ORLANDO, FL. State inspectors visiting PRS Taco Palace at 717 W. Smith St. on April 29 found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers being used in a kitchen that also had toxic chemicals stored improperly near food, no written employee health policy, and no one in charge present or performing supervisory duties. The restaurant was not closed.
Seven of the ten violations documented that day were classified as high severity. Three more were intermediate. Together they describe a kitchen operating without basic controls on the day inspectors walked in.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation is among the most serious documented. When a restaurant takes in food from suppliers who have not been approved by state or federal regulators, that food has bypassed the USDA and FDA inspection systems entirely. If a batch is contaminated with Listeria or Salmonella, there is no chain of custody to trace it back to the source.
Alongside that, inspectors cited improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals near food areas. A mislabeled chemical or a container stored above or adjacent to food prep surfaces can contaminate food without any visible sign.
Inspectors also found that food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and that multi-use utensils had not been adequately cleaned. Both violations were documented on the same visit, meaning the surfaces where food was being prepared and the tools being used to prepare it were both carrying contamination risk simultaneously.
The handwashing citation adds another layer. Inspectors did not find that employees were skipping handwashing entirely. They found the technique was wrong, meaning pathogens can survive an incomplete wash and transfer directly to food.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of violations documented on April 29 is not a random cluster. Each one represents a different failure point in the chain that separates a customer from a foodborne illness.
The absence of an employee health policy means there is no formal requirement for workers to report symptoms of illness before handling food. Norovirus, one of the most common causes of foodborne illness in the United States, spreads directly from infected food handlers to customers. Without a written policy, a sick employee has no clear instruction to stay home or report symptoms to a manager.
The sewage and wastewater disposal citation compounds the sanitation picture. Improper handling of waste water in a kitchen creates a path for fecal contamination to reach food prep surfaces, particularly when those surfaces are also documented as improperly sanitized.
The inadequate cooling equipment violation means the kitchen may not be capable of holding cold food at safe temperatures even if staff are trying to do everything right. Food sitting in the temperature range between 41 and 135 degrees enters what regulators call the danger zone, where bacterial growth accelerates rapidly.
The consumer advisory violation affects a specific subset of customers. Elderly diners, pregnant women, young children, and anyone with a compromised immune system face significantly higher risk from raw or undercooked foods. Without a menu advisory, those customers cannot make an informed choice.
The Longer Record
The April 29 inspection was not an outlier. State records show PRS Taco Palace has been inspected 32 times, accumulating 323 total violations across that history.
The eight most recent prior inspections, dating back to May 2024, show high-severity violations on every single visit. The counts range from two high-severity violations in April 2025 to six in May 2024. The April 29 total of seven high-severity violations is the highest single-visit count in the documented recent history.
The pattern in specific violation categories is consistent. Multiple prior inspections show combinations of high and intermediate violations similar in character to what was found this month, suggesting that corrective action between visits has not produced lasting compliance.
The facility has never been emergency-closed in its 32 inspections on record. April 29 continued that pattern.
Still Open
State inspection records list no emergency closure order following the April 29 visit. Despite seven high-severity violations documented in a single inspection, including food from unverified sources, improperly stored toxic chemicals, unsanitized food contact surfaces, and no manager present to oversee any of it, PRS Taco Palace remained open for business.