CLERMONT, FL. State inspectors walked into Persis Indian Grill on East Highway 50 on October 9 and found the restaurant operating without an approved potable water supply, one of ten high-severity violations documented that day, and left it open.
Water used for cooking, cleaning, and handwashing at a food service establishment must come from an approved, tested source. At Persis, inspectors flagged that requirement as unmet. The restaurant served customers anyway.
What Inspectors Found
The ten high-severity violations covered nearly every layer of food safety operation. Inspectors cited improper handwashing technique, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, and time as a public health control not being properly used. That last citation means food was being held in the temperature danger zone, between 41 and 135 degrees, without any documented time-tracking system to limit bacterial growth.
Two violations targeted management directly. The person in charge was not present or not performing duties, and there was no allergen awareness demonstrated by staff. Thirty-two million Americans have food allergies, and Indian cuisine routinely involves nuts, dairy, and gluten, ingredients that require staff to know exactly what is in each dish.
Toxic chemicals were also improperly stored or labeled, and a separate citation covered toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Those are two distinct violations on the same inspection, both flagged as high severity.
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 water supply violation is not a paperwork issue. Non-potable water can carry E. coli, Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and Legionella. Every dish washed, every surface wiped, every pot filled from that supply is a potential exposure point for every customer who ordered food that day.
The illness-reporting failure compounds that risk directly. Food workers who do not report symptoms of illness are the primary driver of multi-victim outbreaks. Norovirus, which spreads person-to-person through contaminated food preparation, can infect dozens of people from a single sick employee who keeps working. There is no way for a customer to know this is happening.
The allergen awareness citation is its own category of danger. When staff cannot demonstrate knowledge of allergens in the food they are serving, a customer with a peanut or dairy allergy who asks the right questions may still get the wrong answer. The consequences range from hives to anaphylaxis.
The sewage disposal violation, listed as intermediate, is not minor. Improper wastewater handling creates fecal contamination risk across the facility, on surfaces, on utensils, and potentially on food. Combined with improperly cleaned multi-use utensils and reused single-use items, the October 9 inspection describes a kitchen where contamination had multiple uncontrolled pathways.
The Longer Record
The October 9 inspection was not an outlier. State records show Persis Indian Grill has accumulated 146 total violations across 10 inspections on record, and the pattern of high-severity citations runs through nearly every visit.
The inspection the day before, on October 8, produced an identical tally: 10 high-severity violations and 5 intermediate. The follow-up visit a week later, on October 16, still showed 4 high-severity violations and 1 intermediate. Whatever corrections were made between visits, the most serious categories kept reappearing.
Going back further, the record is consistent. February 5, 2026: 10 high, 4 intermediate. April 24, 2025: 10 high, 3 intermediate. July 30, 2025: 12 high, 3 intermediate, the single worst inspection on record. July 31, 2025, the very next day: 6 high, 2 intermediate. April 2, 2024: 7 high, 3 intermediate.
The one inspection that broke the pattern was September 11, 2024, which produced only 1 high and 2 intermediate violations. Every inspection before and after it returned counts in the double digits for high-severity citations. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
Still Open
State inspectors have documented 10 or more high-severity violations at this location on at least four separate inspection dates. The violations have included no potable water supply, employees not reporting illness, no allergen awareness, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and improper sewage disposal, in various combinations, across multiple years.
After the October 9 inspection, with all ten high-severity violations documented, inspectors did not order the restaurant closed.
Persis Indian Grill on East Highway 50 remained open for business.
