INVERNESS, FL. Inspectors visiting Sushi House at 109 Courthouse Square on May 11 found no records to identify where the restaurant's shellfish came from, no way to trace them if customers got sick, and no consumer advisory warning diners that some items on the menu are served raw.
The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The inspection documented 13 high-severity violations and 3 intermediate violations in a single visit. That is the highest single-inspection total in the facility's recorded history.
Among the high-severity findings: no person in charge was present or performing duties, no written employee health policy existed, employees were not reporting illness symptoms, and handwashing was both inadequate in technique and undermined by insufficient facilities. Toxic chemicals were improperly stored or labeled near food. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized.
Inspectors also cited the restaurant for food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated, and for required procedures for specialized processes not being followed. At a restaurant that serves raw fish, those two violations together describe a kitchen operating without the controls that sushi preparation specifically requires.
The three intermediate violations included improper sewage or wastewater disposal, improper use of wiping cloths, and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities.
What These Violations Mean
Shellfish, including oysters, clams, and mussels, are among the highest-risk foods served in any restaurant because they are often consumed raw or barely cooked. Florida requires restaurants to keep shell stock identification tags so that, if a customer becomes ill, public health investigators can trace the shellfish back to the harvest source and pull contaminated product. Without those records, an outbreak investigation hits a wall. Sushi House had no adequate records on the day inspectors arrived.
The consumer advisory violation compounds that risk directly. Customers who are elderly, pregnant, immunocompromised, or managing chronic illness face sharply elevated danger from raw fish and shellfish. A consumer advisory on the menu is the minimum legal mechanism for informing those customers before they order. None was present.
The allergen awareness violation is separately alarming. Food allergies send roughly 30,000 Americans to emergency rooms each year. At a sushi restaurant, where fish, shellfish, soy, and sesame are staple ingredients, a staff that cannot demonstrate allergen awareness is a staff that cannot safely field a question from a diner with a fish or shellfish allergy.
The illness-reporting and handwashing cluster, taken together, describes a facility where the most basic barriers against foodborne disease transmission were not functioning. Food workers who do not report symptoms, who do not wash hands properly, and who do not have adequate facilities to wash hands at all, are the conditions that precede norovirus and other pathogen outbreaks. The CDC identifies active managerial control as the primary defense against these failures. The inspection found no person in charge performing those duties.
The Longer Record
Sushi House Inspection History, 2023-2026
State records show Sushi House has been inspected 23 times, accumulating 122 total violations across its history. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
High-severity violations have appeared in nearly every inspection on record going back through 2023. The June 2023 inspection found 8 high-severity violations, the highest previous single-visit count. The May 2026 inspection more than surpassed it.
The pattern is not one of a restaurant that struggled briefly and corrected course. High-severity violations appeared in December 2023, May 2024, December 2024, June 2025, and October 2025, the five inspections immediately preceding this one. None of those visits produced a closure or an apparent sustained correction.
Still Open
Florida law gives inspectors the authority to order an emergency closure when conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. Thirteen high-severity violations at a raw-fish restaurant, including no shellfish traceability, no consumer advisory, improperly stored chemicals, and no functioning illness-reporting system, did not meet that threshold on May 11.
Sushi House at 109 Courthouse Square remained open for business after the inspection concluded.