CLERMONT, FL. A state inspector visiting Persis Indian Grill at 1042-44 E Highway 50 on October 8, 2026 documented that the restaurant had no approved potable water supply, meaning the water used in food preparation, handwashing, and cleaning could not be verified as safe for human contact.
That was one of ten high-severity violations recorded that day. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The potable water violation stands apart from the rest. Without a verified safe water supply, every task that requires water, including rinsing produce, cooking, and handwashing, carries the potential for contamination with pathogens such as E. coli, Cryptosporidium, and Legionella.
The inspector also cited a complete absence of allergen awareness at the facility. Persis Indian Grill serves a cuisine that frequently incorporates tree nuts, dairy, and gluten-containing ingredients, and the record shows no demonstration that staff could identify or communicate allergen risks to customers.
Employees were cited for not reporting illness symptoms, and for improper handwashing technique. Both violations were documented on the same day as the water supply finding.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled, and a second, related citation noted toxic substances were improperly identified, stored, or used. Two separate chemical violations at the same inspection. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and the person in charge was either absent or not performing required oversight duties.
The five intermediate violations included improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, inadequate cooling and cold-holding equipment, single-use items being reused, and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
What These Violations Mean
The potable water citation is among the most structurally serious violations a food establishment can receive. Water that cannot be verified as safe touches nearly every surface and ingredient in a kitchen. Pathogens carried in non-potable water are not neutralized by cooking in all cases, and they are not neutralized at all when the water is used for handwashing or rinsing ready-to-eat foods.
The allergen violation carries a different but equally direct risk. Thirty-two million Americans live with food allergies. A customer with a tree nut or dairy allergy who asks a staff member about ingredients, and receives an uninformed or incorrect answer, can go into anaphylaxis. The citation at Persis indicates the staff demonstrated no awareness of allergen protocols at the time of inspection.
The illness-reporting and handwashing violations compound each other. An employee who is symptomatic with norovirus or a similar illness and does not report it is a direct transmission route. If that same employee is also washing hands improperly, the failure is compounded at every surface they touch. Food workers are the number one documented cause of multi-victim outbreaks, and these two violations together describe exactly the conditions that precede them.
Inadequate cold-holding equipment, cited as an intermediate violation, means food can drift into the temperature danger zone between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit, where bacterial growth accelerates. When combined with the time-as-public-health-control citation, which indicates that time-based safety procedures were not properly implemented, the facility had no reliable backup mechanism to compensate for failed refrigeration.
The Longer Record
The October 8 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Persis Indian Grill has accumulated 146 total violations across 10 inspections on file, a rate that indicates systemic and recurring failures rather than isolated incidents.
The inspection conducted the day before, on October 9, produced an identical tally: 10 high-severity violations and 5 intermediate violations. A follow-up on October 16 still showed 4 high-severity violations and 1 intermediate. Three consecutive inspections across nine days, and the facility remained open through all of them.
The pattern extends back further. An inspection on February 5, 2026 produced 10 high-severity and 4 intermediate violations. On April 24, 2025, the count was 10 high-severity and 3 intermediate. On July 30, 2025, inspectors documented 12 high-severity violations and 3 intermediate violations in a single visit, the highest single-inspection total in the record.
The sole inspection in this history that produced a substantially lower count was September 11, 2024, when inspectors recorded 1 high-severity and 2 intermediate violations. Every inspection before and after that date returned to elevated high-severity totals.
Persis Indian Grill has never been emergency-closed.
Open for Business
State inspectors returned on October 9 and found the same number of high-severity violations as the day before. They returned again on October 16 and found four high-severity violations still unresolved.
The restaurant served customers through all of it.
A facility with no verified safe water supply, no allergen awareness, improperly stored toxic chemicals, and employees not reporting illness symptoms was documented, inspected, and left open. The record shows that has been the outcome, repeatedly, for more than two years.
