LAKE COUNTY, FL. A Clermont restaurant on US Highway 192 drew 12 high-severity violations in a single inspection week, including food sourced from unapproved suppliers, no employee illness reporting policy, and failures in parasite destruction procedures for fish, placing it at the top of the county's worst performers for the week of June 11 through June 17, 2026.
The Worst of the Week
Shang Hai's inspection record this week reads like a compendium of the most dangerous failure categories in food safety. The person in charge was not present or not performing duties. Employees were not reporting illness symptoms. The facility had no written employee health policy.
Beyond the management failures, inspectors found food from an unapproved or unknown source, inadequate shell stock identification records for shellfish, and failures in parasite destruction procedures. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. That is eight distinct high-severity categories, and the total count reached 12.
Del Francos Pizza on FL-46 in Sorrento matched Shang Hai's employee illness reporting failure and unapproved food source citation, then added food in poor condition or adulterated, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and no allergen awareness demonstrated. Nine high-severity violations in a single visit.
La Jibarita de Puerto Rico on FL 50 in Clermont also reached nine high-severity violations, with six intermediate citations on top of that. Inspectors cited improper handwashing technique, parasite destruction failures, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, toxic chemicals stored near food, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items.
Blue Lagoon Bar and Grille on Windsor Cay Boulevard in Clermont drew eight high-severity violations, including inadequate handwashing facilities, food in poor condition, parasite destruction failures, improperly stored chemicals, and no allergen awareness. The person in charge was also cited as absent or not performing duties.
Gabby's on South US Highway 27 in Clermont accumulated seven high-severity violations, including inadequate handwashing by food employees, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, no consumer advisory for raw foods, toxic chemicals stored improperly, and no allergen awareness. Inspectors also cited improper sewage or wastewater disposal as an intermediate violation.
Friar Tuck on Cagan Park Avenue in Clermont was cited for six high-severity violations, including no approved potable water supply, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, inadequate shell stock identification records, and no employee health policy.
The Rest of the Field
Denny's #7422 on Town Center Boulevard in Clermont drew four high-severity violations, including improperly stored toxic chemicals, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, an employee illness reporting failure, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Three intermediate violations accompanied those findings, including improper sewage disposal and multi-use utensils not properly cleaned.
Desperados Saloon on East Main Street in Tavares was cited for improper handwashing technique, toxic chemicals stored or labeled improperly, no allergen awareness, and no consumer advisory for raw foods. Inadequate toilet facilities were among the intermediate violations.
Oak House on Hickory Hill in Lady Lake drew four high-severity violations, including improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock identification records, no consumer advisory, and no allergen awareness.
Las Palmas Cuban Restaurant on North Donnelly Street in Mount Dora was cited for food in poor condition, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and toxic chemicals stored improperly.
Sarah Greek Village Deli on Cagan Crossings Boulevard in Clermont drew three high-severity violations, including improper handwashing technique, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and toxic chemicals stored improperly. Inadequate cooling equipment was among the intermediate violations.
Ocean House on Sunrise Plaza Drive in Clermont drew one high-severity violation, for no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, along with two intermediate citations.
What These Violations Mean
The most alarming pattern across Lake County this week is the concentration of employee illness and handwashing failures. At Shang Hai, La Jibarita de Puerto Rico, and Blue Lagoon Bar and Grille, inspectors found that employees were not reporting illness symptoms and, in several cases, were not washing their hands correctly. Food workers are the direct transmission route for Norovirus, which causes an estimated 20 million illnesses in the United States each year. A single infected employee working a full shift can expose every customer served that day.
The food sourcing violations at Shang Hai and Del Francos Pizza carry a different kind of risk. Food from unapproved or unknown sources has bypassed USDA and FDA safety inspections. If a customer becomes ill after eating at one of these restaurants, investigators cannot trace the food back to a supplier, identify other affected batches, or issue a recall. The supply chain is invisible.
Parasite destruction failures at Shang Hai, La Jibarita de Puerto Rico, and Blue Lagoon Bar and Grille are specific to fish and shellfish menus. Without proper freezing protocols or cooking to required temperatures, parasites including Anisakis and Trichinella can survive in the food served to customers. The shellfish traceability failures at Shang Hai, Friar Tuck, and Oak House compound this: oysters, clams, and mussels are high-risk foods consumed raw or lightly cooked, and without identification tags, there is no way to trace a contaminated batch after someone gets sick.
Toxic chemical storage violations appeared at seven of the twelve worst-performing facilities this week, including Del Francos Pizza, La Jibarita de Puerto Rico, Blue Lagoon Bar and Grille, Gabby's, Denny's, Las Palmas Cuban Restaurant, and Sarah Greek Village Deli. Improperly stored or mislabeled chemicals near food can cause acute poisoning through direct contamination. This is not a paperwork violation. It is a proximity problem.
The Longer Record
The data does not include prior inspection counts for this week's facilities, which limits the ability to place these findings in a full historical context. What the violation totals alone suggest is that several of these restaurants are carrying serious systemic failures, not isolated oversights.
Shang Hai's 12 high-severity violations in a single week represent failures across management, employee health, food sourcing, parasite control, and sanitation simultaneously. These are not categories that fail together by accident. The absence of a person in charge, combined with no employee health policy and no illness reporting, describes a kitchen operating without the basic supervisory structure that prevents cascading violations.
Del Francos Pizza and La Jibarita de Puerto Rico each reached nine high-severity violations, with La Jibarita adding six intermediate citations. A facility accumulating 15 total violations across severity levels in one visit is not having a bad week in one area. The spread across handwashing, cooking temperatures, chemical storage, and consumer disclosures points to broad compliance gaps.
Friar Tuck's citation for no approved potable water supply is the kind of finding that raises questions about what inspectors encountered before and after that visit. A restaurant without a confirmed safe water source is operating with a foundational infrastructure failure, and it appeared alongside five other high-severity violations in the same inspection.