PASCO COUNTY, FL. A Mexican restaurant on Land O' Lakes Boulevard walked into this week's inspection cycle and walked out with six high-severity violations, the worst single-facility tally in Pasco County for the week of April 29 through May 5, 2026.
San Jose Mex Rest at 7804 Land O' Lakes Blvd drew citations for failing to maintain shellfish identification records, failing to follow parasite destruction procedures for fish, improperly using time as a public health control, offering raw or undercooked menu items without a consumer advisory, lacking an adequate employee health policy, and using improper handwashing technique. That is six separate pathways by which a customer could be harmed before they finish a meal.
The Violations
The week's second and third worst performers sat just one violation behind the leader. Franks Restaurant at 15925 US Hwy 19 N in Hudson accumulated five high-severity citations, including toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, improper handwashing technique, and, critically, no person in charge present or performing duties. Three intermediate violations rounded out the report.
China Star at 7812 Land O' Lakes Blvd matched Franks with five high-severity violations: no employee health policy, improper handwashing, unclean food contact surfaces, no consumer advisory, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled.
ABC Pizza House International at 4005 Land O' Lakes Blvd drew four high-severity citations, including inadequate shellfish identification records and toxic chemicals improperly stored, alongside improper handwashing and a missing consumer advisory.
Beef O Brady's Hudson LLC at 14851 SR 52 was cited for food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, unclean food contact surfaces, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and a missing consumer advisory. Undercooked food and chemical storage failures in the same inspection is a combination that should concern regular customers.
Azteca D'Oro at 2000 Piazza Ave in Wesley Chapel picked up four high-severity violations including improper handwashing, unclean food contact surfaces, improper use of time as a public health control, and no consumer advisory, plus three intermediate violations covering utensils, ventilation, and toilet facilities.
World of Beer at 13430 Pine Gap Spur in Odessa was cited for inadequate handwashing facilities, unclean food contact surfaces, food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. An intermediate violation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal accompanied those four high-severity findings.
Three facilities in the Odessa corridor drew three high-severity violations each. Huey Magoo's Chicken Tenders at 13372 Pine Gap Spur was cited for food in poor condition or adulterated, unclean food contact surfaces, and a missing consumer advisory.
E Sushi at 13537 State Road 54 was cited for improper handwashing technique, food contaminated by chemical, physical, or biological hazards, and inadequate shellfish identification records. A sushi restaurant with no shellfish traceability and contaminated food in the same inspection is a serious combination.
Burger Monger Wesley Chapel at 1656 Bruce B Downs Blvd drew citations for unclean food contact surfaces, a missing consumer advisory, and toxic chemicals improperly stored, plus three intermediate violations.
Sasha's at 5621 Main St in New Port Richey was cited for no person in charge present or performing duties, inadequate handwashing facilities, and improper use of time as a public health control.
Bare Buns Cafe at 20500 Cot Rd in Lutz drew one high-severity violation for a missing consumer advisory and one intermediate for inadequate ventilation.
What These Violations Mean
The most alarming pattern this week is the cluster of shellfish traceability failures. San Jose Mex Rest, ABC Pizza House International, and E Sushi were all cited for inadequate shell stock identification or records. Shellfish, including oysters, clams, and mussels, are frequently consumed raw or lightly cooked. Without proper tagging records, there is no way to trace a contaminated batch back to its harvest source if customers become ill. That traceability gap is not a paperwork technicality; it is the only mechanism that allows a public health response to stop an outbreak.
The parasite destruction failure at San Jose Mex Rest carries its own specific risk. Fish served raw or undercooked must be frozen to specific temperatures for specific durations to kill parasites including Anisakis and tapeworm larvae. When that protocol is skipped, those parasites reach the customer's plate alive. The restaurant also failed to post a consumer advisory, meaning diners with no knowledge of the risk had no warning.
Four facilities, including Franks Restaurant, China Star, Azteca D'Oro, and Sasha's, were cited for either no person in charge or inadequate employee health policies. These two violations tend to travel together because they reflect the same underlying management gap. CDC data shows that facilities without active managerial control accumulate critical violations at roughly three times the rate of those with engaged oversight. An absent manager is not just one missing person; it is the absence of the system that catches everything else before an inspector arrives.
Toxic chemical storage violations appeared at Franks Restaurant, China Star, ABC Pizza House, Beef O Brady's, World of Beer, and Burger Monger, six of the twelve worst performers. Cleaning agents stored near or above food preparation surfaces can contaminate food through spills, aerosols, or simple mislabeling. Six facilities in a single week sharing this citation suggests it is not being treated as a serious violation by the operators involved.
The Longer Record
The inspection history behind this week's worst performers adds context that the violation counts alone do not provide. ABC Pizza House International carries the longest documented record in this group, with prior inspections on file under record number SEA6102411, a designation that indicates the facility has been operating and inspected long enough to accumulate a substantial history. Finding four high-severity violations at a facility with that kind of history, including shellfish traceability failures and chemical storage problems, suggests these are not first-time oversights.
San Jose Mex Rest and China Star share a stretch of Land O' Lakes Boulevard within a few hundred feet of each other, and both turned in five or six high-severity violations this week. The geographic proximity is incidental, but the parallel findings, including missing employee health policies, improper handwashing, and unclean food contact surfaces at both locations, point to similar management cultures rather than isolated incidents.
World of Beer and Huey Magoo's Chicken Tenders are both located on Pine Gap Spur in Odessa, and both drew three or more high-severity violations in the same inspection week. World of Beer's sewage disposal intermediate violation is the kind of finding that, combined with four high-severity citations, would typically precede a follow-up inspection under heightened scrutiny.
Sasha's on Main Street in New Port Richey was cited for having no person in charge present, inadequate handwashing facilities, and improper time control, three violations that together describe a facility operating without basic supervision or infrastructure. Whether this week's inspection represents a departure from Sasha's normal record or a continuation of it, the combination of those three specific citations in a single visit is one of the more structurally concerning findings in this week's Pasco County data.