TAMPA, FL. An April 21 inspection of Jalsa Indian Modern Kitchen at 1251 E. Fowler Ave. found food from an unapproved or unknown source being used in the kitchen, a violation that means inspectors could not confirm whether that food had passed any federal safety screening before it reached customers' plates.
The restaurant was not emergency-closed. It had seven high-severity violations and three intermediate violations on record from that single visit, and it remained open.
What Inspectors Found
The unapproved food source violation was not the only finding that put customers at direct risk. Inspectors also cited the restaurant for inadequate shell stock identification records, meaning that shellfish, a category that includes oysters, clams, and mussels, could not be traced back to a verified harvest source.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. The restaurant also lacked a written employee health policy, which means there was no formal mechanism to keep sick workers out of the kitchen.
Inspectors additionally cited improper handwashing technique by staff, misuse of time as a public health control, and no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods. The intermediate violations covered multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, an improper sanitizing solution, and equipment in poor repair.
What These Violations Mean
Food from an unapproved source is one of the most serious citations an inspector can write. When a restaurant cannot document where its food came from, there is no chain of custody if a customer gets sick. USDA and FDA inspections exist to screen for Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli before product reaches a commercial kitchen. Food that bypasses that screening carries risks that cannot be assessed after the fact.
The shell stock traceability violation compounds that problem for any shellfish on the menu. Oysters, clams, and mussels are frequently eaten raw or lightly cooked, and they are filter feeders that concentrate bacteria and viruses from the water they grew in. The tagging and record system exists precisely so a contaminated harvest can be traced and pulled before more people are exposed.
The absence of an employee health policy, combined with documented improper handwashing technique, creates a direct transmission pathway for Norovirus and other pathogens. Norovirus is responsible for an estimated 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, and food workers are among its most efficient vectors. Improper technique means that even workers who attempt to wash their hands may leave pathogens behind.
Misuse of time as a public health control is a less visible but serious failure. When a kitchen uses time rather than refrigeration to manage food safety, there are strict rules about how long food can stay in the temperature danger zone between 41 and 135 degrees. When those rules are not followed, bacterial growth accelerates in ways that neither cooking nor visual inspection can reverse.
The Longer Record
The April 21 inspection was not a first offense, or a second, or a tenth. State records show Jalsa has been inspected 60 times and has accumulated 570 total violations across that history. The restaurant has been emergency-closed four times.
Three of those closures are documented in state records. In November 2021, inspectors shut the restaurant for having no handwashing sink available, a closure that was resolved the same day. In September 2022, the restaurant was closed again for roach activity. In May 2024, it was closed a third time, again for roach activity.
The inspection record from the months surrounding those closures shows a facility that cycles between clean visits and serious ones. A May 15, 2024 inspection found zero high-severity violations. Nine days earlier, on May 9, the restaurant had been emergency-closed for roaches. In October 2025, inspectors returned and found eight high-severity and three intermediate violations, a tally nearly identical to what they found on April 21, 2026.
The February 2025 inspection stretch is also notable. Inspectors visited three times in a single month, on February 24, February 28, and again in early March, finding high and intermediate violations across multiple visits before the numbers dropped.
Still Open
Seven high-severity violations in a single inspection is a significant threshold. The October 2025 visit found eight. Both times, the restaurant kept serving.
State records do not show an emergency closure following the April 21 inspection. The 570 violations accumulated across 60 inspections, four prior emergency closures, and a documented pattern of serious findings cycling back after clean visits, all of that is the record that preceded that April morning.
Jalsa Indian Modern Kitchen remained open after inspectors left.