JACKSONVILLE, FL. Chow's Country Buffet on Southside Boulevard drew 10 high-severity violations during the week of September 26, including citations for food sourced from unapproved or unknown origins, shellfish with no identification records, and food contact surfaces that inspectors found improperly cleaned and sanitized.
The Southside Boulevard buffet also had no written employee health policy and at least one employee who had not reported symptoms of illness, a combination that inspectors flagged alongside citations for inadequate handwashing facilities and improper handwashing technique. The inspector also noted food in poor condition or adulterated. That is eight distinct high-severity categories at a single facility in a single visit.
The Violations
Salsas Mexican Restaurant on City Center Boulevard matched Chow's total with 10 high-severity violations. The inspector found no person in charge present or performing duties, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved sources, shellfish with no traceability records, unsanitized food contact surfaces, and food not cooked to required minimum temperature.
The undercooking citation at Salsas is particularly direct: Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Without a person in charge present to monitor kitchen operations, there is no internal check on whether any of those temperatures are being reached.
Saigon Coffee and Sandwiches on Beach Boulevard also logged 10 high-severity violations. Its list included a citation for parasite destruction procedures not followed, meaning fish or other parasite-risk proteins were not frozen or cooked to the temperatures required to kill Anisakis or tapeworm larvae. No person in charge was present, no employee health policy existed, and food contact surfaces were not properly sanitized.
Ya Habibi Slice and Spice on St. Augustine Road accumulated 9 high-severity violations, including two that rarely appear together: toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Both citations were active at the same facility during the same inspection. Inspectors also cited the restaurant for using time as a public health control without doing so properly, and for serving items that require a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods without posting one.
Senor Loco Tacos and Tequila on Southside Boulevard drew 9 high-severity violations including food in poor condition, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food not cooked to minimum temperature, and toxic chemicals improperly stored. The restaurant had no written employee health policy and inadequate handwashing facilities.
Tunis Seafood Wings and Subs on Normandy Boulevard was cited for 8 high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved source, shellfish with no identification records, and no allergen awareness demonstrated. Food allergies affect 32 million Americans. A kitchen with no allergen awareness protocol has no system for flagging which dishes contain peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, or other common triggers.
Purple Roots on Southside Boulevard had 8 high-severity violations, including food in poor condition, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food not cooked to minimum temperature, and toxic chemicals improperly stored. No person in charge was present during the inspection, and no employee health policy was on file.
Max's Restaurant Jacksonville on University Boulevard logged 8 high-severity violations, among them time as a public health control not properly used, shellfish with no traceability records, food not cooked to minimum temperature, and toxic substances improperly identified or stored. No person in charge was present.
Delicias Colombianas on Blanding Boulevard drew 7 high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved source, food not cooked to minimum temperature, and no allergen awareness. An intermediate violation for improper sewage or waste water disposal was also on the report. Raw sewage contamination in a kitchen creates a fecal contamination pathway that reaches food surfaces, prep areas, and employee hands.
Cucinellas Brick Oven Pizza on Old Kings Road South also had an improper sewage disposal citation alongside 7 high-severity violations, including no employee health policy, no allergen awareness, food not cooked to minimum temperature, and shellfish with no identification records.
Baran Cafe on St. Johns Bluff Road was cited for 7 high-severity violations including food in poor condition, parasite destruction procedures not followed, and toxic chemicals improperly stored. An intermediate violation for multi-use utensils not properly cleaned was also noted.
Sake House on Riverplace Boulevard logged 7 high-severity violations including food from an unapproved source, inadequate handwashing facilities, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Multi-use utensils not properly cleaned was cited as an intermediate violation.
Cross Creek on South Lane Avenue drew 2 high-severity violations, both for employee illness reporting and the absence of a consumer advisory for raw foods. Super Tienda Latina y Restaurante on Toledo Road was cited for a single high-severity violation, also for employee illness reporting. Hong Kong Station on Beach Boulevard had no high-severity violations and a single intermediate citation for single-use items being improperly reused.
What These Violations Mean
The employee illness reporting violation appears at 12 of the 15 facilities cited this week. That number matters because food workers are the primary transmission route for Norovirus, which causes 20 million illnesses annually in the United States. When a kitchen has no written health policy and no reporting requirement, a worker with symptoms has no formal obligation to stay home. Chow's Country Buffet, Salsas Mexican Restaurant, Saigon Coffee and Sandwiches, Tunis Seafood Wings and Subs, Delicias Colombianas, Cucinellas Brick Oven Pizza, Baran Cafe, and Sake House all carried this violation, among others.
The food-from-unapproved-sources citation, found at Chow's Country Buffet, Salsas Mexican Restaurant, Saigon Coffee and Sandwiches, Tunis Seafood Wings and Subs, Delicias Colombianas, and Sake House, means that some portion of what those kitchens were serving had not passed through USDA or FDA-regulated inspection. If a customer becomes ill from that food, there is no supply chain record to trace it back to its origin.
Parasite destruction procedures, flagged at Saigon Coffee and Sandwiches, Senor Loco Tacos and Tequila, Purple Roots, and Baran Cafe, require that fish and other parasite-risk proteins be frozen to specific temperatures for specific durations before being served raw or undercooked. When that step is skipped, Anisakis larvae and tapeworm can survive into the finished dish. The violation at Saigon Coffee and Sandwiches is particularly notable given that the restaurant also lacked a consumer advisory for raw foods, meaning customers were not warned.
The dual toxic-substance citations at Ya Habibi Slice and Spice, where inspectors found both improperly stored chemicals and toxic substances not properly identified or stored, represent two distinct chemical hazard categories in one kitchen. Improperly labeled cleaning chemicals stored near food create a direct acute poisoning risk if a bottle is mistaken for a food ingredient or if a spill reaches a prep surface.
The Longer Record
Chow's Country Buffet has 38 prior inspections on record, tied with Cross Creek for the longest inspection history among facilities cited this week. Thirty-eight inspections represents years of regulatory contact, and this week's tally of 10 high-severity violations arrived in the middle of that history, not at the beginning.
Baran Cafe has 36 prior inspections on record. Cucinellas Brick Oven Pizza has 32. Delicias Colombianas has 30, and Ya Habibi Slice and Spice has 29, as does Sake House and Super Tienda Latina y Restaurante. These are not new businesses encountering inspectors for the first time.
At the other end of the spectrum, Max's Restaurant Jacksonville has only 6 prior inspections on record and already accumulated 8 high-severity violations in a single visit, including no person in charge, improper chemical storage, and shellfish with no traceability documentation. Hong Kong Station has 9 prior inspections and no high-severity violations this week. That contrast, between a newer operation already drawing serious citations and an older one with a cleaner record, is one of the sharper divides in this week's data.
Tunis Seafood Wings and Subs, with 24 prior inspections and 8 high-severity violations this week, had no allergen awareness demonstrated, a category that requires staff to know which dishes contain the eight major food allergens and be able to communicate that to customers. Whether that gap has appeared in prior inspections is not reflected in the current data.
