TAMPA, FL. Pollos Rocoto on Hanley Road drew seven high-severity violations in a single inspection the week of May 20, including a finding that food was not cooked to required minimum temperatures, a citation that puts Salmonella survival in poultry on the table as a direct concern.
That tied New Bamboo Express on Kelly Road for the most high-severity violations recorded in Tampa during the week, which ran May 20 through May 26. Fifteen restaurants across Hillsborough County drew at least four high-severity citations each. No emergency closures were issued, but the breadth and repetition of the violations across facilities with long inspection histories raises questions about whether the problems are being corrected or simply re-documented.
The Violations
At Pollos Rocoto, inspectors also found no person in charge present, no employee health policy, improper handwashing technique, food in poor condition, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized. The consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods was missing as well. Seven high-severity violations in one visit, with no single category left untouched.
New Bamboo Express matched that count with a different but equally serious combination. Inspectors cited the Kelly Road location for having no person in charge, no employee health policy, employees not reporting symptoms of illness, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, unclean food contact surfaces, and no consumer advisory. The facility also drew an intermediate citation for multi-use utensils not properly cleaned.
KPOP Food on East 7th Avenue drew six high-severity citations, including a violation for inadequate shell stock identification. That means inspectors could not confirm the origin of shellfish on hand, a traceability gap that matters acutely if a customer becomes ill. KPOP Food also had no person in charge, employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, unclean food contact surfaces, and no consumer advisory, along with intermediate violations for improperly cleaned utensils and single-use items being reused.
One Family Korean Restaurant on Hillsborough Avenue also collected six high-severity violations, including food not cooked to required minimum temperature and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned. Inspectors also found no person in charge, employees not reporting illness, improper handwashing technique, and no consumer advisory.
Rasoi Indian Cuisine on East 8th Avenue drew six high-severity violations including one that stood out from the rest of the week's findings: no allergen awareness demonstrated. That citation means staff showed inspectors no ability to identify or communicate allergen content in dishes, a gap that affects the 32 million Americans living with food allergies. Rasoi also had inadequate shell stock records, no employee health policy, improper handwashing technique, unclean food contact surfaces, and no consumer advisory.
Tikka Masalaa on West Hillsborough drew five high-severity violations, one of which was toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. Inspectors also found food in poor condition, inadequate shell stock identification, no consumer advisory, and improper handwashing technique. The intermediate violations included improper sewage or wastewater disposal and inadequate cooling equipment, a combination that suggests infrastructure problems beyond surface-level compliance failures.
Far East Restaurant on East 10th Avenue was cited for food from an unapproved or unknown source, one of the most serious categories in the week's findings. Food sourced outside regulated channels bypasses USDA and FDA inspection entirely. Far East also had employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, and no consumer advisory.
Ju Fu Lou Inc. on East Fletcher Avenue drew the same food-from-unapproved-source citation, alongside inadequate shell stock records, no employee health policy, improper handwashing technique, and no consumer advisory.
Casa Santo Stefano on North 22nd Street was cited for no approved potable water supply, a violation that puts E. coli, Cryptosporidium, and Legionella on the list of potential contaminants in water used throughout the kitchen. The facility also had food from an unapproved source, inadequate shell stock identification, and no consumer advisory.
China Restaurant on Race Track Road drew a citation for parasite destruction procedures not followed, meaning fish or other items requiring mandatory freezing to kill parasites such as Anisakis or tapeworm were not handled correctly. The location also had inadequate shell stock records, improper handwashing technique, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and no consumer advisory.
El Puerto Restaurant and Grill on East 5th Avenue had no person in charge, inadequate handwashing facilities, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and no consumer advisory, along with inadequate shell stock records.
Checkers #280 on East Broadway drew four high-severity citations including employees not reporting illness symptoms and toxic chemicals improperly stored. The drive-through chain location also had inadequate shell stock records and no consumer advisory, alongside intermediate violations for improper sanitizing solution and single-use items being reused.
Roast Deli and Social Bar on East 7th Avenue had no person in charge, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, and toxic chemicals improperly stored.
Temak House Sushi Fusion on West Linebaugh Avenue drew four high-severity violations, two of them in the chemical storage category. Inspectors cited both toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. The sushi restaurant also had no employee health policy and no consumer advisory, the latter a particularly pointed omission at a restaurant serving raw fish.
Senor Rocoto on Hanley Road, located in the same complex as Pollos Rocoto, drew two high-severity violations: no employee health policy and improper handwashing technique.
What These Violations Mean
The consumer advisory violation appeared at eleven of the fifteen facilities this week. It is easy to overlook because it sounds administrative. It is not. At a sushi restaurant like Temak House, at a Korean barbecue spot like One Family, or at KPOP Food where shellfish traceability was also missing, the advisory is the last line of communication between the kitchen and a pregnant customer, an elderly diner, or someone on immunosuppressive medication. Without it, those customers have no way to make an informed choice about the risk they are taking.
The food-from-unapproved-source citations at Far East Restaurant, Ju Fu Lou, and Casa Santo Stefano represent a different category of risk. Regulated food suppliers are inspected, their products traceable. When a restaurant sources food outside that system, inspectors cannot verify where it came from, how it was handled, or whether it was ever tested. If a customer gets sick, there is no chain of custody to follow.
Casa Santo Stefano's no-potable-water citation is the week's most acute infrastructure finding. A kitchen without an approved water supply cannot safely wash produce, sanitize surfaces, or prepare food. The violation does not mean the water looked bad. It means it was not confirmed safe.
The management-absence violations at Pollos Rocoto, New Bamboo Express, KPOP Food, One Family, El Puerto, and Roast Deli are not procedural. CDC data links the absence of active managerial control directly to higher rates of critical violations. Six of this week's fifteen facilities had no qualified person in charge during the inspection. At several of those same locations, handwashing technique was also wrong and food contact surfaces were not clean. The pattern is consistent: when no one is accountable, the failures compound.
The Longer Record
The facilities with the longest inspection histories in this week's data are not the ones with the fewest violations. Rasoi Indian Cuisine carries 32 prior inspections and drew six high-severity citations. One Family Korean Restaurant has 31 prior inspections on record and matched that count. El Puerto Restaurant has 31 as well, and still had no manager present and no handwashing facilities adequate for the inspection.
Senor Rocoto leads the week with 39 prior inspections on record. So does Tikka Masalaa. Both drew violations this week in categories that are among the most basic in food safety: handwashing technique and employee health policy. Ju Fu Lou has 37 prior inspections and still had food from an unapproved source. These are not new restaurants working through early compliance problems.
KPOP Food, by contrast, has only 10 prior inspections, the fewest of any facility on this week's list. It drew six high-severity violations including shellfish traceability failures and no person in charge. It is the newest location accumulating the most serious citations.
Casa Santo Stefano has 13 prior inspections and already has a no-potable-water citation on its record this week. Whether that finding was resolved before service resumed is not reflected in the inspection data.