PORT CANAVERAL, FL. Inspectors walked into Rising Tide Tap & Table at 523 Glen Cheek Drive on September 1 and found that the kitchen had not followed proper parasite destruction procedures for fish, meaning customers who ordered seafood that day may have consumed fish that had never been frozen or cooked to the temperatures required to kill Anisakis roundworms and tapeworms.
The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The September 1 inspection produced seven high-severity violations and two intermediate ones. Beyond the parasite failure, inspectors cited toxic substances that were improperly identified, stored, or used, a violation that carries a direct risk of chemical contamination of food or surfaces. Food was found in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated.
Food contact surfaces had not been properly cleaned or sanitized, creating a direct pathway for bacterial transfer between raw and ready-to-eat items. Wiping cloths were being used improperly, and multi-use utensils had not been cleaned to standard.
Two violations cut to the core of how a kitchen is supposed to function day to day. Employees were not reporting symptoms of illness, and the person in charge was either absent or not performing supervisory duties.
What These Violations Mean
The parasite destruction failure is the violation most likely to cause direct physical harm to a customer who ate fish at Rising Tide that day. Parasites including Anisakis roundworms and tapeworms survive in raw or undercooked fish. The standard protocol requires either freezing fish to specific temperatures for a set duration, or cooking it to an internal temperature that kills the organisms. When those steps are skipped or not documented, there is no barrier between the parasite and the person eating the meal.
The toxic substance violation is a different category of danger. Cleaning chemicals stored or used near food preparation areas, or unlabeled chemical containers in a kitchen, can contaminate food directly. Unlike a bacterial illness that takes hours to develop, chemical contamination can cause symptoms within minutes.
The illness-reporting failure at Rising Tide is what public health officials describe as an outbreak enabler. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurants, spreads person-to-person and through food handled by infected workers. When employees are not required to report symptoms, and when no person in charge is actively enforcing that requirement, the kitchen has no mechanism to remove a sick worker before they contaminate food.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces compound every other violation on the list. A cutting board or prep table that carries residual bacteria from a prior use transfers those bacteria to every item prepared on it afterward, regardless of how carefully the food itself was handled.
The Longer Record
The September 1 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Rising Tide Tap & Table has accumulated 152 violations across 26 inspections on record, and the pattern of high-severity findings goes back at least two years.
In October 2024, inspectors found five high-severity violations and one intermediate. A follow-up visit two weeks later showed zero violations, the same cleanup-and-pass cycle that has repeated across multiple inspection pairs. March 2025 produced six high-severity violations and no intermediates. October 2025 brought four high-severity violations, followed again by a clean follow-up two days later.
February 2026 followed the same arc. Six high-severity violations on February 12, a clean inspection on February 13.
The September 1 count of seven high-severity violations is the highest single-inspection total in the recent record. The facility has never been emergency-closed across all 26 inspections on file.
Still Open
Rising Tide Tap & Table sits on Glen Cheek Drive in Port Canaveral, a working waterfront strip where cruise passengers and recreational boaters are among the regular lunch and dinner crowd. A seafood-forward bar and restaurant operating without proper parasite destruction protocols, with improperly stored toxic substances and no effective person in charge, drew a nine-violation inspection report on September 1, 2026.
State inspectors did not issue a closure order.
