MADEIRA BEACH, FL. Employees at Slyce on 150th Avenue were not reporting symptoms of illness to management as of August 4, according to state inspection records, a violation that federal health authorities identify as the leading cause of multi-victim foodborne illness outbreaks.
That was one of eight high-severity violations documented at the Pinellas County restaurant during a single inspection. The facility was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The handwashing violations compound each other in a specific way. Inspectors cited both inadequate handwashing by food employees and improper hand and arm washing technique as separate high-severity findings. That means workers were not washing hands when they should, and when they did wash, they were doing it wrong.
Food was not cooked to the required minimum temperature, a separate high-severity citation. Inspectors also found food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated, and documented that time as a public health control was not being properly used. The restaurant had no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods.
Toxic chemicals were improperly stored or labeled, a finding that sits alongside food-handling failures in the same inspection record.
Among the five intermediate violations: improper sewage or waste water disposal, multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, inadequate ventilation and lighting, improper use of wiping cloths, and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities.
What These Violations Mean
The illness non-reporting violation is not procedural. When a food worker with norovirus, salmonella, or hepatitis A continues working without disclosing symptoms, every plate leaving that kitchen is a potential transmission event. Norovirus in particular can survive on surfaces for days and requires fewer than 20 particles to cause infection. Slyce had this violation on August 4.
The handwashing failures documented here are a direct route from that risk to the customer. Inspectors flagged both the frequency and the technique of handwashing as deficient. Improper technique leaves pathogens on hands even after a washing attempt, meaning the act of washing provides no meaningful protection if the method is wrong.
Undercooking is where the handwashing failures intersect with a second independent pathway for foodborne illness. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. If food is not reaching minimum internal temperatures, and the people handling it are not washing their hands properly, and a sick employee has not disclosed symptoms, those are three simultaneous failure points in the same kitchen.
The improper sewage disposal citation adds a fourth. Raw sewage contains E. coli, hepatitis A, and dozens of other pathogens. Improper disposal creates a fecal contamination risk that can spread to food contact surfaces throughout the facility.
The Longer Record
The August 4 inspection was not an outlier. State records show 26 inspections on file for Slyce, with 189 total violations accumulated across that history.
The most recent prior inspection, on February 5 of this year, produced eight high-severity violations and one intermediate, a tally identical to the August 4 count. Before that, an inspection on September 22, 2025 found four high-severity violations. The September 23, 2025 follow-up, a callback inspection, found zero violations, suggesting the facility can pass when it is being re-examined immediately after a failure. The August 4 inspection came nearly five months after that February visit.
Going further back, the pattern holds. Nine high-severity violations in April 2023. Five high-severity violations in September 2023. Four in February 2024. Five in July 2024. The facility has logged high-severity violations in every inspection year on record, and has never been emergency-closed.
Still Open
State inspectors documented 13 violations at Slyce on August 4, eight of them high-severity, including a failure to report employee illness, undercooking, two separate handwashing deficiencies, improperly stored toxic chemicals, and improper sewage disposal.
The restaurant was not closed.
It has never been emergency-closed across 26 inspections and 189 total violations on record.
