ORLANDO, FL. State inspectors visiting Mama Romano's at 13802 Landstar Blvd on July 30 found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, meaning some ingredients on the menu that day had bypassed every federal safety inspection designed to catch Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli before they reach a customer's plate.
That was one of seven high-severity violations documented in a single visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The unapproved food source violation sat alongside a finding that toxic substances were improperly identified, stored, or used. Chemicals stored or handled incorrectly near food preparation areas create a direct route for contamination that no amount of cooking eliminates.
Inspectors also cited the restaurant for not having an adequate employee health policy, meaning there was no written system requiring sick workers to stay out of the kitchen. They found that employees who did wash their hands were using improper technique, a distinction that matters because technique failure leaves pathogens on hands even after a handwashing attempt.
Food contact surfaces, including cutting boards and prep surfaces, were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Multi-use utensils, flagged as an intermediate violation, had not been properly cleaned either.
The remaining high-severity violations covered two more gaps. Time was not being properly used as a public health control, meaning food was allowed to sit in the temperature danger zone between 41 and 135 degrees without the tracking required to ensure it was discarded before bacteria multiplied to dangerous levels. And the menu contained no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items, leaving customers with compromised immune systems, the elderly, pregnant women, and children without the warning the state requires.
On the intermediate side, inspectors documented improper sewage or wastewater disposal and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities, two findings that compound the handwashing failures already cited at the high-severity level.
What These Violations Mean
The food-from-unapproved-sources violation is one of the hardest to dismiss as administrative. When food enters a restaurant through channels that bypass USDA and FDA inspection, there is no traceability if a customer gets sick. A Salmonella or Listeria outbreak tied to an unregistered supplier cannot be traced back to its origin, which means the outbreak continues longer and sickens more people before anyone identifies the source.
The employee health policy violation compounds every other risk on the list. Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, spreads most efficiently when an infected food worker handles food without any policy requiring them to report symptoms or stay home. Without a written policy, there is no enforceable standard, and no record that workers were ever told one existed.
Improper sewage disposal is not a paperwork violation. Raw sewage contains fecal bacteria, Hepatitis A, and Norovirus. When wastewater is not properly contained and removed, those pathogens can reach food preparation surfaces, and the inadequate toilet facilities cited in the same inspection make it harder for employees to maintain the hygiene practices that would otherwise limit that exposure.
The combination of improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, improperly cleaned utensils, and failed handwashing technique describes a kitchen where cross-contamination is not an isolated risk but a structural condition.
The Longer Record
Mama Romano's Inspection History, 2022-2026
July 30 was not an anomaly. State records show Mama Romano's has been inspected 31 times and has accumulated 353 total violations. Every one of the eight most recent inspections on record produced at least five high-severity violations. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
The September 2024 inspection produced nine high-severity violations alongside five intermediate ones, the worst single visit in the recent record. The following inspection, in March 2024, still produced six high-severity citations. The pattern has not shifted in either direction across four years of documented visits.
The July 2026 inspection tied the January 2026 visit and the April 2025 visit at seven high-severity violations each. Three of the last four inspections have landed at exactly that number.
Still Open
No emergency closure order was issued after the July 30 inspection. Mama Romano's on Landstar Boulevard was permitted to continue serving customers with seven high-severity violations on record, including food from an unapproved source and improperly stored toxic substances, as of that date.
That is 353 violations across 31 inspections, and a restaurant that has never once been ordered to close.
