OCOEE, FL. An inspector visiting San Jose's Original Mexican Restaurant #4 on West Colonial Drive on September 3 found food sourced from an unapproved or unknown supplier, a violation that means no government inspector ever cleared that food for safety before it reached customers' plates. The restaurant was not closed.
That single finding was one of six high-severity violations documented during the visit, a tally that also included employees not reporting illness symptoms and improper handwashing technique. State records show the facility at 8995 W Colonial Dr remained in operation after the inspection.
What Inspectors Found
The inspector also cited the restaurant for not following required procedures for specialized food processes. Those procedures, which govern techniques like smoking, curing, and reduced-oxygen packaging, exist because such methods can create conditions where dangerous bacteria multiply if not precisely controlled.
The absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked menu items rounded out the high-severity violations. That notice is the only mechanism by which customers with weakened immune systems, pregnant women, or elderly diners know they may be ordering something that carries elevated risk.
No person in charge was present or performing supervisory duties during the inspection. That finding matters beyond the paperwork: CDC data shows restaurants without active managerial control accumulate critical violations at three times the rate of those with engaged oversight.
What These Violations Mean
Food from an unapproved source is not a paperwork problem. When food bypasses USDA or FDA inspection channels, there is no chain of custody if a customer gets sick. Inspectors cannot trace a Listeria or Salmonella outbreak back to a supplier that was never registered. Anyone who ate at this restaurant on or before September 3 and became ill would face a significantly harder path to identifying the cause.
The illness-reporting violation compounds that risk directly. Food workers who do not report symptoms of illness are the leading cause of multi-victim outbreaks, particularly for norovirus, which spreads through a single infected employee touching food that dozens of customers then eat. Combined with the improper handwashing technique citation, the inspection documented a kitchen where pathogens could transfer to food even when an employee made an attempt to wash their hands.
The specialized-process violation adds another layer. Without documented procedures and controls for techniques like curing or reduced-oxygen packaging, there is no way to verify that a restaurant is hitting the time and temperature targets that prevent bacterial growth inside sealed or processed foods.
Inadequate toilet facilities, the one intermediate violation, may seem minor beside the rest. But inspectors flag it because employees who avoid or rush restroom use are less likely to wash their hands thoroughly, feeding directly into the handwashing failures already documented in this inspection.
The Longer Record
September 3 was not an aberration. State records show 26 inspections on file for this location, with 154 total violations accumulated across that history.
The pattern in recent years is consistent. The restaurant drew 9 high-severity violations in a single October 2024 inspection, 7 high-severity violations in September 2025, and 6 in September 2023. This month's 6-violation count is not the worst the record shows, but it is the third time in roughly three years that inspectors have documented six or more high-severity findings in one visit.
The February 2024 inspection was clean, recording zero high-severity and zero intermediate violations. That result makes the surrounding inspections harder to dismiss as a facility still finding its footing. A restaurant capable of a clean inspection in February 2024 returned 9 high-severity violations by October of the same year.
No emergency closure appears anywhere in the 26-inspection record. The restaurant has never been ordered shut, despite accumulating violations in categories, including food sourcing and illness reporting, that inspectors and public health researchers identify as the highest-risk failures a food service operation can exhibit.
Still Open
State inspectors documented six high-severity violations at San Jose's Original Mexican Restaurant #4 on September 3, 2026. The facility was not closed.
Among those violations: food whose origin cannot be verified by any government inspector, employees not required to report when they are sick, and handwashing performed in a way that leaves pathogens on workers' hands. The restaurant served customers before that inspection. It served customers after.
The record now stands at 154 violations across 26 inspections, with no closure in the file.
