POLK COUNTY, FL. A Lake Wales restaurant was cited for six high-severity violations in a single inspection last week, including sourcing food from unapproved or unknown suppliers, failing to cook food to required minimum temperatures, and operating without any employee health policy, state records show.
The inspection at Tasty Wings and Ramen at 112 Hwy 60 E was the most alarming finding across six Polk County restaurant inspections conducted during the week of June 30 through July 6, 2026. Three of the six facilities inspected carried two or more high-severity violations.
What Inspectors Found
The full list of violations at Tasty Wings and Ramen reads as a near-complete breakdown of basic food safety controls. Inspectors cited improper hand and arm washing technique, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods, and multi-use utensils not properly cleaned.
Food from unapproved or unknown sources was among the most serious findings. That violation, combined with food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, placed customers at compounding risk from two separate failure points in the same kitchen.
The restaurant also had no employee health policy, written or otherwise. State records do not indicate whether the restaurant was ordered closed, but the volume and combination of violations at a single visit is notable.
Lake Miriam Chinese Kitchen at 4802 S Florida Ave in Lakeland was cited for four high-severity violations. Inspectors documented that an employee was not reporting symptoms of illness, that hand and arm washing technique was improper, that no consumer advisory was posted for raw or undercooked foods, and that toxic chemicals were improperly stored or labeled near food.
The improper wiping cloth citation added an intermediate-level violation to the Lake Miriam tally.
Gosh! Pan-Asian Bistro and Sushi Bar at 4742 S Florida Ave, Unit 4, in Lakeland drew two high-severity violations: food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. An intermediate violation for inadequate ventilation and lighting rounded out the inspection.
Two restaurants on the same stretch of South Florida Avenue in Lakeland, Lake Miriam Chinese Kitchen and Gosh! Pan-Asian Bistro, were each cited for toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled.
What These Violations Mean
The food from unapproved or unknown sources violation at Tasty Wings and Ramen is not a paperwork problem. When food enters a kitchen outside the regulated supply chain, there is no traceability if a customer becomes sick. Inspectors cannot verify whether that food was processed under USDA or FDA oversight, whether it was held at safe temperatures during transport, or where it originated. In an outbreak investigation, that gap can make it impossible to identify and remove the contaminated product.
The undercooking violations at both Tasty Wings and Ramen and Gosh! Pan-Asian Bistro carry direct pathogen risk. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A dish that looks fully cooked but has not reached that internal temperature can carry a live bacterial load directly to a customer's plate. Sushi bars and pan-Asian kitchens that serve raw or lightly cooked proteins carry an added obligation to post consumer advisories, which neither restaurant met this week.
The employee illness reporting failure at Lake Miriam Chinese Kitchen is the kind of violation that turns a single sick worker into a multi-customer outbreak. Norovirus, one of the most common foodborne pathogens, can be shed by an infected worker before symptoms are even severe. Without a system that requires workers to report symptoms and be excluded from food handling, that transmission route stays open every shift.
Improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals, cited at both Lake Miriam Chinese Kitchen and Gosh! Pan-Asian Bistro, represent a different category of risk: acute chemical poisoning. Cleaning agents stored near food prep surfaces or in unlabeled containers can contaminate food directly, or be mistaken for food-safe liquids. The risk is immediate and does not require repeated exposure.
The Longer Record
State records do not include prior inspection counts in the data available for this reporting period, which limits the ability to place this week's findings at Tasty Wings and Ramen, Lake Miriam Chinese Kitchen, and Gosh! Pan-Asian Bistro in full historical context. What the current inspection records do show is that all three facilities carry active, documented high-severity violations as of the week of June 30.
What is notable about Tasty Wings and Ramen is not just the number of violations but the categories they span. Six high-severity citations touching sourcing, cooking, sanitation, handwashing, illness policy, and consumer disclosure represent failures at nearly every stage of food preparation and service. A single facility generating that range of violations in one visit suggests systemic gaps rather than isolated lapses.
Lake Miriam Chinese Kitchen's combination of an employee not reporting illness symptoms alongside improper handwashing technique is a pairing that inspection records consistently flag in facilities where staff training is absent or inconsistent. The two violations reinforce each other: a sick worker who does not report symptoms and who does not wash hands properly is a more acute transmission risk than either violation would represent alone.
Gosh! Pan-Asian Bistro operates as a sushi bar, a food service category where consumer advisories for raw and undercooked items are not optional disclosures. The restaurant was cited for failing to meet that requirement while also being found with food not cooked to required minimum temperatures. Both violations were present in the same inspection.
The Pattern
Three of Polk County's six inspected facilities this week carried high-severity violations. That is a 50 percent rate among the facilities inspectors visited, and the violations were concentrated in categories that carry direct public health consequences: improper cooking, unapproved food sources, illness reporting failures, and chemical storage near food.
The consumer advisory violation appeared at both Tasty Wings and Ramen and Lake Miriam Chinese Kitchen. That citation is one of the more straightforward compliance requirements in state food safety code: a posted notice informing customers that raw or undercooked items carry risk. Both restaurants were operating without one.
Tasty Wings and Ramen's food sourcing violation remains the unresolved question at the center of this week's Polk County inspection record. State records document that food from unapproved or unknown sources was present in the kitchen, but do not specify what food, in what quantity, or whether it was removed during the inspection.
