APOLLO BEACH, FL. State inspectors walked into Latitudes Apollo on Harbor Village Lane on September 21, 2026, and found food that had been contaminated by chemical, physical, or biological hazards sitting in a restaurant that was actively serving customers.

That single violation, one of seven high-severity citations issued that day, represents the kind of finding that triggers emergency closures at other facilities. At Latitudes Apollo, the restaurant stayed open.

What Inspectors Found

1HIGHFood contaminated by chemical, physical, or biological hazardsActive hazard
2HIGHFood from unapproved or unknown sourceActive hazard
3HIGHInadequate shell stock identification/recordsActive hazard
4HIGHFood contact surfaces not properly cleaned/sanitizedActive hazard
5HIGHNo consumer advisory for raw/undercooked foodsActive hazard
6HIGHInadequate handwashing facilitiesInfrastructure failure
7HIGHPerson in charge not present or not performing dutiesManagement failure
8INTERMEDIATESingle-use items improperly reusedContamination risk
9INTERMEDIATEInadequate ventilation and lightingAir quality
10INTERMEDIATEInadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilitiesHygiene infrastructure

The inspection produced seven high-severity violations and three intermediate ones. Among the high-severity findings: food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, inadequate shell stock identification records, food contact surfaces that had not been properly cleaned or sanitized, and no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods.

Latitudes Apollo is a waterfront restaurant in Apollo Beach's Harbor Village complex. It serves seafood, including shellfish, which makes several of the September 21 findings particularly consequential.

The inspector also found no person in charge present or performing supervisory duties, and documented inadequate handwashing facilities. Single-use items were being improperly reused, toilet facilities were inadequate or improperly maintained, and ventilation was cited as deficient.

What These Violations Mean

The contaminated food citation is the most direct threat to anyone who ate at Latitudes Apollo that day. Food contaminated by chemical, physical, or biological hazards, whether from a cleaning agent, a fragment of glass or metal, or a pathogen introduced during preparation, can cause acute illness or injury with no warning to the customer.

The unapproved food source violation compounds that risk. When a restaurant sources food outside of USDA and FDA-inspected supply chains, there is no traceability if someone becomes sick. If a customer develops symptoms consistent with Listeria or Salmonella, investigators have no chain of custody to follow. The food simply came from somewhere unknown.

For a seafood restaurant, the shell stock identification failure is its own category of danger. Shellfish, including oysters, clams, and mussels, are frequently consumed raw or lightly cooked. The shell stock tagging system exists specifically so that a contaminated harvest can be traced back to its source and pulled from circulation before more people are exposed. Without those records, that system breaks down entirely.

The absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods left customers with no information to make an informed choice. Elderly diners, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems face elevated risk from raw shellfish, and state code requires that risk to be disclosed on the menu. It was not.

The Longer Record

Latitudes Apollo: Inspection Pattern, 2023–2026

Sept. 21, 20267 high, 3 intermediate violations. Contaminated food, unapproved sourcing, no shell stock records, no manager on duty.
March 3, 20265 high, 2 intermediate violations.
Dec. 29, 20257 high, 1 intermediate violations.
March 17, 20258 high, 3 intermediate violations. Highest single-inspection count on record.
July 22, 20246 high, 2 intermediate violations.
Feb. 12, 20247 high, 3 intermediate violations.
Oct. 18, 20231 high, 1 intermediate violations.
Oct. 11, 20235 high, 3 intermediate violations.
March 20, 20237 high, 3 intermediate violations.

The September 21 inspection was not an outlier. State records show Latitudes Apollo has accumulated 255 violations across 26 inspections on record. The facility has never been emergency-closed.

Seven of the eight most recent inspections produced five or more high-severity violations. The March 2025 inspection resulted in eight high-severity citations, the most in a single visit in the available record. The December 2025 inspection matched September's count of seven high-severity violations.

The pattern across those inspections shows persistent, recurring failures at the highest severity level. The restaurant has gone from seven high-severity violations in March 2023, to eight in March 2025, to seven again in December 2025, and seven again in September 2026, with no emergency closure in between any of them.

The one inspection in the recent record that produced a markedly lower count, one high-severity violation in October 2023, came one week after an inspection that found five high-severity violations. It stands as an exception in a record defined by repetition.

Still Open

State inspectors documented contaminated food, food from an unknown source, missing shell stock records, and no manager on duty at a waterfront seafood restaurant on September 21, 2026.

Latitudes Apollo was not closed.