CLERMONT, FL. Inspectors visiting SR Tequila Mexico DF on Cagan Crossings Boulevard on July 21 found toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled near food, employees showing no allergen awareness, and no written policy requiring sick workers to report their symptoms, nine high-severity violations in all. The restaurant was not closed.
The inspection also turned up eight intermediate violations, bringing the single-day total to 17 documented problems. State inspectors left the Clermont restaurant operating.
What Inspectors Found
The toxic chemical citation is among the most acute on the list. Chemicals stored near or mislabeled around food create a direct contamination pathway, one that can cause acute poisoning before anyone realizes what happened.
The allergen violation is a separate category of risk. Food allergies affect 32 million Americans, and reactions send roughly 30,000 people to emergency rooms annually. A kitchen where staff cannot demonstrate allergen awareness is a kitchen where a customer with a peanut or shellfish allergy has no reliable protection.
The shellfish citation adds another layer. SR Tequila Mexico DF was cited for inadequate shell stock identification and records. Shellfish, including oysters, clams, and mussels, are high-risk foods often consumed raw or lightly cooked. Without proper tagging and sourcing records, there is no way to trace an illness back to a specific harvest lot if a customer gets sick.
No person in charge was present or performing duties during the inspection. State data consistently shows that facilities without active managerial control accumulate roughly three times as many critical violations as those with engaged supervision on the floor.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no health policy, no symptom reporting, and improper handwashing technique is particularly dangerous because each one amplifies the others. A sick employee who does not know to report symptoms, works a shift, and then washes their hands incorrectly has multiple opportunities to transmit Norovirus or other pathogens directly to food or surfaces. Norovirus alone causes approximately 20 million infections in the United States each year, and food service workers are a primary transmission route.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, also cited on July 21, compound that risk. Cutting boards, prep tables, and utensils that are not properly sanitized between uses carry bacteria from one food item to the next, including from raw proteins to ready-to-eat dishes.
The sewage disposal violation, listed as intermediate, carries its own acute risk. Improper waste water disposal creates the possibility of fecal contamination spreading through the facility, a route for pathogens including E. coli and Salmonella that have nothing to do with how food is handled at the prep station.
Inadequate cooling equipment, also cited as intermediate, means the restaurant may lack the physical capacity to hold food at safe temperatures, a structural problem that cannot be fixed by better employee habits alone.
The Longer Record
The July 21 inspection did not happen in isolation. SR Tequila Mexico DF has 50 inspections on record and 623 total violations documented across its history, an average of more than 12 violations per inspection visit.
The facility was emergency-closed on March 22, 2023, for roach and fly activity. It reopened the following day.
The months immediately before and after that closure show a recurring pattern. In November 2025, inspectors visited four times in 16 days, finding 5 high-severity violations on November 4, 4 high-severity violations on November 5, and additional high-severity violations on November 12 and November 20. In March 2026, a single inspection on March 24 turned up 12 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate ones, a count that rivals the July 21 visit.
The two follow-up inspections after July 21 showed some reduction: 3 high and 2 intermediate on July 23, then 2 high and 2 intermediate on July 24. But the underlying pattern across 50 inspections and 623 violations is not one of isolated bad days. It is a record of repeated, serious citations with no sustained improvement visible in the data.
SR Tequila Mexico DF remained open after inspectors documented nine high-severity violations on July 21, 2026.
