TAMPA, FL. Cafe Artemisa on North Manhattan Avenue drew 10 high-severity violations during the week of July 27, including citations for food from unapproved sources, failure to cook food to required minimum temperatures, and workers who had no health policy governing when to stay home sick, state inspection records show.
That was the highest high-severity count of any single facility inspected in Tampa that week. Fourteen other restaurants also drew high-severity violations during the same seven-day stretch, and the records reveal a pattern of illness-enabling failures that cuts across cuisines and neighborhoods.
The Violations
Cafe Artemisa's violations also included inadequate shell stock identification, meaning inspectors could not verify where the restaurant's shellfish came from or confirm it moved through the regulated supply chain. Improper handwashing and improper handwashing technique were both cited, a combination that inspectors treat as a direct contamination pathway rather than a paperwork issue.
Ajisai Sushi on East Fowler Avenue matched Cafe Artemisa's 10 high-severity count. Inspectors cited the restaurant for having no person in charge present or performing duties, no employee health policy, food from unapproved sources, and failure to properly use time as a public health control, meaning food sat in the bacterial growth zone without adequate temperature or time documentation to justify it.
Jade Garden on West Hillsborough Avenue drew nine high-severity violations, including no allergen awareness demonstrated. For a restaurant serving a broad menu to a general public that includes 32 million Americans with diagnosed food allergies, that citation means staff could not reliably identify which dishes contained common allergens or communicate that information to customers.
Pin Chasers Midtown on North Armenia Avenue also reached nine high-severity violations. The bowling alley and bar kitchen was cited for both improper chemical storage and a separate citation for toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used, two distinct chemical-handling failures in the same inspection. Food from unapproved sources and failure to cook food to minimum required temperatures rounded out the most serious findings.
Dio Modern Mediterranean on Franklin Street in downtown Tampa drew seven high-severity violations, including inadequate handwashing facilities. That citation means the physical infrastructure for hand hygiene was missing or non-functional, not merely that technique was poor. The restaurant was also cited for shell stock traceability failures and undercooking.
Tomato Joe's New York Pizzeria on West Waters Avenue drew seven high-severity violations. A pizzeria serving shellfish with no shell stock identification records on file cannot trace where those oysters, clams, or mussels originated if a customer reports illness.
Bobby's Sandwich Shop on North Armenia drew seven high-severity violations, including a citation for required procedures for specialized processes not followed. That citation applies when a facility uses smoking, curing, fermenting, or reduced-oxygen packaging without the precise controls those methods require. Inspectors also cited an improper sewage or wastewater disposal problem, a finding that can mean fecal contamination risk throughout the facility.
Franci's Cafe on West Linebaugh Avenue drew six high-severity violations and five intermediate ones, the largest intermediate count in this week's data. No allergen awareness was among the high-severity findings. The intermediate list included both improper sewage disposal and multi-use utensils not properly cleaned.
Joe's New York Diner on North Florida Avenue drew six high-severity violations, including time as a public health control not properly used and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Inspectors also cited inadequate ventilation.
Samaria Cafe on North Tampa Street drew six high-severity violations. No person in charge was present or performing duties during the inspection, a condition that correlates with elevated violation counts across every other category inspectors examined that same visit.
Sabor Y Fuego Latin Fusion on North MacDill Avenue drew six high-severity violations, including a citation for parasite destruction procedures not followed. That means fish or other parasite-risk proteins were being served without the freezing or cooking protocols required to kill organisms like Anisakis or tapeworm larvae. Inspectors also cited food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated.
Hong Kong Restaurant on West Waters Avenue drew six high-severity violations, also including a parasite destruction failure and no shell stock identification records.
Salem's Fresh Eats on East Hillsborough Avenue drew five high-severity violations, including toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. No consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods was also cited.
Melt N Dip on Causeway Boulevard drew five high-severity violations, including shell stock traceability failures and improperly stored chemicals. Inspectors also noted inadequate toilet facilities.
Beef O Brady's on North Himes Avenue drew a single high-severity violation, a missing consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, the lightest finding among the 15 flagged facilities this week.
What These Violations Mean
The violations most frequently cited this week fall into two categories: illness-transmission failures and traceability failures. Both are serious, but they carry different kinds of risk.
The illness-transmission cluster, documented at Cafe Artemisa, Ajisai Sushi, Dio Modern Mediterranean, Bobby's Sandwich Shop, Franci's Cafe, Joe's New York Diner, Samaria Cafe, and others, centers on a chain of connected failures. No written employee health policy means there is no formal instruction telling workers to stay home when they have symptoms. No illness reporting means sick workers are present on the line. Improper handwashing technique means that even when a worker attempts to wash their hands, the pathogens remain. Each failure amplifies the next. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurants, spreads most efficiently through exactly this combination.
The traceability failures are a different problem. Eight facilities this week, including Cafe Artemisa, Ajisai Sushi, Tomato Joe's, Bobby's Sandwich Shop, Dio Modern Mediterranean, Sabor Y Fuego, Hong Kong Restaurant, and Melt N Dip, were cited for inadequate shell stock identification records. Shellfish are among the highest-risk foods served in American restaurants because they are often consumed raw or barely cooked and they filter large volumes of water that can carry Vibrio, Norovirus, and hepatitis A. The shell stock tag requirement exists so that, if a customer gets sick, investigators can trace the product back to the harvest location within hours. Without those tags, that investigation stalls.
Parasite destruction failures, cited at both Sabor Y Fuego and Hong Kong Restaurant, address a separate biological threat. Fish served raw or undercooked, including sushi and ceviche preparations, must be frozen to specific temperatures for specific durations to kill parasites. When that protocol is skipped, Anisakis larvae and other organisms reach the customer's plate alive.
The Longer Record
The inspection history behind this week's findings varies considerably, and that context matters.
Joe's New York Diner on North Florida Avenue has 67 prior inspections on record, the longest history of any facility in this week's data. That volume of inspections reflects years of regulatory contact, and this week's six high-severity violations, including time control failures and no consumer advisory, are the latest entry in a file that stretches back further than almost any other restaurant cited here.
Samaria Cafe on North Tampa Street has 41 prior inspections on record. This week's findings included no person in charge, improper handwashing technique, time control failures, and improper sewage disposal. At 41 inspections, the facility has had extensive opportunity to address recurring issues.
Cafe Artemisa, which led this week with 10 high-severity violations, has 35 prior inspections on record. Ajisai Sushi has 26. Both facilities had food from unapproved sources cited this week, a violation that requires either a deliberate choice to purchase outside the regulated supply chain or a failure to maintain purchasing records adequate to demonstrate compliance.
At the other end of the history spectrum, Sabor Y Fuego Latin Fusion has only 9 prior inspections on record, making it among the newest facilities in this week's data. Its six high-severity violations this week, including parasite destruction failures and food in poor condition or adulterated, represent a serious start to its inspection file.
Tomato Joe's New York Pizzeria has 13 prior inspections on record, also a relatively short history. Its seven high-severity violations this week included shell stock traceability failures and improperly stored chemicals. Whether those findings reflect early operational patterns or a one-week anomaly is something only subsequent inspections will answer.
