TAMPA, FL. Pollos Rocoto on Hanley Road drew more high-severity violations than any other Tampa restaurant inspected during the week of May 21, with state records showing seven critical citations that included food not cooked to required minimum temperature, improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, and no person in charge present or performing duties.
Inspectors also found that employees at the Hanley Road location were using improper handwashing technique, that food on the premises was in poor condition or adulterated, and that no consumer advisory existed for raw or undercooked menu items. The facility had no written employee health policy. That is eight distinct failure points across a single inspection, spanning management, hygiene, food safety, and chemical handling.
The Violations
One Family Korean Restaurant on Hillsborough Avenue and KPOP Food on East 7th Avenue each drew six high-severity violations. At One Family Korean, inspectors cited employees for not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, food not cooked to minimum temperature, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items, and no person in charge. The record at KPOP Food was nearly identical, with the addition of inadequate shell stock identification and single-use items being reused, and the substitution of a shellfish traceability failure for the cooking temperature citation.
El Puerto Restaurant and Grill on East 5th Avenue drew five high-severity violations, including inadequate handwashing facilities, toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, inadequate shell stock identification, and no person in charge. Inspectors also found no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
China Restaurant on Race Track Road was cited for five high-severity violations as well, among them a particularly serious one: parasite destruction procedures not followed. That citation, combined with inadequate shell stock identification, improper handwashing technique, no consumer advisory, and improperly stored toxic chemicals, made for a wide-ranging inspection failure.
Far East Restaurant on East 10th Avenue drew a citation that stands apart from most on this week's list: food from an unapproved or unknown source. Inspectors also found that employees were not reporting illness symptoms, that handwashing facilities were inadequate, that handwashing technique was improper, and that no consumer advisory was posted.
Food+Beer on West Hillsborough Avenue rounded out the five-violation tier, with citations for employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock identification, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, and no consumer advisory.
Temak House Sushi Fusion on West Linebaugh Avenue drew four high-severity violations, all in the chemical and disclosure categories: toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, toxic substances improperly identified or stored, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and no employee health policy. For a sushi restaurant, the absence of a consumer advisory is a direct failure to warn the customers most at risk from raw fish.
Checkers No. 280 on East Broadway was cited for four high-severity violations including toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, inadequate shell stock identification, no consumer advisory, and employees not reporting illness symptoms. The presence of a shell stock traceability violation at a fast-food burger chain is notable on its own.
Jimmy's Tacos on North 17th Street drew four high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved or unknown source and no allergen awareness demonstrated. Inspectors also cited food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized and employees not reporting illness symptoms.
Roast Deli and Social Bar on East 7th Avenue drew four citations: no person in charge, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled.
301 Family Restaurant on North US Highway 301, 511 Franklin on North Franklin Street, and King Corona Cigars on East 7th Avenue each drew three high-severity violations. At 511 Franklin, inspectors cited employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate shell stock identification, and no consumer advisory. King Corona Cigars, a cigar lounge with food service, was cited for improper handwashing technique, no consumer advisory, and no allergen awareness demonstrated.
Casa Santo Stefano on North 22nd Street was the only facility in this week's group to draw no high-severity violations, with a single intermediate citation for equipment in poor repair.
What These Violations Mean
The most dangerous combination on this week's list appears at Pollos Rocoto: food not cooked to required minimum temperature, combined with no person in charge and no employee health policy. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. When no manager is actively overseeing the kitchen and no written policy exists to keep sick workers out of food preparation, the conditions for a multi-victim outbreak are not theoretical. They are documented and present at the same time.
The "food from unapproved source" citations at Far East Restaurant and Jimmy's Tacos carry a specific danger that differs from most other violations on this list. When food enters a restaurant outside the regulated supply chain, there is no traceability. If a customer gets sick, investigators cannot identify the source, cannot pull the product, and cannot determine how many other people were exposed. It is not just a paperwork problem.
Shell stock identification failures appeared at six facilities this week: KPOP Food, El Puerto Restaurant and Grill, China Restaurant, Food+Beer, Checkers No. 280, and 511 Franklin. Oysters, clams, and mussels are filter feeders that concentrate bacteria and viruses from surrounding water. The identification tags on their shipping containers are the only mechanism that allows health officials to trace a Vibrio or Hepatitis A outbreak back to a specific harvest bed and stop additional sales. Without those records, the traceability chain breaks entirely.
Allergen awareness failures at Jimmy's Tacos and King Corona Cigars represent a different category of immediate risk. Food allergies send 30,000 people to emergency rooms in the United States each year. When kitchen staff cannot identify allergens in the food they are serving, a customer with a tree nut or shellfish allergy has no reliable way to make a safe choice, regardless of what they ask.
The Longer Record
Several facilities on this week's list have inspection histories that put the current findings in sharp relief. Roast Deli and Social Bar has 34 prior inspections on record, the longest history of any facility cited this week. One Family Korean Restaurant and El Puerto Restaurant and Grill each have 31. Far East Restaurant has 29. These are not new restaurants still learning the system. They are established operations with decades of inspection contact, and this week's citations document the same categories of failure, handwashing, management presence, food sourcing, that inspectors have been flagging throughout those histories.
China Restaurant on Race Track Road has 28 prior inspections on record and drew a parasite destruction citation this week. That violation requires a specific procedural failure: fish intended to be served raw or undercooked was not subjected to the freezing protocol that kills Anisakis and other parasites. Twenty-eight inspections is a long time to still be accumulating citations at that severity level.
Two facilities on this week's list are near the beginning of their inspection histories. Food+Beer on West Hillsborough Avenue has only two prior inspections on record and drew five high-severity violations this week, including employees not reporting illness and unsanitized food contact surfaces. 511 Franklin on North Franklin Street has six prior inspections and drew three high-severity citations. Both are accumulating serious violations early.
KPOP Food on East 7th Avenue has ten prior inspections and drew six high-severity violations this week, including the reuse of single-use items and no person in charge. A facility at ten inspections with six simultaneous high-severity citations is not on a trajectory toward compliance.
Food+Beer on West Hillsborough Avenue has been inspected only twice before this week's visit. Whether those two prior inspections surfaced similar violations is not reflected in the data available.