including sushi, must be frozen to specific temperatures for specific durations to kill parasites such as Anisakis. Without documentation that this process was followed, there is no way to know whether the fish served to customers was safe.
The shell stock identification violations at Fuji 3, Volcano Sushi House, Steak 'n Shake #583, 904 Deli, and Kazu Sushi Burrito matter most if someone gets sick. Oysters, clams, and mussels carry Vibrio bacteria and are frequently consumed raw. Shell stock tags trace a batch to its harvest location and date. Without them, a foodborne illness outbreak cannot be traced to its source, and contaminated shellfish from the same harvest stay in circulation.
Sewage or waste water disposal violations at Tru by Hilton, Steak 'n Shake #583, Kazu Sushi Burrito, and Subway #37825 carry a specific hazard: improperly disposed waste water can introduce fecal contamination into a food preparation environment. For a hotel breakfast operation like Tru by Hilton, which also failed to cook food to minimum temperature and had no allergen awareness, that combination of violations describes a kitchen operating without basic safety controls in place.
The Longer Record
Kazu Sushi Burrito has the longest inspection history of any facility on this week's list, with 43 prior inspections on record, and still drew 6 high-severity violations this week. Fuji 3 and Thai Cuisine and Noodle House each have 37 prior inspections on record. Thai Cuisine was closed for pests this week despite that accumulated history.
Steak 'n Shake #583 has 36 prior inspections behind it and still drew citations for no person in charge and improper sewage disposal. China Moon has 30 prior inspections, and Umami has 30, with Umami drawing a high-severity violation for no employee health policy despite that record. China Kitchen has 27 prior inspections and 904 Deli has 27, both accumulating 7 or 8 high-severity violations this week.
Tru by Hilton stands apart in the opposite direction. With only 5 prior inspections on record, it is among the newest facilities flagged this week, and it drew 7 high-severity violations including undercooking, sewage disposal problems, and no allergen awareness. A facility that accumulates that many serious citations in its first handful of inspections is not working out early-stage problems.
DoubleTree by Hilton at Riverplace Boulevard, with 26 prior inspections, was cited for no person in charge and inadequate handwashing facilities. A hotel dining operation with that inspection history and still no person in charge actively running the kitchen is a pattern inspectors have now documented more than two dozen times.
The Longer Pattern
Seven of the 15 facilities cited this week were flagged for no person in charge or not performing duties. That violation consistently correlates with clusters of other failures, because when no one is actively managing a kitchen, handwashing lapses, temperature logs go unrecorded, and sick employees are not sent home.
Fuji 3 had both no person in charge and an employee not reporting illness symptoms, along with food from an unapproved source and inadequate shell stock records. That combination, at a restaurant with 37 prior inspections, means the sourcing of the food on the table could not be verified and the health status of the person who prepared it was unknown.
Thai Cuisine and Noodle House, closed on October 7 for roach and rodent activity, shares an address block on San Jose Boulevard with Umami, which was cited the same week for having no employee health policy. Both facilities have significant inspection histories. Whether Thai Cuisine and Noodle House has reopened following the pest-related closure is not reflected in this week's inspection data.
