ORANGE COUNTY, FL. Two Orlando restaurants each racked up 11 high-severity violations in a single inspection week, and a downtown private club, a Winter Garden newcomer, and a Cuban cafe on Goldenrod Road were not far behind, according to state inspection records for the week of September 17 through September 23, 2026.
Inspectors visited 216 facilities across the county and conducted 231 total inspections. Twelve facilities came away with two or more high-severity violations. The findings ranged from food sourced from unidentified suppliers to employees working without any illness reporting policy in place.
The Worst of the Week
China Garden at 8833 Conroy Windermere Road led the county this week with 11 high-severity citations. Inspectors found no employee health policy, documented that employees were not reporting illness symptoms, cited improper handwashing technique, and flagged food from an unapproved or unknown source. The restaurant was also cited for inadequate shell stock identification, failure to follow parasite destruction procedures, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and misuse of time as a public health control.
Bikkuri Sushi Noodle and Grill at 1919 E. Colonial Drive matched that total with 11 high-severity violations of its own. The person in charge was cited for not performing duties. Inspectors also found no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, food from an unapproved source, inadequate shell stock records, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and improper use of time as a public health control.
Citrus Club at 255 S. Orange Avenue drew 10 high-severity violations. The person in charge was not performing duties. Inspectors cited the absence of an employee health policy, employees not reporting illness, improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock records, failure to follow parasite destruction procedures, improper use of time as a public health control, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Harlow Grove at 186 S. Main Street in Winter Garden also reached 10 high-severity violations. The list included an absent or inattentive person in charge, no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness, food contaminated by chemical or physical hazards, food from an unapproved source, failure to follow parasite destruction procedures, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and food not cooked to the required minimum temperature.
Old Cuban Cafe at 1672 N. Goldenrod Road accumulated nine high-severity and seven intermediate violations, the highest combined total of any facility this week. Inspectors found the person in charge not performing duties, no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness, inadequate handwashing facilities, inadequate shell stock records, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, food not cooked to required temperature, and toxic substances improperly identified or stored.
Libra and Bar Libra at 325 S. Orange Avenue drew nine high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved source, food not cooked to required temperature, improper use of time as a public health control, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. The person in charge was also cited for not performing duties.
Oh Que Bueno Restaurant Grill and Bar at 1125 S. Semoran was cited for nine high-severity violations, including two separate chemical storage citations, food from an unapproved source, improper handwashing technique, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, no consumer advisory, and inadequate shell stock records.
Nature's Table at 300 S. Orange Avenue was cited for eight high-severity violations. Inspectors found employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, food from an unapproved source, inadequate shell stock records, failure to follow parasite destruction procedures, no consumer advisory, and no allergen awareness.
Mi Ranchito Oaxaqueno at 1790 N. Chickasaw Trail drew seven high-severity violations, including no allergen awareness and no consumer advisory alongside the absent person in charge, no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness, and improper handwashing technique.
China Lee at 2338 S. Kirkman Road was cited for seven high-severity violations, including a sewage or wastewater disposal citation among the intermediate findings. Inspectors also found no person in charge performing duties, no employee health policy, improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock records, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, no consumer advisory, and no allergen awareness.
Marriott Orlando Downtown at 400 W. Livingston Street drew five high-severity violations. Food contaminated by chemical, physical, or biological hazards was among them, alongside food from an unapproved source, inadequate handwashing, food not cooked to required temperature, and no consumer advisory.
Flyers Wings and Grill at 5621 W. Colonial Drive carried three high-severity violations: improper handwashing technique, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and food not cooked to required minimum temperature. A wings restaurant cited for undercooking is not a minor notation.
What These Violations Mean
The single most repeated violation across this week's worst performers was the absence of an employee health policy, cited at China Garden, Bikkuri Sushi, Citrus Club, Harlow Grove, Old Cuban Cafe, Libra and Bar Libra, Mi Ranchito Oaxaqueno, China Lee, Oh Que Bueno, and Nature's Table. Without a written policy, a worker who wakes up with vomiting or diarrhea has no formal instruction to stay home. Norovirus, which causes the majority of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, can spread from a single symptomatic employee to dozens of customers through contaminated food or surfaces.
The companion violation, employees not reporting illness symptoms, appeared at China Garden, Bikkuri Sushi, Citrus Club, Harlow Grove, Old Cuban Cafe, Libra and Bar Libra, Mi Ranchito Oaxaqueno, and Nature's Table. That combination, no policy and no reporting, means there is no structural barrier between a sick worker and the food they are preparing or serving.
Food from unapproved or unknown sources, cited at China Garden, Bikkuri Sushi, Harlow Grove, Libra and Bar Libra, Marriott Orlando Downtown, Oh Que Bueno, and Nature's Table, creates a specific problem that goes beyond the food itself. When a product enters a kitchen without passing through a licensed, inspected supplier, there is no chain of records. If a customer gets sick, investigators cannot trace the ingredient back to its origin, which makes identifying the source of an outbreak significantly harder and slower.
Shell stock identification failures, found at China Garden, Bikkuri Sushi, Citrus Club, Old Cuban Cafe, Mi Ranchito Oaxaqueno, China Lee, Oh Que Bueno, and Nature's Table, carry a distinct risk because shellfish are frequently consumed raw or lightly cooked. Oysters, clams, and mussels must arrive with tags identifying their harvest location and date. Without those records, a facility serving raw shellfish cannot identify a contaminated harvest lot if illnesses are reported.
The Longer Record
The data provided does not include prior inspection counts for these facilities, which limits the ability to place this week's findings in a longer historical context. What the current inspection records do show is a concentration of management-level failures, meaning the violations are not isolated to one employee or one station but reflect systemic gaps in how these kitchens are run.
Seven of the twelve worst facilities this week were cited for the person in charge not performing duties. That violation is significant not because it is the most dramatic on the list, but because it correlates with everything else. A kitchen without active managerial oversight is a kitchen where handwashing goes uncorrected, where food temperatures go unchecked, and where an employee who came to work sick goes unnoticed.
The concentration of high-severity violations along S. Orange Avenue is worth noting. Citrus Club at 255 S. Orange, Libra and Bar Libra at 325 S. Orange, and Nature's Table at 300 S. Orange all landed on this week's worst list, all within a few blocks of each other in downtown Orlando's core dining corridor. Citrus Club drew 10 high-severity violations, Libra and Bar Libra drew nine, and Nature's Table drew eight.
Old Cuban Cafe's combined total of 16 violations, nine high-severity and seven intermediate, was the highest of any single facility this week. The intermediate violations included findings beyond the high-severity citations, suggesting a broader pattern of operational gaps rather than a handful of isolated problems.
