GROVELAND, FL. State inspectors found food from unapproved or unknown sources at Mamma Rita's Pizzeria and Italian Grill on September 22, one of ten high-severity violations documented during a single visit to the SR 50 restaurant, and the facility remained open through the inspection.
The September 22 visit produced 15 violations total, ten of them high-severity. The restaurant was not emergency-closed that day despite the volume and severity of what inspectors documented.
What Inspectors Found
Inspectors cited the restaurant for food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, a violation with direct consequences: Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit and can sicken a customer within hours of a meal. Alongside that, toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled near food, a condition that can cause acute poisoning if a chemical contaminates a food surface or ingredient.
The restaurant had no written employee health policy, and employees were not reporting symptoms of illness, two violations that function together. A worker with Norovirus who has no policy requiring them to report symptoms and no manager enforcing that policy is a direct transmission route to every plate leaving the kitchen.
Inspectors also cited inadequate handwashing facilities and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized. Improperly cleaned cutting boards, prep surfaces, and utensils are among the most common vehicles for bacterial transfer between raw and ready-to-eat food.
The intermediate violations added to the picture: improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, single-use items being reused, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and inadequate toilet facilities.
No person in charge was present or performing supervisory duties during the inspection.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved or unknown sources is not a paperwork problem. When food bypasses USDA or FDA inspection channels, there is no traceability if a customer becomes sick. Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli have all been linked to uninspected supply chains. If an outbreak were traced to Mamma Rita's, investigators would have no chain of custody to follow.
The combination of no employee health policy, no illness reporting, and no person in charge is particularly serious. CDC data shows that establishments without active managerial control accumulate critical violations at roughly three times the rate of managed kitchens. Without a manager enforcing a health policy, a sick employee has no formal obligation to stay home or even to report symptoms. Norovirus, which causes an estimated 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, spreads most efficiently through food workers who continue working while symptomatic.
The improper sewage or wastewater disposal citation compounds the hygiene picture. Raw sewage contains fecal coliform bacteria. When waste is not properly disposed of, contamination can spread to food prep areas, surfaces, and ultimately to food itself.
Improperly stored or mislabeled toxic chemicals near food represent an entirely separate risk category. A cleaning chemical mistaken for a food ingredient, or a spray bottle stored above an open food container, can produce acute poisoning with no warning to the customer.
The Longer Record
The September 22 inspection was not the first time inspectors have documented serious problems at this restaurant. State records show 39 inspections on record and 477 total violations accumulated over the life of the facility.
The pattern in 2026 alone is striking. Inspectors visited on February 18 and found nine high-severity violations. They returned the next day and found seven more. A third visit five days later, on February 24, again produced seven high-severity violations. That three-visit stretch in February 2026 alone generated 23 high-severity citations.
In July 2025, a visit produced 12 high-severity violations, the highest single-inspection count in the recent record. A follow-up the next day found eight more. The restaurant has now logged high-severity violations in every inspection window for which data exists going back more than a year.
The Closure That Did and Did Not Happen
Mamma Rita's: Recent Inspection Pattern
The restaurant does have one emergency closure on record. Inspectors ordered it shut on September 22, 2026, citing fly activity. It reopened two days later, on September 24.
The closure for fly activity happened on the same day inspectors documented the ten high-severity violations detailed in this report, including food from unknown sources, undercooking, and improperly stored toxic chemicals. Those ten violations, on their own, did not trigger an emergency closure order.
As of September 24, Mamma Rita's Pizzeria and Italian Grill was open for business.
