ORLANDO, FL. State inspectors cited International House of Pancakes on International Drive for nine high-severity violations during the week of June 24, 2026, including failures to cook food to required minimum temperatures, parasite destruction procedures not followed for fish or meat, and no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked items on the menu.
That nine-violation tally tied with Carrabba's Italian Grill on Vineland Road for the highest single-week high-severity count among the 15 Orlando facilities flagged this week. Together, the two restaurants accounted for 18 of the week's high-severity citations before inspectors reached any other address.
The Violations
At the IHOP, the inspector also documented that no person in charge was present or performing duties, and that employees had not reported illness symptoms. Inadequate handwashing facilities and improper handwashing technique were both cited as separate violations, meaning the facility failed on both the infrastructure and the practice of hand hygiene in the same visit.
Carrabba's drew a similarly broad range of failures. Inspectors cited food sourced from an unapproved or unknown supplier, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and no written employee health policy in place. The combination of an unknown food source and no health policy means inspectors found no reliable mechanism to trace where the food came from or to stop a sick employee from handling it.
Elixir Bar Room and Hash House on West Washington Street drew eight high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved source, inadequate shell stock identification records for shellfish, and required procedures for specialized processes not followed. Shellfish without proper tagging cannot be traced to a harvest site if a customer becomes ill.
Brewlando on Hoffner Avenue also accumulated eight high-severity violations. Inspectors found no person in charge present, no written employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and time as a public health control not properly used. That last citation means food was allowed to sit in the bacterial growth zone, between 41 and 135 degrees, without a documented time log to establish when it needed to be discarded.
Licking Orlando on Millenia Plaza Way was cited for six high-severity violations, among them two separate toxic substance citations: chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and toxic substances improperly identified or used. The facility also lacked shell stock identification records and posted no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Taqueria Ameca Margarita on South Orange Blossom Trail drew six high-severity violations including food from an unapproved source and no allergen awareness demonstrated. A facility with no allergen awareness has no documented system to prevent cross-contact between allergens and dishes for customers who may have life-threatening food allergies.
Funny Bone on International Drive was cited for food not cooked to required minimum temperature, inadequate shell stock records, food from an unapproved source, and time as a public health control not properly used, all in a single inspection.
Wonderful Hand-Pulled Noodle on Turkey Lake Road drew six high-severity violations including no allergen awareness demonstrated and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized. At a restaurant specializing in noodle dishes, unsanitized food contact surfaces carry a direct cross-contamination risk across every item prepared.
Kabsah on South Orange Blossom Trail was cited for five high-severity violations alongside five intermediate violations, the highest intermediate count of any facility this week. Intermediate violations included improper sewage or wastewater disposal and improper sanitizing solution or procedures, a combination that puts both waste containment and surface decontamination in question at the same location.
Solita Tacos and Margaritas on South Orange Avenue had no person in charge present, employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate shell stock identification records, and unsanitized food contact surfaces, all at five high-severity violations.
Chick-fil-A on West Sand Lake Road was cited for parasite destruction procedures not followed, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and toxic substances improperly identified or stored. At a restaurant where chicken is the core product, an undercooking citation carries direct Salmonella risk.
Seasons 52 on Sand Lake Road drew five high-severity violations including no person in charge present and employees not reporting illness symptoms. Burger King on East Colonial Drive was cited for food in poor condition or adulterated, improper handwashing technique, and two separate toxic substance violations.
Miller's Orlando Ale House on Winter Garden Vineland Road rounded out the week with five high-severity violations, including food not cooked to required minimum temperature, no allergen awareness demonstrated, and employees not reporting illness symptoms.
TGI Friday's on Caravan Court drew two high-severity violations: food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. The facility also had improper sewage or wastewater disposal cited as an intermediate violation.
What These Violations Mean
The most common high-severity pattern this week was the cluster of illness-reporting and health policy failures, appearing together at IHOP, Carrabba's, Brewlando, Solita Tacos, Seasons 52, and Miller's Ale House. When a facility has no written employee health policy and no active manager enforcing it, there is no documented protocol requiring a sick worker to stay home. Norovirus, which spreads through direct hand-to-food contact, can infect dozens of customers from a single symptomatic employee who handles ready-to-eat food.
Food from unapproved sources, cited at Carrabba's, Elixir Bar Room, Taqueria Ameca Margarita, and Funny Bone, is a traceability problem as much as a safety problem. Approved suppliers are registered with USDA or FDA and subject to inspections. Food from an unknown source cannot be recalled, and if a customer becomes ill, there is no supply chain to trace backward.
Parasite destruction failures, cited at IHOP, Carrabba's, and Chick-fil-A on Sand Lake Road, mean that fish, pork, or other proteins were not subjected to the freezing or cooking protocols required to kill parasites including Anisakis in fish and Trichinella in pork. These are not theoretical risks: Anisakis causes acute gastrointestinal illness within hours of ingestion.
The dual toxic substance citations at Licking Orlando and Burger King on East Colonial Drive represent a chemical storage problem that is separate from food preparation entirely. Cleaning chemicals stored near or above food, or unlabeled, can contaminate food through direct contact or spill. Mislabeled chemicals create a secondary risk when employees unknowingly apply the wrong concentration to food contact surfaces.
The Longer Record
Elixir Bar Room and Hash House carries 46 prior inspections on record, the longest history of any facility cited this week. Eight high-severity violations in a single visit, at a location that has been through 46 prior inspections, raises a straightforward question the record alone cannot answer: what changed, or what did not.
Miller's Orlando Ale House has 40 prior inspections on record. Kabsah has 37. Licking Orlando and TGI Friday's each have 32. These are not new restaurants encountering inspectors for the first time; they are established locations with long paper trails, and this week each added new high-severity citations to those files.
Brewlando presents the sharpest contrast. The Hoffner Avenue brewery has only two prior inspections on record, making this week's eight high-severity violations, including no person in charge and no employee health policy, a significant early accumulation for a location that has barely been in the inspection system.
Kabsah, with 37 prior inspections, produced the week's highest combined violation total when high-severity and intermediate citations are counted together: ten violations in a single visit, including improper sewage disposal and no written health policy. Wonderful Hand-Pulled Noodle, with 29 inspections on record, was cited this week for no allergen awareness, a violation that requires a deliberate system to address, not a one-time oversight.
Seasons 52, with 27 prior inspections, had no person in charge present during this week's visit. Whether that absence is a pattern or an anomaly is a question the inspection record going forward will answer.
