BOCA RATON, FL. A state inspector walked into Mykonos Grill on NE 20th Street on August 13 and found food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, no written employee illness policy, and improper sewage disposal, then left the restaurant open.
The inspection produced nine high-severity violations and three intermediate violations, one of the heaviest single-visit tallies in the facility's ten-inspection history. No emergency closure order was issued.
What Inspectors Found
The cooking temperature violation sits at the top of the list for a reason. Undercooking is among the most direct paths from kitchen to hospital. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and a single undercooked serving is enough to cause illness.
Alongside that, inspectors cited inadequate shell stock identification records, meaning shellfish served at the restaurant, a Greek grill where items like mussels and clams are common menu fixtures, could not be traced to their source. If a customer got sick from a contaminated batch, there would be no paper trail to pull.
The improper sewage disposal citation added a different dimension. Sewage handling failures create risk of fecal contamination throughout a facility, not just at a single station.
The Illness Policy Problem
Three of the nine high-severity violations on August 13 were directly tied to employee illness: no written health policy, employees not reporting symptoms, and a person in charge not present or not performing duties.
These three citations, taken together, describe a kitchen where a sick employee could show up, handle food, and have no formal obligation to tell anyone. Norovirus, the leading cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States, spreads through exactly this route.
The "no person in charge" citation compounds the rest. CDC data cited in inspection records links establishments without active managerial control to three times more critical violations. On August 13 at Mykonos Grill, there was no one whose job it was to catch the other eight problems.
What These Violations Mean
The handwashing violations, both inadequate facilities and improper technique, matter because they close off the last line of defense. Even when employees want to wash their hands, the infrastructure was not adequate to support it. Studies consistently show improper handwashing technique leaves pathogens on hands even after a washing attempt.
The food contact surface citation means cutting boards, prep surfaces, or utensils were not properly cleaned and sanitized between uses. That is a primary cross-contamination route: raw chicken residue on a board that later holds a salad is not a theoretical risk.
The time-as-public-health-control violation is technical but serious. When a restaurant uses time rather than temperature to manage food safety, strict tracking is required. Food is allowed to sit in the bacterial growth zone between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit, but only for a defined window. Inspectors found that window was not being properly managed.
The wiping cloth and multi-use utensil violations compound each other. Improperly used cloths spread contamination from surface to surface. Improperly cleaned utensils develop bacterial biofilms within 24 hours, biofilms that resist standard sanitizing.
The Longer Record
Mykonos Grill: Inspection History
Mykonos Grill has now accumulated 46 total violations across ten inspections on record. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern is consistent. High-severity violations appeared in seven of the eight inspections prior to August 13. The lone clean inspection, in March 2026, came between two visits that each produced multiple high-severity citations. August 13 was not an anomaly. It was the worst single visit in the record.
The follow-up inspection on August 14, the day after, found one high-severity violation and one intermediate violation still present. The restaurant remained open through both visits.
