ORLANDO, FL. Toxic chemicals were stored improperly near food at a Lake Underhill Road Mexican restaurant on June 8, one of six high-severity violations state inspectors documented at Las Cazuelas Mexican Restaurant at 7371 Lake Underhill Rd, and the restaurant was not ordered to close.
The June 8 inspection turned up a total of ten violations, six of them high-severity and four intermediate. Inspectors cited the restaurant for improperly stored or unlabeled toxic chemicals, food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, improper handwashing technique, no employee health policy, misuse of time as a public health control, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked menu items.
What Inspectors Found
The chemical storage violation is among the most acute hazards on that list. Cleaning agents and pesticides stored near or above food preparation areas can contaminate food directly, and mislabeled containers mean workers may not recognize the danger before using them.
The food contact surface citation compounds that risk. Cutting boards, prep tables, and similar surfaces that are not properly cleaned and sanitized become the primary transfer point for bacteria moving from one food item to another.
The handwashing violation is notable because it is not a matter of skipping handwashing entirely. Inspectors cited improper technique, meaning employees were washing their hands but not in a way that eliminates pathogens. That distinction matters because the failure is invisible to the worker performing it.
The restaurant also had no written employee health policy, which means there is no formal mechanism requiring sick workers to report symptoms or stay out of the kitchen. And inspectors found that time was not being used correctly as a public health control, a citation that applies when a facility chooses to track time rather than temperature for certain foods, and then fails to follow the strict protocols that method requires.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no employee health policy and improper handwashing technique is a direct disease transmission pathway. Norovirus, one of the most common causes of foodborne illness in the United States, spreads primarily through infected food handlers. A written health policy is the mechanism that keeps symptomatic workers out of the kitchen. Without one at Las Cazuelas, there is no documented protocol requiring a sick employee to disclose symptoms or stay home.
The improper sanitizer concentration citation makes the surface-cleaning problem worse. Sanitizer that is too weak leaves bacteria alive on surfaces. Sanitizer that is too strong leaves chemical residue on surfaces that then contacts food. Either failure means the cleaning step that customers assume is happening between uses is not actually working.
The consumer advisory violation affects a specific and vulnerable population. Elderly diners, pregnant women, young children, and anyone with a compromised immune system face elevated risk from raw or undercooked proteins. Without an advisory on the menu, those customers cannot make an informed choice about what they order.
Inadequate toilet facilities may seem like a building maintenance issue, but inspectors flag it as a hygiene infrastructure problem. Employees who cannot easily access functional restrooms are less likely to wash their hands at critical moments, which feeds directly back into the handwashing and disease transmission risks already documented at this inspection.
The Longer Record
The June 8 inspection did not represent a new low for Las Cazuelas. It fits a pattern that state records show has been building for years.
The restaurant has 33 inspections on record and 333 total violations documented across that history. It has never been emergency-closed.
The most recent prior inspection, on February 18, 2026, found three high-severity and three intermediate violations. The inspection before that, on February 17, 2026, found three high-severity and five intermediate violations. Those two inspections were conducted on consecutive days, suggesting a callback inspection that still left serious problems unresolved.
Going further back, the September 2025 inspection found five high-severity violations. The April 2025 visit found four high-severity violations. In September 2024, inspectors conducted two visits in three days; the first found eight high-severity and five intermediate violations, and the follow-up still found four high-severity and three intermediate violations.
The restaurant recorded eight high-severity violations in February 2024 as well, and another eight in November 2023. In eight of the most recent inspections on record, the facility has never posted fewer than three high-severity violations.
Still Open
Six high-severity violations in a single inspection is a significant threshold. The violations documented on June 8 included chemical contamination risk, bacterial transfer from unsanitized surfaces, a disease transmission gap with no health policy in place, and food time-temperature controls that were not being followed correctly.
Las Cazuelas remained open after the inspection.