SAINT AUGUSTINE, FL. State inspectors found food from unapproved sources inside Nori on Ashourian Avenue on May 4, a violation that means some of what was being served that day had never passed through a USDA or FDA safety checkpoint, and there was no way to trace it if someone got sick.
That was one of six high-severity violations documented during the inspection. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The shellfish violation compounded the sourcing problem. Inspectors cited inadequate shell stock identification and records, meaning the restaurant could not document where its oysters, clams, or mussels came from, which harvest beds they originated in, or when they were pulled. Those records exist for one reason: so that if a customer gets sick, public health officials can trace an outbreak back to a specific source and pull product before more people are harmed.
Inspectors also found that food contact surfaces had not been properly cleaned or sanitized. Cutting boards, prep surfaces, and any other equipment that touches raw fish or shellfish at a sushi restaurant are the primary transfer point for bacteria like Salmonella and Listeria. When those surfaces are not sanitized between uses, contamination moves from one item to the next.
The restaurant was also cited for improper handwashing technique. That is a distinct violation from simply not washing hands. It means employees were going through the motion of washing, but doing it incorrectly, leaving pathogens on their hands before returning to food preparation.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled near food areas. That violation sits alongside the others in the high-severity category because the consequences of a mislabeled or misplaced chemical are immediate and acute, not gradual.
Nori also lacked a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. A sushi restaurant serving raw fish and shellfish is required to post a notice warning customers that consuming raw animal products carries risk, particularly for elderly diners, pregnant women, young children, and anyone with a compromised immune system. There was no such notice.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of unapproved food sources and missing shellfish records is particularly serious at a restaurant that serves raw and minimally prepared seafood. Food from unapproved sources has bypassed the federal inspection system entirely. There is no documentation of how it was handled, at what temperatures it was stored during transport, or whether it came from a licensed processor. If a customer became ill after eating there on May 4, investigators would have no paper trail to follow.
The shellfish traceability requirement exists because oysters, clams, and mussels are filter feeders that concentrate whatever pathogens are present in their growing waters, including Vibrio, norovirus, and hepatitis A. Shell stock tags identify the harvest location and date, creating a chain of custody that public health agencies use to pull product during outbreaks. Without those records at Nori, that chain does not exist.
Improper handwashing technique is not a paperwork violation. Inspectors observed employees washing their hands in a way that left contamination behind. In a kitchen preparing raw shellfish and raw fish, those hands then touch prep surfaces, utensils, and food directly. The unsanitized food contact surfaces documented in the same inspection mean the contamination had additional pathways to spread.
The missing consumer advisory left customers with no information to make their own risk assessment. A pregnant woman ordering a roll with raw shellfish, or an immunocompromised diner choosing sashimi, had no posted warning that the food carried elevated risk.
The Longer Record
The May 4 inspection was not an anomaly. Nori has 15 inspections on record and 95 total violations documented across its history at this location.
The pattern of serious violations followed by clean inspections, then serious violations again, repeats throughout the record. Inspectors found seven high-severity violations in January 2025. A June 2025 visit found four high-severity violations and three intermediate ones. A December 2025 inspection found six high-severity violations and three intermediate ones, a nearly identical profile to the May 4 findings.
Between those troubled inspections, the restaurant has passed cleanly. A February 2026 visit found zero high-severity and zero intermediate violations, just ten weeks before the May 4 inspection produced six high-severity citations.
The facility has never been emergency-closed in its inspection history. The May 4 visit, with six high-severity violations including food from unapproved sources, inadequate shellfish records, and improperly stored chemicals, did not change that.
Nori remained open after inspectors left on May 4.