KISSIMMEE, FL. When a state inspector walked into SoFresh at Margaritaville Boulevard on July 24, 2026, they found toxic chemicals stored improperly near food, handwashing facilities that were inadequate, employees using the wrong handwashing technique, food contact surfaces that had not been properly cleaned or sanitized, and no person in charge present or performing duties. That is five of the six high-severity violations, and the restaurant remained open when the inspection was done.
The sixth high-severity citation was for toxic substances that were improperly identified, stored, or used, a separate violation from the chemical storage finding and one that inspectors treat as its own category of risk.
What Inspectors Found
The two chemical violations together describe a kitchen where cleaning agents and other toxic substances were not kept away from food, not properly labeled, and not handled according to code. That is not a single lapse. That is a systemic failure in how the facility manages substances that can poison food without leaving any visible trace.
The handwashing violations compound the picture. Inspectors cited the facility both for inadequate handwashing infrastructure and for employees using improper technique. Those are two distinct problems: one means the physical setup does not support proper hygiene, and the other means that even when employees tried to wash their hands, they were not doing it correctly.
Food contact surfaces, meaning the cutting boards, prep tables, and equipment that touches food directly, were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Two intermediate violations covered multi-use utensils that had not been cleaned and toilet facilities that were inadequate or poorly maintained.
What These Violations Mean
The two chemical violations are among the most immediately dangerous findings an inspector can document. Cleaning agents stored near or above food can contaminate ingredients without any visible sign. Mislabeled or improperly used chemicals create a second layer of risk: a worker who cannot identify what a substance is cannot use it safely or keep it away from food. Acute chemical poisoning from restaurant contamination is rare but it happens, and tracing it requires that containers be labeled and storage be documented.
The handwashing failures matter because they are the primary barrier between whatever pathogens workers carry on their hands and the food that goes onto plates. Inadequate facilities means the infrastructure was not there to do the job. Improper technique means that even when someone went through the motions, they were leaving pathogens behind. Together, those two violations describe a kitchen where the most basic contamination control was not working.
Food contact surfaces that are not properly cleaned accumulate bacterial residue from every food that has touched them. Cutting boards and prep surfaces that are not sanitized between uses transfer bacteria from raw proteins to ready-to-eat foods. The intermediate citation for improperly cleaned multi-use utensils points to the same breakdown in the cleaning process.
No person in charge present or performing duties is the violation that connects all the others. CDC data links the absence of active managerial control to three times the number of critical violations in inspected establishments. At SoFresh on July 24, that correlation was visible in the inspection record itself.
The Longer Record
The July 2026 inspection was not the first time SoFresh at Margaritaville produced a serious inspection record. State records show nine inspections on file for this location, with 78 total violations documented across that history.
The facility's first inspection on record, in March 2023, found zero high-severity violations and zero intermediate violations. Every inspection since has included high-severity findings. The August 2023 inspection produced six high-severity violations. The January 2025 inspection found four. July 2025 produced eight high-severity violations across two consecutive inspections, on July 18 and July 21.
January 2026 brought two inspections within five days of each other. The January 21 inspection found six high-severity violations and two intermediate violations, a profile nearly identical to the July 2026 inspection. Five days later, on January 26, inspectors returned and found three high-severity violations and one intermediate.
The July 2026 inspection, with its six high-severity violations, fits the same pattern that has repeated at this location across three years: a cluster of serious findings, a follow-up, a reduction, and then a return to elevated violation counts at the next scheduled inspection. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
Still Open
State inspectors documented six high-severity violations at SoFresh on July 24, 2026. Toxic chemicals were improperly stored near food. Toxic substances were improperly identified. Handwashing facilities were inadequate. Employees were using improper technique even when they attempted to wash their hands. Food contact surfaces had not been properly cleaned or sanitized. No manager was present or performing duties.
The restaurant was not closed.
