JACKSONVILLE, FL. A wing bar on Southside Boulevard racked up 12 high-severity violations in a single inspection last week, including failures to track shellfish origins, skipped parasite destruction procedures for fish, and documented evidence that employees were not reporting illness symptoms to management.
Island Wing Grill and Bar at 4409 Southside Boulevard led all Jacksonville facilities inspected the week of September 14 through September 20, 2026, drawing 12 high-severity and 6 intermediate citations. Inspectors flagged the restaurant for having no person in charge present or performing duties, no written employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, and inadequate handwashing, including improper technique. Food was cited as being in poor condition or mislabeled. Shellfish traceability records were missing. Parasite destruction procedures for fish were not followed.
The Violations
Rustic 21 at 3980 Southside Boulevard drew 11 high-severity violations, including food not cooked to required minimum temperature, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, and the same cluster of illness-reporting and handwashing failures seen at Island Wing. Inspectors also noted missing shellfish identification records and parasite destruction failures.
Latin Creations at 3505 St. Johns Bluff Road South matched Rustic 21 with 11 high-severity citations. Inspectors there documented food contaminated by chemical, physical, or biological hazards, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and the absence of a qualified person in charge. Shellfish traceability records were missing, and parasite destruction procedures were not followed.
Krystal Restaurant at 5814 Normandy Boulevard drew 10 high-severity violations, including food sourced from an unapproved or unknown supplier, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and time as a public health control not properly applied. Inspectors also found no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods, and food contact surfaces that had not been properly cleaned or sanitized.
Chophouse Thirteen at 11362 San Jose Boulevard was cited for 8 high-severity violations, including toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used, and no allergen awareness demonstrated by staff. The restaurant also lacked a written employee health policy, had no qualified person in charge, and inspectors documented improper handwashing technique. A consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods was absent.
Fancy Sushi at 7083 Collins Road drew 7 high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved or unknown source and food in poor condition or mislabeled. Inspectors found no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items, a serious gap for a sushi operation where raw fish is the core product. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized.
Crafty Crab at 6733 103rd Street was cited for 7 high-severity violations, including toxic substances improperly identified or stored, food from an unapproved source, parasite destruction failures, and food not cooked to required minimum temperature. No consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods was posted.
Two Restaurants Closed
State inspectors ordered two Jacksonville restaurants shut during the week. San Jose Co Club D R at 7529 San Jose Boulevard was emergency-closed September 15 for rodent activity. The closure came despite the facility drawing only one high-severity violation in this inspection cycle, suggesting the rodent finding alone was sufficient to trigger the order.
Snak Shak at 3144 Lenox Avenue was emergency-closed September 14 for roach activity. No detailed violation count for Snak Shak was included in state records reviewed for this report.
Bonos Pit Bar-B-Q at 10065 Skinner Lake Drive was not closed but drew 6 high-severity violations including toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and missing shellfish identification records. Inspectors also flagged improper sewage or wastewater disposal, an intermediate citation that points to a facility-wide sanitation breakdown.
Gators BBQ at 8142 West Beaver Street received 6 high-severity violations, including food in poor condition or mislabeled, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and toxic chemicals improperly stored. Time as a public health control was not properly applied. Inspectors also noted inadequate cooling and cold-holding equipment, a compounding problem when cooking temperatures are already falling short.
Pizza Bella at 9210 San Jose Boulevard drew 6 high-severity violations, including required procedures for specialized processes not followed, a citation that applies to techniques like curing, fermenting, or reduced-oxygen packaging that require precise protocols to prevent pathogen growth. Inspectors also documented improper handwashing technique, no consumer advisory, and no written employee health policy.
Aspendos Italian Cuisine at 9542 Argyle Forest Boulevard was cited for 6 high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved or unknown source, toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and improper sewage or wastewater disposal. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized.
What These Violations Mean
The most pervasive violation cluster this week involved employee illness reporting and handwashing. Thirteen of the 15 facilities cited drew at least one of these two violations. When a food worker is ill and does not report symptoms, and then fails to wash hands properly before handling food, the result is a direct transmission pathway for Norovirus, which causes an estimated 20 million illnesses in the United States each year. Island Wing Grill, Rustic 21, Latin Creations, Chophouse Thirteen, and Bonos Pit Bar-B-Q all drew both violations in the same inspection.
Missing shellfish traceability records, cited at Island Wing Grill, Rustic 21, Latin Creations, Chophouse Thirteen, and Bonos Pit Bar-B-Q, carry a specific public health consequence. Shellfish, particularly oysters, are frequently consumed raw. Without harvest tags and lot records on file, there is no way to trace a contaminated batch back to its source if customers become ill. Paralytic shellfish poisoning and Vibrio infections are not theoretical risks in Florida waters.
Parasite destruction failures, documented at Island Wing Grill, Rustic 21, Latin Creations, and Crafty Crab, mean that fish served raw or undercooked may contain live Anisakis worms or other parasites. Proper freezing at required temperatures for a required duration kills those organisms. Skipping that step does not.
Food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, documented at Krystal Restaurant, Fancy Sushi, Crafty Crab, and Aspendos Italian Cuisine, bypasses federal safety inspections entirely. If a customer becomes ill, investigators cannot trace the food back to a producer or a contamination event. That is not a paperwork problem. It is the difference between containing an outbreak and watching it spread.
The Longer Record
Latin Creations on St. Johns Bluff Road carries 38 prior inspections on record, the highest count among this week's cited facilities. Eleven high-severity violations in a single week, after nearly four decades of inspection history, raises a question the records alone cannot answer: what, if anything, changed between visits.
Island Wing Grill and Crafty Crab each have 34 prior inspections on record. Island Wing's 12 high-severity violations this week place it at the top of the week's list despite that long inspection history. Dough Show at 12681 Bartram Park Boulevard has 35 prior inspections on record and drew 3 high-severity violations this week, including food not cooked to required minimum temperature and no written employee health policy.
San Jose Co Club D R, emergency-closed for rodent activity on September 15, carries 32 prior inspections. Bonos Pit Bar-B-Q, also with 32 prior inspections, drew 6 high-severity violations including improper sewage disposal. Pizza Bella has 31 prior inspections and was still cited this week for missing employee health policies and improper specialized process procedures.
Gators BBQ on West Beaver Street has only 20 prior inspections, the lowest count among the facilities drawing six or more high-severity violations this week. It is one of the newer locations in this report, and it is already accumulating citations for undercooking, improperly stored chemicals, and inadequate cold-holding equipment. Snak Shak on Lenox Avenue was emergency-closed for roach activity on September 14, and its full inspection history was not included in state records reviewed for this report.
