TAMPA, FL. Inspectors visiting Mi Tierra Latina at 6802 W Hillsborough Ave on May 5 found shellfish on the premises with no identification records, meaning if a customer got sick from an oyster or clam, there would be no way to trace where it came from.
That was one of six high-severity violations documented that day. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The shellfish traceability citation is among the most serious in the inspection record. Shellfish, including oysters, clams, and mussels, are frequently consumed raw or only lightly cooked. State code requires restaurants to maintain shell stock identification tags so that, in the event of an illness outbreak, health investigators can trace the product back to its harvest location and lot.
Without those records, that chain is broken entirely.
Inspectors also found that food contact surfaces, the cutting boards, prep tables, and equipment that touches food directly, had not been properly cleaned and sanitized. That category of violation is a primary vehicle for bacterial transfer between raw and ready-to-eat foods.
The restaurant had no written employee health policy. That means there was no formal system in place to keep sick workers out of the kitchen.
Food described as in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated was also documented, alongside improper handwashing technique, meaning workers were attempting to wash their hands but doing so incorrectly, leaving pathogens behind. There was no consumer advisory posted to warn customers about raw or undercooked menu items.
Two intermediate violations rounded out the inspection: multi-use utensils that had not been properly cleaned, and inadequate ventilation and lighting in the facility.
What These Violations Mean
The absence of an employee health policy is not a paperwork problem. It is the mechanism by which a sick worker, one carrying Norovirus, Salmonella, or Hepatitis A, stays on the line and handles food. Norovirus alone accounts for an estimated 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, and direct transmission from food workers is one of its primary routes. A written policy that requires workers to report illness and stay home is the first line of defense. Mi Tierra Latina did not have one as of May 5.
The improper handwashing citation compounds that risk. Even when a worker makes the attempt to wash their hands, incorrect technique, insufficient time, skipping soap, or failing to reach all surfaces, leaves pathogens in place. Combined with food contact surfaces that were not properly sanitized, the conditions documented at this restaurant on May 5 represent multiple overlapping contamination pathways operating at the same time.
The shellfish records failure carries its own specific danger. Shellfish harvested from contaminated waters are a known vector for Vibrio bacteria and Hepatitis A. The identification tag system exists precisely because illnesses from shellfish can take days to present, and by then, tracing the source requires documentation that no longer exists if it was never kept.
The lack of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods means that elderly customers, pregnant women, young children, and anyone with a compromised immune system ate there on May 5 without the warning the state requires restaurants to post. Those populations face the highest risk of severe illness from undercooked proteins.
The Longer Record
The May 5 inspection was not an anomaly. Mi Tierra Latina has 28 inspections on record and 261 total violations accumulated across that history. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
The most recent prior inspection, on January 22 of this year, produced 8 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate ones, a worse outcome than the May visit. Before that, a May 2025 inspection found 5 high and 2 intermediate violations. The September 2024 inspection found 7 high and 2 intermediate. The pattern does not show improvement.
In March 2024, inspectors visited three times in four days: March 14, March 15, and March 18. Those visits produced 5, 4, and 3 high-severity violations respectively, suggesting a correction process that required multiple follow-up visits to resolve. The September 2023 record is particularly stark: an inspection on September 28 found 9 high-severity violations and 1 intermediate, followed by a return visit the next day.
Across eight documented inspections going back to September 2023, the facility has never logged fewer than 2 high-severity violations in a single visit. The category of violations has remained consistent across that stretch: food safety fundamentals, sanitation, and employee health practices.
Still Open
State inspectors documented six high-severity violations at Mi Tierra Latina on May 5, 2026. The facility had accumulated 261 violations across 28 prior inspections, with high-severity citations appearing in every recorded visit going back at least three years.
The restaurant was not closed.