ST. CLOUD, FL. Inspectors visiting Not A Clue Bar & Grill at 5790 Alligator Lake Shore W on July 14 found that the restaurant had no adequate records to trace its shellfish back to the source, no documented procedures for destroying parasites in fish or other high-risk proteins, and no consumer advisory warning customers that raw or undercooked items were on the menu. The inspection ended with 9 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate citations. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The shellfish citation alone carries significant weight. Without proper shell stock identification records, there is no way to trace oysters, clams, or mussels back to the harvesting source if a customer becomes ill. That traceability gap is exactly what public health investigators rely on when an outbreak begins.
The parasite destruction failure compounds that risk. Fish and pork that have not been properly frozen or cooked to required temperatures can harbor live parasites, including Anisakis in fish and Trichinella in pork. Neither is detectable by sight or smell.
The missing consumer advisory is the third piece of that picture. Customers ordering raw or undercooked items at Not A Clue on July 14 had no written warning on the menu or at the point of service that those foods carry elevated risk, particularly for elderly diners, pregnant women, and anyone with a compromised immune system.
Beyond the food sourcing issues, inspectors also cited inadequate handwashing by food employees, food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and food described as in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated. An employee illness reporting failure was also documented, meaning a sick worker with no obligation to self-report could have been handling food that day without management intervention.
The person-in-charge violation ties it together. When no qualified manager is actively supervising, CDC data associates that gap with three times the rate of critical violations at comparable facilities.
What These Violations Mean
The shellfish traceability and parasite destruction violations are not paperwork failures. They are the specific conditions under which a customer can eat a contaminated oyster or a piece of fish carrying a live parasite and have no recourse afterward, because investigators cannot identify where the product came from or confirm it was handled safely.
The illness reporting violation is a direct transmission risk. Norovirus, one of the most common causes of restaurant-linked outbreaks, spreads person-to-person through food prepared by an infected worker. A single sick employee without a reporting obligation can contaminate food served to dozens of customers before anyone connects the cases.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, combined with the multi-use utensil citation and the single-use item reuse violation, create layered cross-contamination pathways. Bacterial biofilms form on improperly cleaned surfaces within 24 hours and resist standard wiping.
The toilet facility violation is not cosmetic. Employees who lack functional, accessible restroom facilities are less likely to wash hands properly between tasks, and the handwashing violation documented in the same inspection suggests that was already happening.
The Longer Record
The July 14 inspection was not an outlier. State records show Not A Clue Bar & Grill has accumulated 160 violations across 24 inspections on record, and high-severity citations have appeared in every inspection since October 2022, when the restaurant logged zero high or intermediate violations.
The pattern since that clean inspection is consistent. Four high-severity violations in January 2024. Four more in August 2024. Seven high-severity violations in October 2023. Three high-severity violations in both March and May of this year, before the July 14 inspection pushed the single-visit count to nine.
Two days after the July 14 inspection, inspectors returned and found 5 high-severity and 3 intermediate violations still present. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed in its inspection history.
Still Open
The July 14 inspection produced the highest single-visit violation count in the facility's recorded history. It documented failures spanning food sourcing, parasite control, illness reporting, handwashing, surface sanitation, and management oversight simultaneously.
Not A Clue Bar & Grill was not closed that day. It remained open to customers.
