CLERMONT, FL. A state inspector walked into Original Goomba's Pizzeria on South US Highway 27 on May 27 and documented that employees were not reporting symptoms of illness, food was not being cooked to required minimum temperatures, and toxic chemicals were improperly stored near food. The restaurant was not closed.
That single inspection logged 9 high-severity violations and 5 intermediate ones. State inspectors classify high-severity violations as those most directly linked to foodborne illness outbreaks.
What Inspectors Found
The illness reporting violation is among the most serious a food service establishment can receive. Inspectors documented that employees were not reporting symptoms, and that no adequate health policy existed to require them to do so.
Food was also found not cooked to required minimum temperatures. For poultry, that means internal temperatures below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, a threshold set specifically because Salmonella survives below that point.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled near food. That violation creates a direct risk of acute chemical poisoning through contamination of food or food-contact surfaces.
Inspectors also found that food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, that multi-use utensils were not properly cleaned, and that wiping cloths were being used improperly. Each of those violations creates a separate pathway for bacterial transfer to food.
The shellfish traceability citation means the restaurant could not adequately document the source of shellfish on the premises. Without that documentation, if a customer became ill after eating raw or lightly cooked shellfish, investigators would have no way to trace the contaminated batch back to its origin.
The sewage and wastewater disposal violation rounds out the intermediate findings. Improper sewage disposal can introduce fecal contamination into a food service environment.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no employee health policy and employees not reporting illness symptoms is, in public health terms, how outbreaks start. Norovirus, one of the most common causes of foodborne illness in the United States, spreads primarily through infected food workers who handle food while sick. A policy requiring employees to report symptoms and stay home is the primary line of defense. At Original Goomba's on May 27, that line of defense was absent.
Undercooked food compounds the risk. If a sick employee handles poultry that is then served below 165 degrees, the customer receives both the contaminated handling and a product that has not been cooked to a temperature that would have killed pathogens in the food itself.
The improperly stored toxic chemicals violation is a separate and acute hazard. Chemicals stored near food or without proper labeling can be accidentally introduced into food during preparation. That category of violation has caused hospitalizations in food service settings when cleaning agents were mistaken for food ingredients or when chemical containers were stored above open food.
The absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods means customers who are pregnant, elderly, immunocompromised, or otherwise at elevated risk had no way to make an informed decision about what they were ordering. That advisory is not a formality. It is the only warning those customers would receive.
The Longer Record
May 27 was not an anomaly. State records show the same restaurant was inspected on May 19, just eight days earlier, and received an identical tally: 9 high-severity violations and 5 intermediate ones. The May 19 inspection did not result in a closure either.
The pattern goes back further. Inspectors visited Original Goomba's on September 29, 2025, and found 9 high-severity violations and 3 intermediate ones. A follow-up visit the next day, September 30, still found 3 high-severity violations. In March 2025, inspectors found 8 high-severity violations. In December 2024, they found 4.
Across 31 inspections on record, the facility has accumulated 364 total violations. It has never been emergency-closed.
The most recent eight inspections, spanning from March 2024 through May 2026, include a total of 50 high-severity violations. Six of those eight inspections produced four or more high-severity citations. Two of them, including the most recent, produced nine.
The facility's inspection record does not show a restaurant that had one bad month. It shows a location that has been cited for high-severity violations in the majority of its recent inspections, with the two most recent visits producing the highest counts on record.
Still Open
State inspectors have the authority to order an emergency closure when conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. On May 27, with nine high-severity violations including sick workers, undercooked food, and improperly stored chemicals, that threshold was not met.
Original Goomba's Pizzeria on South US Highway 27 in Clermont remained open for business.