JACKSONVILLE, FL. A state inspector walked into Super Tienda Latina y Restaurante on Toledo Road on September 28 and found food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, a violation that means pathogens like Salmonella can survive in poultry served directly to customers. The restaurant was not closed.
That single violation was one of eight high-severity citations logged that day, alongside six intermediate violations, for a total of fourteen. State records show the facility remained open throughout.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooking violation sat at the center of the September 28 inspection, but it was far from the only serious finding. Inspectors also cited the facility for inadequate shell stock identification records, meaning shellfish on hand, such as oysters, clams, or mussels, could not be traced back to a certified source if a customer became ill.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Inspectors also found that employees were not reporting symptoms of illness and that no written employee health policy existed.
The facility had no adequate handwashing infrastructure, and employees were observed using improper hand and arm washing technique. No qualified person in charge was present or performing supervisory duties during the inspection.
On the intermediate side, inspectors cited improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils that were not properly cleaned, single-use items being reused, improper use of wiping cloths, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities.
What These Violations Mean
The undercooking violation is among the most direct paths from kitchen to hospital. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and a customer who receives undercooked chicken has no way of knowing the risk at the table. The absence of a person in charge compounds every other violation on the list: CDC data shows establishments without active managerial control accumulate critical violations at roughly three times the rate of supervised kitchens.
The combination of no employee health policy and employees not reporting illness symptoms is particularly acute at a facility that also sells shellfish. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States, spreads efficiently from a sick food worker to any surface, utensil, or food item that worker touches. Without a written policy requiring sick employees to stay home, there is no formal mechanism to keep an ill worker out of the kitchen.
Inadequate shell stock records eliminate the traceability chain that regulators depend on when an outbreak occurs. If a customer falls ill after eating shellfish here, investigators would have no certified harvest records to follow. That gap can delay or prevent identification of a contaminated lot, allowing additional illnesses to occur.
Improper sewage disposal introduces the possibility of fecal contamination spreading through the facility, a risk that multiplies when handwashing infrastructure is simultaneously inadequate and technique is documented as improper. These violations do not exist in isolation. They reinforce each other.
The Longer Record
The September 28 inspection was not the first time this facility accumulated serious findings in a single visit. State records covering 29 inspections show 275 total violations on record, and the pattern of high-severity citations stretches back through multiple inspection cycles.
On November 5, 2024, inspectors cited the facility for seven high-severity and two intermediate violations. A follow-up visit the next day still produced two high-severity citations. The facility was inspected again on August 14, 2024, and logged five high-severity violations. A clean inspection followed the next day.
The September 28 inspection, with eight high-severity violations, represents the highest single-day high-severity count in the recent record. A follow-up inspection two days later, on September 30, found one high-severity violation remaining.
The facility has never been emergency-closed in its 29 inspections on record. It has also never gone more than a few months without accumulating multiple high-severity citations in a single visit. The September 28 inspection fits a well-established pattern at this address: a cluster of serious violations, a follow-up, a partial correction, and then the cycle resumes.
Open for Business
State inspectors documented fourteen violations at Super Tienda Latina y Restaurante on September 28, eight of them high-severity, including food served at unsafe temperatures, no illness reporting system for employees, and improper sewage disposal. The facility was not closed.
Customers who visited the Toledo Road location between the September 28 inspection and the September 30 follow-up had no public notice that the state had documented those conditions two days earlier.
The one high-severity violation that remained after the follow-up visit was not specified in public records.
