FERNANDINA, FL. State inspectors visiting Lucky Wok at 2108 Sadler Square on April 24 found food coming from unapproved or unknown sources, an employee failing to report illness symptoms, and toxic chemicals stored improperly near food, among seven high-severity violations. The restaurant was not closed.
The food sourcing violation alone sets off alarms that inspectors take seriously at any facility. When food arrives outside the regulated supply chain, there is no paper trail to follow if customers get sick.
What Inspectors Found
The seven high-severity violations covered nearly every critical control point in the kitchen. No person in charge was present or performing duties. An employee had not reported illness symptoms as required. Hand and arm washing technique was improper. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized.
The remaining high-severity citations hit sourcing and storage. Inspectors cited food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated, alongside food from unapproved or unknown sources, and toxic chemicals stored or labeled improperly near food.
On the intermediate side, inspectors also cited improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, inadequate cooling and cold holding equipment, inadequate ventilation and lighting, improper use of wiping cloths, and equipment in poor repair. Thirteen violations in total.
What These Violations Mean
The illness-reporting failure is the violation most directly dangerous to the public on any given day. Food workers are the number one transmission route for norovirus and other pathogens in restaurant outbreaks. When an employee showing symptoms continues working without reporting, every dish that passes through their hands is a potential exposure. At Lucky Wok, that risk existed alongside improper handwashing technique, meaning even a worker who attempted to wash their hands may not have removed pathogens before handling food.
The unapproved food source citation compounds that risk in a different way. Food that enters the kitchen outside the regulated supply chain has bypassed federal inspection for Listeria, Salmonella, and other contaminants. If a customer became ill after eating at Lucky Wok, investigators would have no supply chain records to trace.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, also cited here, are a primary vehicle for bacterial transfer between raw and ready-to-eat food. Combine that with inadequate cooling equipment, and food that should be held below 41 degrees may be sitting in the temperature range where bacteria double roughly every 20 minutes.
The toxic chemicals citation is a separate category of risk entirely. Improperly stored or labeled chemicals near food can cause acute poisoning, not a slow-onset illness but an immediate one. The improper sewage or wastewater disposal citation raises the possibility of fecal contamination reaching surfaces throughout the facility.
The Longer Record
The April 2026 inspection is not an outlier. Lucky Wok has 30 inspections on record and 255 total violations across that history. The facility has been emergency-closed twice: once in April 2017 for roach activity, and once in September 2024 for rodent activity. After the 2024 rodent closure, the restaurant passed a follow-up inspection the next day and reopened.
The inspection record since that 2024 closure does not show improvement. The November 2024 inspection produced five high-severity violations. December 2025 produced nine high-severity violations and five intermediate ones. April 2026 produced seven high-severity violations and six intermediate ones.
Lucky Wok: Recent Inspection History
Three of the last four substantive inspections have produced five or more high-severity violations. The categories repeat: management failures, food handling, equipment condition. The pattern across 30 inspections and 255 violations is not one of a facility that stumbles occasionally. It is one of a facility that accumulates serious citations, addresses enough to reopen or avoid closure, and returns to the same conditions.
Open for Business
State inspectors left Lucky Wok open after the April 24 inspection. The restaurant at 2108 Sadler Square had seven high-severity violations on the books, including food from an unknown source and an employee who had not reported illness symptoms, and it continued serving customers.