LONGWOOD, FL. A state inspector visiting Longwood Country Kitchen at 260 SR W 434 on September 17, 2026 found that food was not being cooked to required minimum temperatures, a violation that means live pathogens can survive on the plate and reach the customer. The restaurant was not emergency-closed.
That finding was one of six high-severity violations documented in a single inspection. Four intermediate violations were also recorded. The restaurant remained in operation.
What Inspectors Found
The temperature violation sits at the top of the list because the consequences are immediate and direct. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. If food is pulled from heat too early, that pathogen goes onto the plate.
Alongside that, inspectors found employees were not reporting symptoms of illness, and that handwashing technique was improper. Those two violations together create a direct route from a sick worker to a customer's food. An employee who doesn't report illness stays on the line. An employee who washes hands incorrectly leaves pathogens on their hands regardless of the attempt.
Food contact surfaces, including cutting boards and prep areas, were not properly cleaned or sanitized. That means bacteria transferred from raw proteins can survive on surfaces and move to the next item prepared there.
Toxic chemicals were improperly stored or labeled near food areas. And the restaurant had no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked items, meaning customers who are elderly, pregnant, or immunocompromised had no warning before ordering.
On the intermediate side, inspectors found improper sewage or wastewater disposal, single-use items being reused, inadequate ventilation, and inadequate toilet facilities.
What These Violations Mean
The food temperature violation is not a paperwork problem. Poultry cooked below 165 degrees can carry live Salmonella to the table. The absence of a consumer advisory compounds this: customers who are pregnant, elderly, or living with compromised immune systems cannot make an informed choice about what they are eating if the menu carries no warning.
The illness reporting failure is the violation that public health officials describe as the top driver of multi-victim outbreaks. A worker who does not report symptoms of norovirus or another communicable illness does not get sent home. They stay in the kitchen. Paired with improper handwashing technique, which leaves pathogens on hands even after a wash attempt, the contamination pathway from worker to food to customer is essentially uninterrupted.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces extend that contamination chain further. A cutting board or prep surface that carried raw chicken and was not properly sanitized becomes a transfer point for every item prepared on it afterward. The sewage disposal violation adds another layer: improper handling of wastewater creates fecal contamination risk throughout the facility, and inadequate toilet facilities make it less likely that employees use restrooms and wash hands at all.
The Longer Record
Longwood Country Kitchen: Inspection Pattern, 2025-2026
State records show Longwood Country Kitchen has been inspected 33 times and has accumulated 320 total violations. It has been emergency-closed three times, all for roach activity, in March, May, and September of 2026.
Each of the three emergency closures followed the same pattern. Roach activity triggered the shutdown. A follow-up inspection the next day found reduced but still-present high-severity violations. The restaurant reopened. Within weeks, high-severity violations reappeared.
The July 30 inspection, six weeks before the September 17 visit, produced seven high-severity violations on its own. The September 17 inspection came in at six. The facility has not had a single inspection in the past year that recorded zero high-severity violations.
The September 17 inspection also triggered an emergency closure order for roach activity, records show. A follow-up visit the next day, September 18, found two high-severity violations still present. The restaurant was allowed to reopen.
As of the September 18 follow-up, Longwood Country Kitchen was open for business.
