ST. PETERSBURG, FL. Inspectors visiting Perry's Porch on 2nd Avenue NE on July 20 found shellfish being served with no identification tags or harvest records, meaning if a customer got sick, there would be no way to trace where the oysters, clams, or mussels came from.
That was one of ten high-severity violations documented in a single inspection. The restaurant remained open.
What Inspectors Found
Beyond the shellfish records, inspectors cited the restaurant for receiving food from an unapproved or unknown source. That violation appeared alongside two separate citations for toxic chemicals, one for improper storage or labeling and a second for improper identification, storage, or use.
Two of the high-severity violations addressed illness directly. Inspectors found that employees were not reporting symptoms of illness, and that handwashing technique was improper, meaning that even when workers attempted to wash their hands, the method left pathogens behind.
The inspection also cited the restaurant for failing to use time as a public health control properly, for food contact surfaces that were not cleaned or sanitized, and for displaying no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. That last violation matters specifically for shellfish menus, where customers with weakened immune systems or who are pregnant need to know what they are ordering.
No manager or person in charge was documented as present and performing supervisory duties.
What These Violations Mean
The shellfish traceability violation is among the most consequential on the list. When oysters, clams, or mussels arrive without harvest tags and records, there is no way to identify the source bed if customers become ill. Shellfish are frequently consumed raw or lightly cooked, and contaminated bivalves are a documented vehicle for norovirus and Vibrio bacteria. Without records, a public health investigation has nowhere to start.
The food from unapproved source citation compounds that risk. Suppliers who operate outside the USDA and FDA inspection system are not subject to routine safety audits. If contaminated product enters the kitchen from an unverified vendor, the traceability problem extends beyond shellfish to everything on the menu.
The two chemical violations together describe a kitchen where toxic substances were not properly labeled, stored, or identified. Chemicals stored near food or improperly marked create a direct route for acute poisoning, not from bacterial growth over time, but from a single contaminated dish.
The illness-reporting failure is the violation most likely to affect a large number of customers quickly. Food workers who do not report symptoms are the leading documented cause of multi-victim outbreaks. Norovirus in particular spreads rapidly in food service environments when an ill worker continues handling food.
The Longer Record
Perry's Porch: Inspection History
Perry's Porch has six inspections on record and 46 total violations across that history. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
The July 20 inspection is the worst single visit in the facility's recorded history, but it did not arrive without warning. In July 2025, inspectors visited on consecutive days, finding five high-severity violations on July 22 and returning the next day to find two more. The pattern of back-to-back inspections in July 2025 mirrors what happened again in 2026, with a follow-up visit on July 21 that still found three high-severity violations outstanding.
The one clean inspection in the record, from January 2026, stands as the exception. Every other visit has produced high-severity citations. The restaurant has never been cited for zero violations across five of its six inspections.
Open for Business
Florida law allows inspectors to order an emergency closure when conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. Ten high-severity violations in a single inspection, including unapproved food sources, untraceable shellfish, toxic chemicals near food, and employees not reporting illness, did not meet that threshold at Perry's Porch on July 20.
The follow-up inspection the next day found three high-severity violations still on the books.
The restaurant was open throughout.
