TAMPA, FL. La Michoacana Ice Cream 3 on East Fowler Avenue drew five high-severity violations during the week of June 18, including citations for food from unapproved or unknown sources and food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, two of the most serious categories state inspectors can document.
The East Fowler shop has only seven prior inspections on record, making this week's findings notable for a relatively new entrant to the inspection database. Inspectors also cited the location for no employee health policy, improper handwashing technique, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
What Inspectors Found This Week
Mangos Southern Kitchen and Bar on North Florida Avenue tied La Michoacana with five high-severity violations, the highest total among all facilities inspected this week. Inspectors cited Mangos for inadequate shell stock identification records, food in poor condition, improper handwashing technique, misuse of time as a public health control, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. The bar and kitchen also drew an intermediate violation for inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities. Mangos has only five prior inspections on record.
Gao Restaurant on North Himes Avenue was cited for four high-severity violations, including both no employee health policy and an employee not reporting symptoms of illness, a combination inspectors flag as an active outbreak risk. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods was posted.
Tacos 4 G on West Waters Avenue also drew four high-severity violations. Inspectors found food in poor condition, no employee health policy, inadequate shell stock identification records, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized. Two intermediate violations were also documented: multi-use utensils not properly cleaned and improper use of wiping cloths.
Hales Blackbrick Hyde Park on West Platt Street was cited for four high-severity violations, among them food from an unapproved or unknown source and time as a public health control not properly used. Inspectors also noted improper handwashing technique and no consumer advisory, plus an intermediate citation for multi-use utensils not properly cleaned.
Saigon Deli II on West Waters Avenue drew three high-severity violations: improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock identification records, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Inspectors also documented two intermediate violations, including single-use items being improperly reused.
Piccola Italia Bistro on West Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard was cited for no employee health policy, improper handwashing technique, and inadequate shell stock identification records. Multi-use utensils not properly cleaned rounded out the visit as an intermediate violation.
Oggi Italian on East Davis Boulevard drew three high-severity violations: food from an unapproved or unknown source, inadequate shell stock identification records, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Pho 813 LLC on Henderson Boulevard was cited for no employee health policy, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. No intermediate violations were noted.
Wild Rover Pub and Brewery Tampa on Lynmar Boulevard drew two high-severity violations: no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. Inspectors also cited an intermediate violation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal.
What These Violations Mean
The most acute finding this week is the combination at Gao Restaurant: no employee health policy and an employee not reporting symptoms of illness, cited together in the same inspection. These two violations together describe a facility where a sick worker has no formal obligation to stay home and, in this case, did not report being ill. Norovirus, which can be transmitted through a single infected food handler touching ready-to-eat food, is responsible for roughly half of all foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States.
Food from unapproved or unknown sources, cited at La Michoacana Ice Cream 3, Hales Blackbrick Hyde Park, and Oggi Italian, carries a specific traceability problem. If a customer becomes ill after eating at one of these locations, investigators cannot trace the food back through a regulated supply chain. Unapproved sources bypass USDA and FDA inspections, meaning the food may harbor Listeria, Salmonella, or other pathogens without any prior detection.
The undercooking violation at La Michoacana is particularly direct. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. An ice cream shop citing undercooked food raises questions about what is being prepared on site and whether the facility's cooking protocols are being followed at all.
Inadequate shell stock identification records appeared at five facilities this week: Mangos Southern Kitchen and Bar, Tacos 4 G, Saigon Deli II, Piccola Italia Bistro, and Oggi Italian. Shellfish, including oysters, clams, and mussels, are frequently consumed raw or lightly cooked and are a known vector for Vibrio and hepatitis A. Without shell stock tags, there is no way to trace a contaminated batch back to its harvest location if diners become ill.
The Longer Record
Saigon Deli II has 46 prior inspections on record, the highest count among all ten facilities cited this week. Despite that volume of state scrutiny, the West Waters Avenue deli drew three high-severity violations this week, including improper handwashing and inadequate shellfish traceability records. A facility that has been inspected 46 times and is still accumulating high-severity citations is not a new business learning the rules.
Piccola Italia Bistro carries 28 prior inspections, Gao Restaurant 27, and Oggi Italian 27. All three drew high-severity violations this week in categories that are not obscure regulatory technicalities. No employee health policy and inadequate shell stock records are among the most commonly discussed violations in food safety training. Their presence at facilities with two-dozen-plus inspections suggests the findings are not a product of inexperience.
Wild Rover Pub and Brewery Tampa has 33 prior inspections on record. Its citation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal this week is the kind of infrastructure violation that typically requires a physical fix, not just a policy change. Whether that repair has been made is not reflected in this week's data.
Mangos Southern Kitchen and Bar, with only five prior inspections, is the newest facility in this week's group. Five high-severity violations on a relatively short inspection history is a significant early accumulation. The inadequate toilet facilities citation, an intermediate violation, compounds concerns about whether the basic infrastructure for hygiene is in place.
La Michoacana Ice Cream 3 has seven prior inspections. The citation for food from an unapproved source at a location that has been operating long enough to accumulate seven state visits means inspectors have had multiple prior opportunities to examine sourcing practices at this facility.
The Longer Record
Pho 813 LLC on Henderson Boulevard has 30 prior inspections on record. The citation for toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled is among the most straightforward violations to correct, requiring only proper labeling and physical separation from food preparation areas. Whether that correction was made is not shown in this week's inspection data.