PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL. State inspectors cited Pusser's Caribbean Grille at 816 Hwy A1A N for food from an unapproved or unknown source on April 29, a violation that means at least some of what was being served that day had bypassed the federal safety inspections designed to catch Listeria, Salmonella, and other pathogens before they reach a plate.
That was one of six high-severity violations documented during the visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The six high-severity violations covered nearly every layer of a functioning kitchen. No responsible person was in charge. Employees were observed using improper handwashing technique, meaning pathogens can remain on hands even when a washing attempt is made. Food contact surfaces, the cutting boards, prep tables, and equipment that touches every dish that leaves the kitchen, were not properly cleaned or sanitized.
The restaurant also had no written employee health policy. That means there was no formal mechanism to keep a sick worker away from the food line.
The menu at Pusser's includes items served raw or undercooked. Inspectors cited the restaurant for failing to post a consumer advisory telling customers that fact, a disclosure that matters most to elderly diners, pregnant women, and anyone with a compromised immune system.
Inspectors also cited two intermediate violations: multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, and toilet facilities that were inadequate or improperly maintained.
What These Violations Mean
The food sourcing violation is the one with the longest reach. When food arrives from an unapproved supplier, there is no USDA or FDA inspection record attached to it. If someone gets sick, investigators have no chain of custody to trace. The violation does not mean the food was definitively contaminated. It means no one outside the restaurant verified that it wasn't.
The absence of an employee health policy compounds every other risk on the list. Norovirus alone accounts for roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, and a single infected food handler working a full shift can expose hundreds of customers. A written policy is the mechanism that is supposed to stop that worker from clocking in.
Improper handwashing technique is distinct from not washing hands at all. Studies show that incorrect technique, insufficient time under water, skipping the wrist and forearm, leaves measurable contamination behind. At Pusser's on April 29, inspectors observed the technique being done wrong, not skipped entirely, but wrong enough to flag as a high-severity violation.
The missing consumer advisory for raw and undercooked items is the violation most directly tied to a specific customer group. Diners who are immunocompromised, pregnant, elderly, or very young face meaningfully higher risk from undercooked proteins. The advisory exists so those customers can make an informed choice. Without it, that choice was taken from them.
The Longer Record
The April 29 inspection was the 23rd on record for this location, and the pattern those 23 visits reveal is difficult to dismiss as coincidence. Pusser's has accumulated 185 total violations across its inspection history, and the high-severity column has been populated on nearly every substantive visit in recent years.
In November 2025, inspectors cited the restaurant for eight high-severity violations and three intermediate ones, the worst single-visit tally in the recent record. Five months earlier, in May 2025, a follow-up inspection recorded zero high or intermediate violations. Three days before that clean inspection, on May 12, 2025, there had been six high-severity violations and three intermediate ones.
That sequence, a cluster of serious violations, a clean pass, then serious violations again, has repeated itself. In May 2024, an inspection recorded zero violations. Two weeks before that, in May 2024, there were four high-severity violations. In October 2023 and again in March 2023, inspectors cited six high-severity violations each time.
Pusser's has never been emergency-closed. Not once across 23 inspections and 185 violations.
Open for Business
The pattern suggests the restaurant has learned to clear a follow-up inspection when one is imminent, then revert. The April 29 visit produced six high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved source and no functioning employee health policy, and inspectors left without ordering the doors shut.
As of that inspection, Pusser's Caribbean Grille remained open.