ORLANDO, FL. State inspectors walked into Memories of Peru on Crystal Clear Lane on May 5 and found food sourced from suppliers that could not be verified as USDA or FDA approved, meaning that if a customer got sick, there would be no chain of custody to trace.
That was one of eight high-severity violations documented that afternoon. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The chemical violations were cited twice, as two separate high-severity findings. Inspectors documented both improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals and improper identification, storage, or use of toxic substances, suggesting the problem was not a single misplaced bottle but a broader failure in how hazardous materials were being handled throughout the kitchen.
Handwashing was also cited at two levels. The facility lacked adequate handwashing infrastructure, and separately, employees were documented using improper technique. Both citations on the same visit means that even when employees tried to wash their hands, they were doing it wrong, and the sink situation made doing it right harder still.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Inspectors also found that time was being used as a public health control without being applied correctly, a method that requires precise tracking of how long food sits in the temperature danger zone between 41 and 135 degrees.
The restaurant was also serving items that require a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, with no such notice posted or provided. Six intermediate violations accompanied the eight high-severity findings, covering improperly cleaned multi-use utensils, incorrect sanitizing procedures, reused single-use items, inadequate ventilation and lighting, improper wiping cloth use, and inadequate toilet facilities.
What These Violations Mean
Food from an unapproved or unknown source is not a paperwork problem. When ingredients bypass USDA or FDA inspection, there is no way to trace an outbreak back to its origin. If a customer became ill after eating at Memories of Peru, investigators would have no verified supplier records to examine.
The chemical violations carry a more immediate risk. Toxic substances stored near or improperly labeled around food preparation areas can contaminate ingredients through direct contact or mislabeling. Acute chemical poisoning does not require a large dose, and in a busy kitchen where multiple people handle products, a mislabeled container can move quickly from storage to a prep surface.
The dual handwashing failures compound every other violation on the list. Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces become more dangerous when the people touching them are not washing their hands effectively. The two citations together, inadequate facilities and improper technique, describe a kitchen where the most basic contamination barrier was not functioning.
The missing consumer advisory matters specifically for vulnerable diners. Elderly customers, pregnant women, young children, and anyone with a compromised immune system face elevated risk from raw or undercooked proteins. Without a posted advisory, they cannot make an informed choice.
The Longer Record
The May 5 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show 27 inspections on file for Memories of Peru, with 255 total violations documented across that history. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
The most recent prior inspections show a facility that has cycled through high-severity violations at every visit. In December 2025, inspectors found three high and two intermediate violations. In April 2025, four high and two intermediate. In November 2024, three high and one intermediate. The pattern holds across every entry in the record going back through 2022.
The February 2022 inspection produced seven high-severity violations and three intermediate, the closest prior parallel to this month's eight-violation finding. The June 2023 visit logged six high and four intermediate. Neither prompted a closure.
What the history shows is not a restaurant that slipped briefly, got cited, and corrected course. It shows a facility that has accumulated high-severity violations across roughly three years of documented inspections without a single emergency closure on record.
The Longer Record in Context
Twenty-seven inspections. Two hundred fifty-five total violations. Eight high-severity findings on a single day in May 2026.
The restaurant remained open after inspectors left on May 5.