TAMPA, FL. Lameizi Hot Pot and BBQ on East Fowler Avenue and Jerk Hut Island Grille and Beach Club, a half-mile away at 1241 E. Fowler, each drew nine high-severity violations during the week of October 9, the highest totals among 15 Tampa facilities flagged by state inspectors. Both were cited for sourcing food from unapproved or unknown suppliers, a finding that state health records classify as one of the most serious an inspector can document.
What Inspectors Found on Fowler Avenue
At Lameizi, inspectors documented nine distinct high-severity violations: no person in charge present or performing duties, improper handwashing technique, food from an unapproved source, inadequate shellfish identification records, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, time not properly used as a public health control, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled.
At Jerk Hut, the nine high-severity findings included two that Lameizi did not draw: no written employee health policy and employees not reporting symptoms of illness. Both are directly tied to outbreak risk.
Golden Egg Cafe at 10442 N. Dale Mabry Highway followed with eight high-severity violations, including food from an unapproved source, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, and toxic substances improperly stored. Inspectors also noted an employee not reporting symptoms of illness.
Honest Indian Vegetarian Restaurant on East Fowler Avenue drew eight high-severity citations of its own, including no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods, required procedures for specialized processes not followed, and no employee health policy on file. For a restaurant that markets itself on a vegetarian identity, the citation for food not cooked to required minimum temperature stands out in the record.
Sushi Yama at 10017 E. Adamo Drive accumulated seven high-severity violations alongside five intermediate ones. Inspectors cited inadequate handwashing facilities, meaning the physical infrastructure for proper hygiene was absent, not just the practice. The restaurant also drew a citation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal, a finding that carries contamination risk throughout the facility.
China 1 at 2774 E. Fowler Avenue drew seven high-severity violations including improper sewage disposal, food from an unapproved source, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. Inspectors also noted no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Portico Cafe at 1001 N. Florida Avenue was cited for parasite destruction procedures not followed, a violation that means fish, pork, or game served at the restaurant had not been properly frozen or cooked to kill parasites including Anisakis and tapeworm. The cafe also lacked a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items and had inadequate cold-holding equipment.
The Rest of the Week's Findings
Yummy House China Bistro at 2620 E. Hillsborough Avenue drew six high-severity violations and five intermediate ones, the highest intermediate total of the week. Inspectors cited both inadequate handwashing by food employees and improper handwashing technique, meaning the problem existed at every level: the physical act, the method, and the follow-through. The facility also had improper sewage disposal and inadequate cold-holding equipment on the same inspection.
Angora Mediterranean Grill at 2311 E. Fowler Avenue drew six high-severity violations, among them food from an unapproved source and inadequate shellfish identification records. Single-use items improperly reused and multi-use utensils not properly cleaned rounded out the findings.
IHOP at 408 E. Bearss Avenue drew six high-severity violations including two separate chemical-storage citations: toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Inspectors also noted no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
China Garden at 10019 N. Dale Mabry Highway was cited for parasite destruction procedures not followed and time not properly used as a public health control, alongside toxic chemicals improperly stored and no employee health policy.
Klas LA at 10910 N. 30th Street drew five high-severity violations including food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated, and food not cooked to required minimum temperature. Improper sewage disposal and single-use items improperly reused were among the intermediate findings.
Shanghai Dumpling House at 1120 E. Fowler Avenue drew five high-severity violations including time not properly used as a public health control, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned. Inadequate ventilation and lighting was among the intermediate findings.
At the lower end of the week's citations, IHOP at 11111 N. Dale Mabry drew one high-severity violation for parasite destruction procedures not followed, alongside an intermediate citation for improper sewage disposal. Bulla Gastrobar at 930 S. Howard Avenue drew one high-severity violation, for food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved or unknown sources, cited at Lameizi, Jerk Hut, Golden Egg Cafe, China 1, and Angora Mediterranean Grill, means the supply chain for those ingredients is invisible to regulators. If a customer gets sick, there is no tag, no invoice, no lot number to trace back to a farm or processor. The FDA and USDA inspection systems that catch Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli contamination before food reaches a kitchen never touched whatever those restaurants were serving.
The employee illness violations documented at Jerk Hut, Golden Egg Cafe, Honest Indian, Sushi Yama, Yummy House, Angora, IHOP on Bearss, China Garden, Klas LA, and Shanghai Dumpling House represent a direct transmission pathway. Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States annually, spreads most efficiently when a symptomatic food worker handles food without restriction. A facility with no written health policy, the finding at Jerk Hut, Honest Indian, Sushi Yama, China Garden, Klas LA, and Shanghai Dumpling House, has no documented standard for when a sick employee must stay home.
Parasite destruction failures at Portico Cafe, China Garden, and IHOP on Dale Mabry mean that fish or other susceptible proteins were served without the freezing or cooking protocols required to kill organisms like Anisakis. That parasite causes severe abdominal pain and, in some cases, requires surgical removal. Customers who ordered fish dishes at those locations during the inspection week had no way of knowing the protocol had not been followed.
Improper sewage disposal, documented at Sushi Yama, China 1, Yummy House, and Klas LA, is not a plumbing complaint. Raw sewage carries fecal pathogens. When disposal is improper, those pathogens can reach food preparation surfaces.
The Longer Record
Yummy House China Bistro carries the longest inspection history of any facility cited this week, with 49 prior inspections on record. Six high-severity violations and five intermediate ones at a restaurant that has been through the inspection process nearly fifty times is a different finding than the same tally at a new location.
Honest Indian Vegetarian Restaurant has 43 prior inspections on record. Jerk Hut Island Grille has 41, as does Shanghai Dumpling House. All three drew this week's most serious violation categories despite histories that run deep enough that inspectors and management are not strangers to each other.
Bulla Gastrobar has 46 prior inspections and drew only one high-severity violation this week. IHOP on Dale Mabry has 30 prior inspections and drew one. The contrast with Jerk Hut and Honest Indian, both of which have comparable or longer records and drew eight or nine high-severity citations, is plain in the data.
Lameizi Hot Pot and BBQ has only 11 prior inspections, the shortest history among the week's worst performers. It led the week's high-severity count tied with Jerk Hut. Angora Mediterranean Grill has 12. Both are relatively new to the inspection record and already drawing food-source and shellfish-traceability violations.
Shellfish identification failures appeared at Lameizi, Jerk Hut, Golden Egg Cafe, Sushi Yama, China 1, China Garden, Yummy House, and Angora, eight of the fifteen facilities cited this week. Without proper tagging, there is no way to identify the harvest location, the harvester, or the date if a shellfish-linked illness is reported. That question remains open for anyone who ate shellfish at any of those eight restaurants between October 9 and October 15.
