BOCA RATON, FL. A state inspector walked into Souvlaki Time on NE Spanish River Boulevard on July 29 and found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, a violation that means the restaurant was serving ingredients that had bypassed federal safety inspections entirely. That was one of six high-severity violations documented that day. The restaurant was not closed.
The inspection also flagged employees who were not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, food contact surfaces that had not been properly cleaned or sanitized, no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods, inadequate shell stock identification records, and improperly cleaned multi-use utensils. Six of the seven violations carried the state's highest severity designation.
What Inspectors Found
The unapproved food source violation is among the most serious a food service establishment can receive. When food enters a restaurant outside the licensed supply chain, there is no USDA or FDA inspection record attached to it, and no way to trace it back to a farm, processor, or distributor if customers become sick.
The shellfish traceability violation compounds that concern. Oysters, clams, and mussels are high-risk foods, often consumed raw or only lightly cooked. State law requires restaurants to maintain shell stock tags that identify the harvest location, harvest date, and dealer certification number for every batch received. Without those records, there is no way to identify a contaminated lot and pull it from service before more customers are exposed.
The employee illness reporting violation is the kind that precedes outbreaks. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness in restaurant settings, spreads through direct contact with an infected food handler. A system that does not require employees to report symptoms before they begin their shift removes the only practical barrier between a sick worker and the food on a customer's plate.
What These Violations Mean
The handwashing technique violation is not the same as a missing soap dispenser. It means that employees were observed attempting to wash their hands but doing so incorrectly, leaving pathogens on skin that then transferred to food and food contact surfaces. Combined with food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, the inspection describes a kitchen where contamination could move in multiple directions simultaneously.
The consumer advisory violation is specifically dangerous for elderly diners, pregnant women, young children, and anyone with a compromised immune system. Florida requires restaurants that serve raw or undercooked animal products to post a written advisory warning customers of the associated health risk. Without it, a customer who would otherwise avoid a dish has no way to know the risk exists.
The intermediate violation, improperly cleaned multi-use utensils, adds a seventh layer. Utensils that are not fully cleaned between uses develop bacterial biofilms, thin layers of bacteria that bond to surfaces and resist standard cleaning. Once a biofilm establishes, routine washing does not remove it.
The Longer Record
The July 29 inspection was not an isolated event. State records show Souvlaki Time has been inspected 26 times and has accumulated 102 total violations across its history.
The pattern of high-severity violations is not new. In February of this year, an inspection on the 9th of the month found six high-severity violations, a count identical to the July 29 inspection. A follow-up visit the next day, February 10, found zero high-severity violations, suggesting the restaurant addressed the cited issues quickly before the callback inspection. The July 30 follow-up, one day after the inspection at the center of this story, found two high-severity violations still present.
High-severity violations also appeared in March 2025, November 2024, and August 2023. The facility has never been emergency-closed in its inspection history, and it passed cleanly in March 2024 and August 2025. The record is not one of unbroken failure. But the repetition of six high-severity violations in a single inspection, twice in five months, is a specific pattern that the prior record makes harder to dismiss as an anomaly.
Still Open
State inspectors have the authority to order an emergency closure when violations pose an immediate threat to public health. That authority was not exercised on July 29, when six high-severity violations were documented at Souvlaki Time.
The restaurant served customers that day, and continued to do so.
The July 30 follow-up inspection found two high-severity violations remained. What those two violations were, the state's publicly available records do not specify in further detail.
