ORLANDO, FL. Temak House Sushi Fusion on International Drive drew eight high-severity violations during the week of August 12, including citations for shellfish with no traceability records, food in poor condition, and dishes not cooked to required minimum temperatures, a combination that inspectors flag as among the most acute risks in any food service setting.
The International Drive location had no written employee health policy, meaning sick workers had no formal obligation to report symptoms before handling food. Inspectors also found the person in charge was not present or not performing duties, and that employees were not reporting illness symptoms, all three of the conditions that public health officials say precede the worst outbreak scenarios.
What Inspectors Found
Dimsum King & Seafood on Conroy Road also logged eight high-severity violations, matching Temak House for the week's highest count. Inspectors cited the restaurant for food from unapproved sources, inadequate shell stock identification, no allergen awareness, improperly stored chemicals, and food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized.
The allergen citation at Dimsum King is notable. The restaurant serves a menu that spans shellfish, pork, and soy-heavy preparations, and without demonstrated allergen awareness by staff, customers with life-threatening allergies have no reliable protection.
Jack and Mary's Restaurant on South Goldenrod Road rounded out the three-way tie at eight high-severity violations. The list included no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, food from unapproved sources, shell stock with no identification records, improperly stored chemicals, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items, and no allergen awareness on staff.
Bar Louie at the Alafaya Trail location drew seven high-severity violations, among them a citation for parasite destruction procedures not followed, meaning fish served raw or lightly cooked may not have been frozen to the temperatures required to kill Anisakis and other parasites. Inspectors also cited the location for time as a public health control not properly used, and for improper sewage or wastewater disposal.
Yummi on South Alafaya Trail collected seven high-severity violations including no person in charge on duty, employees not reporting illness, improper handwashing technique, improperly stored chemicals, and time controls not properly used. Inspectors also cited an intermediate violation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal.
Hop Bo Chinese Restaurant on Curry Ford Road was cited for food not cooked to required minimum temperature, a violation that means Salmonella and other pathogens can survive in poultry and other proteins. Inspectors also found improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock records, improperly stored chemicals, and time controls not properly used.
TGI Friday's on Caravan Court drew both an inadequate handwashing citation and an improper handwashing technique citation in the same inspection, meaning inspectors found failures at two separate points in the same basic hygiene chain. The location also had improper sewage or wastewater disposal flagged as an intermediate violation.
Hong Kong Alley Kitchen on East Colonial Drive was cited for parasite destruction procedures not followed, food in poor condition or adulterated, no allergen awareness, improperly stored chemicals, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned. Inspectors also flagged single-use items being improperly reused.
Outback Steakhouse on South Semoran Boulevard drew six high-severity violations, including employees not reporting illness symptoms, food from unapproved sources, shell stock with no identification records, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used.
Oscar's Grab and Go and Waldorf Astoria Room Service at Bonnet Creek Resort Lane logged six high-severity violations with no intermediate violations alongside them, a pattern that sometimes indicates inspectors found acute problems rather than systemic maintenance failures. The citations included no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness, improper handwashing technique, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, time controls not properly used, and toxic substances improperly stored.
Made in Puerto Rico Latin Cuisine and Sports Bar on South Semoran Boulevard was cited for food not cooked to required minimum temperature alongside five other high-severity violations including unapproved food sources, improperly stored chemicals, and no consumer advisory. Inspectors also found single-use items being reused.
Rock and Brews on South Semoran Boulevard drew five high-severity violations including an employee not reporting illness symptoms, food from unapproved sources, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. An intermediate citation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal added to the list.
Hoshi Hibachi and Sushi on South Orange Avenue was cited for inadequate handwashing facilities, meaning the physical infrastructure for hand hygiene was itself deficient, alongside improper handwashing technique and no employee health policy.
Sabor Venezolano on Whisper Lakes Boulevard drew four high-severity violations including parasite destruction procedures not followed and inadequate shell stock records.
Sabai Thai Street Food on South Orange Avenue was cited for no person in charge, an employee not reporting illness, improper handwashing technique, food from unapproved sources, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, and time controls not properly used.
What These Violations Mean
The most frequently cited violation across this week's inspections was food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, appearing at twelve of the fifteen facilities. Cutting boards, prep tables, and slicers that are not properly sanitized between uses become transfer points for bacteria from raw proteins to ready-to-eat food. At a restaurant serving raw fish, like Temak House or Dimsum King, that pathway runs directly to items eaten without any cooking step to kill what was left behind.
Several facilities, including Temak House, Jack and Mary's, Dimsum King, Bar Louie, and Hoshi Hibachi, were cited for inadequate shell stock identification records. Shellfish, specifically oysters, clams, and mussels, are among the highest-risk foods in any kitchen because they are often consumed raw or barely cooked. The traceability tags that must accompany each batch exist for one reason: if a customer gets sick, investigators need to be able to identify the harvest location and pull the product. Without those records, an outbreak investigation stalls at the restaurant door.
The parasite destruction citations at Bar Louie, Hong Kong Alley Kitchen, and Sabor Venezolano point to a specific and often overlooked risk in raw fish service. Federal food code requires that fish served raw, such as sushi or sashimi, be frozen at specific temperatures for specific durations to kill Anisakis worms and other parasites. When that step is skipped or undocumented, the risk transfers entirely to the customer.
The employee illness violations at nine of the fifteen facilities, covering no health policy, failure to report symptoms, or both, represent the most direct route from a sick worker to a sick customer. Norovirus, which causes the majority of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States, spreads person-to-person through contaminated hands. A worker who handles food while experiencing symptoms and has no formal policy requiring them to report or stay home is the single most efficient mechanism for a multi-victim outbreak.
The Longer Record
Hong Kong Alley Kitchen has the longest inspection history of any facility cited this week, with 42 prior inspections on record before this visit. Seven high-severity violations on inspection 43 is not the profile of a facility that has been steadily improving. Sabor Venezolano carries 41 prior inspections, and Bar Louie carries 40, making both among the most-inspected facilities in this week's group.
Rock and Brews has 39 prior inspections and Temak House Sushi Fusion has 38, yet both logged clusters of high-severity violations this week. Made in Puerto Rico has 36 prior inspections, and Jack and Mary's has 35. The volume of inspections at these locations means the violations documented this week are not first-time surprises caught early in a restaurant's history.
At the other end of the spectrum, Hoshi Hibachi and Sushi has only 6 prior inspections on record, making this week's six high-severity citations, including inadequate handwashing facilities and no employee health policy, a significant early accumulation. A location that cannot provide functional handwashing infrastructure in its first inspections has a structural problem, not a procedural one.
Sabai Thai Street Food has 19 prior inspections, still a relatively short history, and has already accumulated citations for no person in charge, unapproved food sources, and time controls not properly used. Whether that pattern continues across the next 20 inspections remains an open question in the record.
