KISSIMMEE, FL. State inspectors visited Slice of New York on Cypress Parkway on April 30 and documented food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, a violation that means pathogens like Salmonella can survive in meat and poultry and reach a customer's plate alive.
That was one of eight high-severity violations logged that day. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The inspection also found toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled near food, a condition that can cause acute poisoning without any visible sign of contamination. Inspectors additionally cited food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, creating a direct pathway for bacteria to transfer from surface to food across every item prepared in the kitchen.
Two separate handwashing violations were documented on the same visit. Inspectors cited employees for inadequate handwashing and for using improper hand and arm washing technique. Those are distinct citations, meaning workers were both skipping steps and performing the steps they did take incorrectly.
The remaining high-severity violations covered the absence of an employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, and required procedures for specialized processes not being followed. Three intermediate violations rounded out the inspection: inadequate cooling and cold holding equipment, single-use items being reused, and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
What These Violations Mean
The undercooking violation is among the most direct risks inspectors can document. Salmonella in poultry requires an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit to be destroyed. Food served below that threshold delivers live bacteria to the customer. At a pizzeria that handles meat toppings and chicken dishes, the margin for error is narrow and the consequences of getting it wrong are not.
The two handwashing violations compound each other in a specific way. A worker who skips handwashing entirely is a contamination risk. A worker who goes through the motions incorrectly is nearly the same risk, because studies show improper technique leaves pathogens on hands even after a washing attempt. At Slice of New York on April 30, inspectors found both problems present at the same time.
The absence of an employee health policy and the separate citation for employees not reporting illness symptoms are not redundant. The policy violation means there is no written framework requiring workers to disclose when they are sick. The reporting violation means workers were, in fact, not disclosing symptoms. Together they describe a kitchen where a Norovirus-positive employee could work an entire shift with nothing in place to stop it.
Chemical storage near food is the violation most likely to go unnoticed by customers who later become ill. Contamination from improperly stored or mislabeled cleaning chemicals can cause acute poisoning that mimics other conditions. There is no smell, no discoloration, and no warning.
The Longer Record
The April 30 inspection was not an aberration. State records show Slice of New York has been inspected 43 times and has accumulated 629 total violations across that history. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern in recent years is consistent. Inspectors found 12 high-severity violations in a single visit in April 2024, 10 high-severity violations in November 2023, and 9 high-severity violations in August 2025. The August 2025 visit was a follow-up to a prior inspection three days earlier that had itself produced 6 high-severity violations.
The handwashing failures documented on April 30 are not new. Food contact surface sanitation failures have appeared across multiple inspection cycles. The cold holding equipment cited as intermediate on April 30 points to infrastructure that has not been corrected between visits.
Across eight inspections dating to late 2023, the restaurant has logged high-severity violations in every single one. The lowest count in that stretch was one high-severity violation, recorded in December 2024, three days after a visit that found seven.
Still Open
Florida's emergency closure authority is triggered when an inspector determines an immediate threat to public health exists. Eight high-severity violations at Slice of New York on April 30, including undercooked food, toxic chemicals near food, and a kitchen without a functioning employee illness policy, did not meet that threshold.
The restaurant continued to serve customers after the inspection closed.