COCOA BEACH, FL. Inspectors visiting La Catrina Mexican Restaurant on West Cocoa Beach Causeway on September 3 found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, meaning ingredients on customer plates had bypassed every federal safety checkpoint designed to catch Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli before they reach a kitchen.
That was one of six high-severity violations documented that afternoon. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The full list from September 3 runs thirteen violations deep. Beyond the unapproved food sourcing, inspectors cited food contact surfaces that had not been properly cleaned or sanitized, employees using improper handwashing technique, and no written employee health policy on the premises.
No person in charge was present or performing supervisory duties during the inspection. The restaurant also lacked a consumer advisory notifying customers that raw or undercooked items were on the menu.
The seven intermediate violations compounded the picture. Inspectors flagged improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, sanitizing solutions that were not at correct concentrations or procedures, inadequate cooling and cold-holding equipment, single-use items being reused, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and toilet facilities that were inadequate or improperly maintained.
What These Violations Mean
The unapproved food sourcing violation is the one that should concern anyone who ate at La Catrina around September 3. When food enters a kitchen from an unknown or unapproved supplier, it has not been inspected by USDA or FDA. There is no traceability if a customer becomes ill. If an outbreak were traced to that restaurant, investigators would have no supply chain to follow.
The absence of an employee health policy is a direct transmission risk. Without a written policy, there is no mechanism to keep a sick worker away from food preparation. Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, spreads most efficiently through an infected food handler who has no policy telling them to stay home.
The handwashing technique violation makes that risk worse. An employee who attempts to wash their hands but does so incorrectly leaves pathogens on their skin. Combined with improperly cleaned food contact surfaces and multi-use utensils that had not been sanitized correctly, the inspection describes a kitchen where contamination could move from hands to surfaces to food with little interruption.
Inadequate cooling equipment is a separate category of danger. Equipment that cannot hold food at required temperatures allows bacteria to multiply in what food scientists call the danger zone, between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit. At La Catrina, that risk existed alongside sanitizer solutions that were not at effective concentrations, meaning surfaces wiped down after use may not have been disinfected at all.
The Longer Record
September 3 was not a bad day in an otherwise clean history. State records show La Catrina has been inspected 47 times and has accumulated 572 total violations across those visits. That volume alone is notable. What the recent inspection dates show is a pattern of serious findings followed by rapid improvement, followed by serious findings again.
On October 29, 2025, inspectors cited 8 high-severity and 3 intermediate violations. A follow-up visit the next day showed zero high-severity violations. On March 12, 2026, the restaurant drew 11 high-severity and 3 intermediate violations. The next day, March 13, inspectors found nothing.
The September 3 inspection produced 6 high-severity violations. A follow-up on September 4 found 1 high-severity violation. A second follow-up on September 10 found none.
The restaurant has been emergency-closed once before, in August 2018, when inspectors found rodent activity. It was allowed to reopen the following day. The current violations, six of them at the highest severity level, did not trigger a closure.
Still Open
The September 3 inspection found food of unknown origin in the kitchen, no one in charge, employees washing their hands incorrectly, surfaces that had not been properly sanitized, and sewage disposal that did not meet code.
State inspectors documented all of it, issued the citations, and left the restaurant open to serve customers.
