JACKSONVILLE, FL. A state inspector walked into Kazu Sushi Burrito at 117 W Adams Street on May 28, 2026, and found that the restaurant was not following parasite destruction procedures for its fish, meaning any parasites present in the raw product could survive directly onto a customer's plate.
The restaurant was not emergency-closed. It accumulated eight high-severity violations and six intermediate violations that day and remained in operation.
The Violations
The parasite violation is specific to a sushi restaurant in a way it would not be at, say, a burger joint. Fish served raw or lightly prepared, including the salmon and tuna common in sushi and sushi burritos, must be frozen to specific temperatures and held for specific durations to kill parasites such as Anisakis, a roundworm that can burrow into the stomach lining. The inspector found those procedures were not being followed.
Staff also showed no allergen awareness, a high-severity citation. Food allergies affect 32 million Americans and send 30,000 people to emergency rooms each year. A sushi restaurant handling fish, soy, sesame, and shellfish without demonstrated allergen protocols is a particular concern for customers who rely on staff to guide safe ordering.
The restaurant's shellfish records were also inadequate. Without proper shell stock identification tags, there is no way to trace oysters, clams, or mussels back to their harvest source if a customer becomes ill.
Employees were not reporting illness symptoms, a violation that inspectors classify as an outbreak enabler. Norovirus, the leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States, spreads most efficiently when a sick food worker continues to handle food. The inspector also cited improper handwashing technique, meaning that even when employees did wash their hands, the method left pathogens behind.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and toxic chemicals were improperly stored or labeled near food. On the intermediate tier, inspectors found improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, improper sanitizing solution, single-use items being reused, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and inadequate toilet facilities.
What These Violations Mean
The parasite destruction failure is the violation most likely to cause direct, traceable harm at a sushi restaurant. Anisakis larvae are present in many wild-caught fish species and are invisible to the naked eye. Proper freezing kills them before service. Without that step, a customer who eats affected fish can develop anisakiasis, which causes severe abdominal pain and in some cases requires surgical removal of the larvae. There is no warning on the plate.
The allergen violation compounds the risk for a different population. At a restaurant serving fish, shellfish, soy-based sauces, and sesame, a customer with a known allergy depends entirely on staff knowledge to make a safe choice. The inspector found that knowledge was not demonstrably present.
The illness-reporting and handwashing failures operate together. An employee who is sick but does not report it remains on the line. An employee who washes hands incorrectly transfers pathogens to food even while appearing to follow protocol. Both violations were cited at Kazu on the same inspection day.
Improper sewage disposal, cited here as an intermediate violation, introduces fecal contamination risk throughout a facility. Combined with surfaces that are not properly sanitized and utensils developing bacterial biofilm, the picture is of a kitchen where contamination pathways were open at multiple points simultaneously.
The Longer Record
Kazu Sushi Burrito: Inspection Pattern, 2023-2026
Kazu Sushi Burrito has 37 inspections on record and 354 total violations across its history. It has been emergency-closed twice: once in December 2020 for rodent activity, and once in August 2024 for simultaneous rodent, roach, and fly activity. It reopened after each closure within two days, then returned to high violation counts within months.
The October 2023 inspection produced 12 high-severity violations, the highest single count in the record. The March 2024 inspection produced 10 high-severity violations. The August 2024 emergency closure followed. Then October 2024 brought 8 high-severity violations. December 2025 brought 10. May 2026 brought 8.
Six of the last eight substantive inspections, meaning inspections that were not same-day or next-day follow-ups, have produced at least 8 high-severity violations.
The May 28 inspection was followed by a clean bill on May 29: zero high-severity violations, zero intermediate violations. The restaurant corrected enough in one day to pass reinspection.
It was not closed on May 28.