SANFORD, FL. Toxic chemicals were stored improperly near food at Station Bar and Grub on South Palmetto Avenue when state inspectors arrived on September 11, and that was not even the only chemical violation they found. Inspectors cited the bar and restaurant twice in the same visit for issues involving toxic substances, once for improper storage or labeling and once for improper identification, storage, or use. Despite six high-severity violations documented that day, the facility was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The chemical violations stand out because they represent two distinct failure modes in the same kitchen on the same day. One citation covers storage and labeling, meaning chemicals were either kept near food preparation areas or placed in containers without proper identification. The second citation covers identification, storage, and use, a broader finding that inspectors apply when toxic substances are being handled incorrectly in ways that go beyond where they sit on a shelf.
Food was not cooked to required minimum temperatures, a separate high-severity finding. Inspectors also cited food contact surfaces for not being properly cleaned or sanitized.
The facility had no written employee health policy in place. Without one, there is no formal mechanism to keep a sick worker out of the kitchen, and no documentation that employees know they are required to report symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, or jaundice to management. Inspectors also noted the absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, meaning customers had no posted warning that certain menu items carry elevated risk.
Three intermediate violations rounded out the inspection: multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities.
What These Violations Mean
The two chemical violations together describe a kitchen where cleaning and sanitizing agents were accessible in ways that could contaminate food or food-contact surfaces. Mislabeled chemicals are acutely dangerous because staff cannot identify what they are handling, which affects both safe use and emergency response if someone is exposed. Improperly stored chemicals near food preparation areas create a direct contamination pathway that does not require any mistake by an employee, only proximity.
The cooking temperature violation is among the most direct routes to a foodborne illness outbreak. Salmonella in poultry, for example, survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit and can cause severe illness within hours of consumption. When a kitchen has no written health policy governing sick employees at the same time food is leaving the kitchen undercooked, the two violations compound each other.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, combined with multi-use utensils that were not properly cleaned, create conditions for bacterial transfer across every dish that passes through the kitchen. Bacterial biofilms can form on utensil surfaces within 24 hours and are resistant to standard rinsing. The consumer advisory absence is particularly significant for elderly customers, pregnant women, and anyone with a compromised immune system, all of whom face elevated risk from undercooked proteins and raw items.
The Longer Record
The September 11 inspection was the fourteenth on record for Station Bar and Grub, and the facility has accumulated 125 total violations across those visits. It has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern across the eight most recent inspections is consistent. Every single one included high-severity violations. The worst single visit before September was November 2024, when inspectors documented eight high-severity and three intermediate violations. April 2025 produced five high-severity and four intermediate violations. January 2026 produced four high-severity and one intermediate violation.
Station Bar and Grub: Recent Inspection History
There is no inspection in the available record where Station Bar and Grub came away clean of high-severity violations. The April 2023 visit and a follow-up one week later both produced high-severity findings, suggesting that a single inspection cycle was not enough to resolve the problems documented that month.
The September 2026 inspection is not an anomaly. It fits a pattern that stretches back at least three years, across fourteen documented visits, with no emergency closure ever issued.
After inspectors documented toxic chemicals stored near food, undercooked food leaving the kitchen, no written policy to keep sick employees away from food preparation, and unsanitized surfaces and utensils, Station Bar and Grub on South Palmetto Avenue remained open for business.
