SEMINOLE COUNTY, FL. Two restaurants in Seminole County each accumulated seven high-severity violations during a single inspection week, with one Lake Mary location cited for failing to follow parasite destruction procedures and improperly storing toxic chemicals near food.
State inspectors conducted 26 inspections across 19 facilities in Seminole County between May 18 and May 24, 2026. Ten of those facilities drew two or more high-severity citations. The week's findings ranged from missing employee illness policies to food sourced from unapproved suppliers with no way to trace it back if someone got sick.
The Two Worst Performers
Hangry Bison at 951 Market Promenade Ave in Lake Mary drew seven high-severity citations. Inspectors found no employee health policy in place, documented that at least one employee had not reported symptoms of illness, and noted that parasite destruction procedures were not being followed for fish or other at-risk proteins. Toxic chemicals were improperly stored or labeled at the facility, and food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. There was also no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods, and the person in charge was either absent or not performing supervisory duties.
The intermediate violation at Hangry Bison involved improper sewage or wastewater disposal, a citation that signals potential fecal contamination risk throughout a facility.
Lemongrass Thai Kitchen at 1016 Lockwood Blvd in Oviedo matched the seven high-severity count. Inspectors cited the restaurant for no employee health policy, inadequate handwashing, improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock identification or records, unsanitized food contact surfaces, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used.
The shell stock records violation at Lemongrass Thai Kitchen is particularly significant. Shellfish such as oysters, clams, and mussels are typically consumed raw or lightly cooked, and without proper identification tags, there is no way to trace a contaminated batch back to its harvest source if customers fall ill.
What Inspectors Found Across the County
Creation Cafe at 900 Hope Way in Altamonte Springs drew four high-severity violations. Inspectors cited improper handwashing technique, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, time not properly used as a public health control, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Hinode Sushi at 1016 Lockwood Blvd in Oviedo, a few suites down from Lemongrass Thai Kitchen in the same complex, drew three high-severity citations. One of those was food from an unapproved or unknown source, a violation that means at least some ingredients used at the restaurant bypassed standard USDA or FDA safety inspections entirely. Inspectors also cited improper handwashing technique and unsanitized food contact surfaces.
Cafe Panuzzos Italian Eatery at 1003 Lockwood Blvd in Oviedo accumulated six total violations, three high-severity and three intermediate. The high-severity findings included unsanitized food contact surfaces, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and no consumer advisory. Intermediate violations included single-use items being reused, inadequate ventilation, and inadequate toilet facilities.
Lutheran Haven Landings at 1451 Haven Dr in Oviedo drew three high-severity violations, including food found in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated. The facility also had unsanitized food contact surfaces and no consumer advisory posted.
Lutheran Haven Landings is a senior living community. The presence of adulterated or mislabeled food at a facility serving elderly residents, who face heightened risk from foodborne illness, carries particular weight.
Crafty Crab at 300 S SR 434 in Altamonte Springs drew two high-severity violations: no person in charge present or performing duties, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
AHS Lakeview Cafe at 893 Hope Way in Altamonte Springs drew one high-severity violation for food not cooked to required minimum temperature. Cork and Olive at 1061 S Sun Dr in Lake Mary was cited for an employee not reporting symptoms of illness.
Alaqua Country Club at 2091 Alaqua Dr in Longwood drew only one intermediate violation, for inadequate ventilation and lighting, and no high-severity citations.
What These Violations Mean
The cluster of missing employee health policies and unreported illness symptoms at Hangry Bison and Cork and Olive represents one of the most direct outbreak risks in this week's data. Norovirus spreads rapidly when a sick food worker handles ready-to-eat food, and without a written policy requiring employees to disclose symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, or jaundice, kitchen supervisors have no documented procedure to remove that worker from service before transmission occurs.
The parasite destruction violation at Hangry Bison matters because several common proteins, including certain fish, pork, and wild game, require either verified cooking temperatures or specific freezing protocols to kill parasites such as Anisakis and Trichinella. When those procedures are not followed, parasites can survive and cause illness in customers who may not connect their symptoms to a restaurant meal days or weeks later.
The food from unapproved sources violation at Hinode Sushi is a traceability problem as much as a safety one. When an ingredient enters a kitchen through an unapproved supplier, it has bypassed state and federal inspection checkpoints. If a customer becomes ill, investigators have no supply chain to follow.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces appeared at five facilities this week: Hangry Bison, Lemongrass Thai Kitchen, Hinode Sushi, Cafe Panuzzos, Lutheran Haven Landings, and Crafty Crab. Cutting boards, slicers, and prep surfaces that are not properly sanitized between uses become direct transfer points for bacteria such as Salmonella and E. coli, moving from raw proteins to ready-to-eat food without any kill step in between.
The Longer Record
The data provided for this week does not include prior inspection counts for each facility, so a direct comparison of cumulative histories is not possible from the available records. What the week's pattern does show is that three facilities in the same commercial corridor on Lockwood Boulevard in Oviedo, Lemongrass Thai Kitchen, Hinode Sushi, and Cafe Panuzzos, each drew multiple high-severity violations during the same inspection cycle. That concentration in a single shopping complex is worth noting.
Hangry Bison's seven high-severity violations at a Lake Mary location include categories that inspectors treat as foundational: management presence, illness reporting, employee health policy, and parasite controls. When multiple foundational violations appear together, it typically reflects a systemic gap in how a kitchen is managed rather than a single oversight.
Lutheran Haven Landings, as a senior residential facility, operates under a population that the CDC identifies as among the most vulnerable to complications from foodborne illness. The combination of adulterated or mislabeled food and unsanitized food contact surfaces at that location represents a compounded risk that is different in character from the same violations at a general-public restaurant.
Creation Cafe and AHS Lakeview Cafe sit a block apart on Hope Way in Altamonte Springs. Both drew violations tied to cooking temperatures, and Creation Cafe added a citation for improper use of time as a public health control, meaning food was held in the temperature danger zone between 41 and 135 degrees without the documented time limits that substitute for refrigeration. Whether that food reached customers is not reflected in the inspection record.