PORT CHARLOTTE, FL. Koi Sushi & Grill Express on Tamiami Trail was serving customers on July 30, 2026, while state inspectors documented that food on the premises had come from unapproved or unknown sources, a violation that means there is no paper trail connecting that food to any USDA or FDA inspection.
The restaurant at 1825 Tamiami Trl #B8 collected seven high-severity violations and four intermediate violations during that single inspection. It was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation is among the most serious an inspector can cite at a sushi restaurant. Raw fish served without traceability to an approved supplier cannot be verified as parasite-free or pathogen-tested. If someone became ill, investigators would have no supply chain to trace.
The handwashing violations compound the picture. Inspectors cited both inadequate handwashing facilities and improper handwashing technique on the same visit. That combination means the infrastructure for basic hygiene was deficient, and workers were not using what infrastructure existed correctly.
The illness reporting violations are a separate concern. Inspectors found no written employee health policy and documented that employees were not reporting symptoms of illness. A worker preparing sushi with no obligation to disclose symptoms, and no facility protocol requiring disclosure, is the documented starting point for most Norovirus outbreaks in food service settings.
Toxic chemicals were also found improperly stored or labeled. At a restaurant where raw fish is prepared on open surfaces, a mislabeled or improperly stored chemical near food preparation areas introduces a risk that has nothing to do with the food itself.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved sources is not a paperwork problem. Approved suppliers are required to meet federal inspection standards for pathogens including Listeria and Salmonella. At a sushi restaurant, where fish is frequently served raw or minimally processed, an unverified supply chain means a customer has no assurance that what they are eating has been inspected at any point before it reached their plate.
The illness-reporting failures documented on July 30 represent a direct transmission pathway. Norovirus can be transmitted by a single infected food worker handling ready-to-eat food. Without a written health policy and without workers trained to report symptoms, there is no mechanism to remove a sick employee from food preparation before customers are exposed.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, combined with multi-use utensils that were also cited as not properly cleaned, creates a cross-contamination environment. At a facility preparing raw fish alongside other foods, bacteria and pathogens can transfer from surface to surface and from prep to plate without any visible sign.
The wiping cloth violation ties directly to surface contamination. Wiping cloths used across multiple surfaces without proper sanitizing solution spread whatever is on one surface to every surface touched afterward.
The Longer Record
Koi Sushi & Grill Express: Inspection Pattern
July 30, 2026 was not an anomaly. State records show Koi Sushi & Grill Express has been inspected 25 times and has accumulated 195 total violations across that history. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
Exactly one year earlier, on July 29, 2025, inspectors found the same total of seven high-severity violations along with three intermediate violations. The July 2026 inspection added a fourth intermediate. The violations did not decrease between those two visits.
The pattern extends further back. The facility logged six high-severity violations in February 2025, five in March 2024, and five more in November 2023. Of the eight most recent inspections on record, only two produced fewer than four high-severity violations.
The March 2026 inspection showed one high-severity violation, the lowest count in recent years. That improvement did not hold. Four months later, the count was back to seven.
Koi Sushi & Grill Express was open for business after the July 30 inspection. State records show no emergency closure was ordered.
