ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FL. A Fort Pierce yacht club and a Port St. Lucie paleta shop each accumulated seven high-severity health violations during a single inspection week, leading a county-wide sweep in which 11 of 26 inspected facilities drew two or more critical citations.
The week of April 18 through April 24, 2026 produced 27 inspections across St. Lucie County. What inspectors documented ranged from fish served without parasite-destruction procedures to food sourced from suppliers outside the regulated supply chain, with no written illness policies at multiple establishments along the way.
The Two at the Top
Pelican Yacht Club at 1120 Seaway Drive in Fort Pierce drew seven high-severity violations, including a finding that no person in charge was present or performing duties during the inspection. Inspectors also cited the club for failing to follow parasite-destruction procedures, a requirement for facilities serving certain raw or undercooked fish. Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled, and food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. The club also had no written employee health policy, no mechanism for employees to report illness symptoms, and inadequate handwashing facilities. An intermediate violation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal rounded out the record.
Paleteria Calderon 2 at 1666 SE Port St. Lucie Boulevard matched that seven-violation total with a different but equally serious list. Inspectors found food from unapproved or unknown sources, meaning product that bypassed USDA and FDA inspection channels entirely. The shop also had no employee health policy, inadequate handwashing facilities, food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned, and no allergen awareness demonstrated by staff. Food was cited for not reaching required minimum cooking temperatures, and time as a public health control was not being properly used.
What Inspectors Found Across the County
Manatee Island Bar and Grill at 1640 Seaway Drive in Fort Pierce drew three high-severity violations: no person in charge present or performing duties, employees not reporting illness symptoms, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized. An intermediate violation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal also appeared on the report, the same intermediate finding that appeared at Pelican Yacht Club less than half a mile away on the same road.
Piehole Wood Fired Pizza at 7240 S US Highway 1 in Port St. Lucie accumulated four high-severity violations. Inspectors cited improper hand and arm washing technique, no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods, toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and no allergen awareness demonstrated. Two intermediate violations, covering multi-use utensils not properly cleaned and inadequate toilet facilities, were also documented.
Cafe in Havana at 5489 NW St. James Drive in Port St. Lucie received three high-severity citations: no employee health policy, improper hand and arm washing technique, and food from unapproved or unknown sources. That last finding puts Cafe in Havana alongside Paleteria Calderon 2 as the only two facilities this week where inspectors documented product entering the kitchen from outside the regulated food supply.
Hurricane Grill and Wings at 2017 Seaway Drive in Fort Pierce was cited for three high-severity violations: inadequate handwashing facilities, improper hand and arm washing technique, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized. An intermediate violation for inadequate ventilation and lighting was also on the report.
Bistro on the Green at 3496 Crabapple Drive in Port St. Lucie drew three high-severity violations, including no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
China Star Restaurant at 5485 NW St. James Drive in Port St. Lucie was cited for improper hand and arm washing technique and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, along with two intermediate violations covering multi-use utensils and inadequate toilet facilities.
Suk Kho Thai at 742 SW Bayshore Boulevard in Port St. Lucie drew the same two high-severity violations: improper handwashing technique and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
Nonna's Restaurant at 10867 S Ocean Drive in Jensen Beach was cited for employees not reporting illness symptoms and no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods.
Rise and Grind Cafe at 1306-1308 SW St. Lucie West Boulevard in Port St. Lucie drew the same two high-severity violations as Nonna's, employees not reporting symptoms and no consumer advisory, plus two intermediate citations: inadequate cooling and cold-holding equipment, and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
What These Violations Mean
The absence of an employee health policy, cited at Pelican Yacht Club, Paleteria Calderon 2, Cafe in Havana, and Bistro on the Green, is not a paperwork problem. Without a written policy requiring workers to report symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, or jaundice, a sick employee has no formal obligation to stay out of the kitchen. Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, spreads directly through food handled by infected workers. The facilities where employees were also specifically cited for not reporting symptoms, including Pelican Yacht Club, Manatee Island Bar and Grill, Bistro on the Green, Nonna's Restaurant, and Rise and Grind Cafe, compounded that risk: the policy was missing and the behavior it was meant to prevent was already occurring.
Food from unapproved or unknown sources, documented at both Paleteria Calderon 2 and Cafe in Havana, carries a specific traceability consequence. When product enters a kitchen outside the regulated supply chain, there is no inspection record, no lot number, and no way to trace it if a customer becomes ill. Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli have all been linked to uninspected food sources in outbreak investigations.
The parasite-destruction finding at Pelican Yacht Club is notable because it applies to a specific category of food service. Facilities that serve raw or undercooked fish, including sushi, ceviche, or certain seafood preparations, are required to either cook the fish to a lethal temperature or freeze it under controlled conditions to kill parasites including Anisakis and tapeworm. A yacht club with a waterfront dining menu that cannot demonstrate compliance with that protocol presents a direct risk to any customer ordering raw fish preparations.
Improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals, cited at both Pelican Yacht Club and Piehole Wood Fired Pizza, create acute poisoning risk when cleaning products or sanitizers are stored near food or in unlabeled containers that could be mistaken for food-safe liquids.
The Longer Record
The data provided for this week does not include prior inspection counts for the facilities listed, which limits the ability to place this week's findings in full historical context. What the record does show is the concentration of serious violations on Seaway Drive in Fort Pierce: Pelican Yacht Club, Manatee Island Bar and Grill, and Hurricane Grill and Wings are all located within roughly a mile of each other, and all three drew high-severity violations during the same inspection week. Two of the three, Pelican Yacht Club and Manatee Island Bar and Grill, share the same intermediate violation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal.
The Port St. Lucie cluster is similarly concentrated. Cafe in Havana and China Star Restaurant are located at adjacent addresses on NW St. James Drive, and both drew high-severity violations this week. Paleteria Calderon 2, Piehole Wood Fired Pizza, Bistro on the Green, Suk Kho Thai, and Rise and Grind Cafe round out a Port St. Lucie list of seven facilities with serious citations in a single week.
Paleteria Calderon 2's combination of unapproved food sourcing, no illness policy, no allergen awareness, and food not cooked to required temperatures represents four distinct failure categories in one inspection. None of those four violations were corrected before the inspector left.