CORAL SPRINGS, FL. A food worker at Knife on West Atlantic Boulevard showed symptoms of illness and did not report them, according to state inspection records from September 28, 2026. The restaurant was not closed.
That single finding, classified as a high-severity violation by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, was one of seven high-severity citations inspectors documented during the visit. Combined with two intermediate violations, the September inspection stands as the worst on record for the Coral Springs restaurant.
What Inspectors Found
The employee illness finding did not stand alone. Inspectors also cited Knife for having no written employee health policy, meaning there was no formal protocol in place requiring sick workers to stay home or disclose symptoms before handling food.
Inspectors additionally documented improper handwashing technique among staff. That violation was cited alongside the illness reporting failure, a pairing that describes a kitchen where the most basic disease-prevention habits were not being followed on the day of the visit.
The shellfish records violation adds a separate layer of concern. Knife serves raw and lightly cooked shellfish, and inspectors found inadequate shell stock identification records. Without those records, there is no way to trace which harvest bed a contaminated oyster or clam came from if a customer gets sick.
Inspectors also found food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated, and noted the absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items on the menu. Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled near the food operation. Single-use items were being reused, and ventilation and lighting were cited as inadequate.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of unreported illness and no written health policy is what public health investigators call an outbreak enabler. Norovirus, which causes the majority of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, spreads directly from infected food workers to customers through contaminated food. A written health policy is the mechanism that stops a sick employee from showing up and working a shift. Knife had neither the policy nor the reporting practice in place.
Improper handwashing technique compounds that risk. Even when a worker attempts to wash their hands, an incorrect technique, including insufficient duration, skipping soap, or not washing after touching a contaminated surface, leaves pathogens on the hands. At Knife, inspectors flagged this on the same day they found an employee not reporting illness symptoms.
The shellfish traceability violation carries a different but serious risk. Shellfish harvested from contaminated waters can carry Vibrio bacteria or hepatitis A, and the tagging and record requirements exist specifically so regulators can act quickly if an illness cluster is traced back to a specific harvest lot. Without those records at Knife, that chain of accountability was broken.
The toxic chemical storage violation deserves attention separately. Improperly stored or unlabeled chemicals near food preparation areas create a direct risk of acute poisoning, either through accidental contamination of food or through a worker misidentifying a chemical. This is not a paperwork violation. It describes a physical arrangement inside the kitchen that put food at risk.
The Longer Record
Knife has two inspections on record. The first, conducted on February 17, 2026, resulted in one high-severity violation and one intermediate violation. The September 28 inspection produced seven high-severity violations and two intermediate violations, bringing the facility's total violation count to 18 across both visits.
The February inspection did not result in a closure, and neither did September's. The jump from two violations in February to nine in September, including seven at the highest severity level, represents a significant deterioration in a short span. The restaurant has no prior emergency closures on record.
Two inspections is a thin history. But the trajectory between those two inspections runs in one direction. The February visit flagged a problem. The September visit found the same kitchen operating without a health policy, without illness reporting, without proper shellfish records, and with chemicals stored near food.
Open for Business
State inspectors have the authority to order an emergency closure when violations pose an immediate threat to public health. On September 28, 2026, they documented seven high-severity violations at Knife, including an employee not reporting illness symptoms and toxic chemicals improperly stored near food.
The restaurant was not closed.
Customers who visited Knife in the days following the inspection did so without knowing that, on the day inspectors walked through, a sick employee had not reported their illness and no written policy required them to.
