ST. PETERSBURG, FL. A state inspector walked into Metro Diner at 5250 4th Street North on August 24 and documented food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, an employee not reporting symptoms of illness, toxic chemicals improperly stored near food, and six more high-severity violations. The restaurant was not closed.
The inspection turned up nine high-severity violations and two intermediate violations in a single visit. That total puts the August 24 inspection among the worst in the facility's recent history, rivaling a March 2026 visit that produced eight high-severity violations and a July 2024 inspection that triggered an emergency closure.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooking violation is the most direct threat to anyone who ate at the restaurant that day. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and the state requires minimum internal temperatures precisely because undercooking is a leading documented cause of foodborne illness. There is no way for a customer to know whether the food on their plate reached a safe temperature.
The two chemical violations compound that picture. Inspectors cited both improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals and improperly identified or stored toxic substances. Those are two distinct categories of the same core failure: chemicals near food, chemicals without clear labeling, or chemicals used in a way that creates a contamination path directly to what customers eat.
The sewage disposal violation, listed as intermediate, is not minor in practice. Improper wastewater disposal creates a pathway for fecal contamination across the facility, and it was present alongside a finding that multi-use utensils were not properly cleaned.
What These Violations Mean
The employee illness violations, taken together, describe a system with no working safeguard against a sick worker infecting customers. The inspector found no adequate employee health policy and separately found that an employee was not reporting illness symptoms. Those are not the same violation. One means the written framework does not exist. The other means a worker was actively on the line without disclosing symptoms.
Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, spreads through exactly this mechanism. A single infected food worker can expose dozens of customers in a single shift. Without a health policy, there is no documented procedure requiring workers to stay home or report symptoms. Without reporting, the policy, even if it existed, would not have been triggered.
The handwashing violations add a third layer. Inspectors cited both inadequate handwashing facilities and improper hand and arm washing technique. Inadequate facilities means the physical infrastructure, soap, running water, accessible sinks, was not sufficient. Improper technique means that even when handwashing was attempted, it was done incorrectly. Studies show that improper handwashing technique leaves pathogens on hands even after a washing attempt. At Metro Diner on August 24, both the infrastructure and the execution were flagged as failures.
The absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods is a specific concern for elderly customers, pregnant women, young children, and anyone with a compromised immune system. Without that advisory, those customers cannot make an informed choice about the risk they are accepting.
The Longer Record
Metro Diner at 5250 4th St N: Recent Inspection History
The August 24 inspection is the worst single-visit total in the recent record, but it did not arrive without warning. State records show 42 inspections on file for this location, with 481 total violations documented across that history. The facility has been inspected at least eight times since April 2024 alone, and every single one of those visits produced at least one high-severity violation.
The location was emergency-closed on July 16, 2024, after inspectors found roach and fly activity. It reopened the following day. Five months later, in October 2024, the violation count had dropped to a single high-severity citation. By March 2026, it was back to eight high-severity violations in one visit, followed two days later by three more.
The pattern across two-plus years is not a facility that had a bad day. It is a facility that has accumulated high-severity violations across nearly every inspection on record, was closed once for pest activity, and on August 24 produced its highest single-visit count yet.
Metro Diner at 5250 4th Street North was not closed after the August 24 inspection. It remained open to customers.
