TAMPA, FL. Funky Sweets on Citrus Park Drive has been inspected twice since opening, and inspectors have already cited it for sourcing food from unapproved or unknown suppliers, storing toxic chemicals improperly, failing to post a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items, and demonstrating no allergen awareness whatsoever. That is six high-severity violations in two visits at a dessert shop.
The week of September 2 through September 8 produced high-severity violations at 15 Tampa restaurants, with a total of 78 high-severity citations across those facilities. No emergency closures were recorded in the data, but the pattern of violations, particularly around illness reporting, food sourcing, and shellfish traceability, runs through nearly every facility on the list.
The Violations
Mi Tierra Latina on West Hillsborough Avenue and Florida Cracker Fish Company on Ehrlich Road each drew seven high-severity violations, the most of any facility this week. At Mi Tierra Latina, inspectors cited the restaurant for having no person in charge present or performing duties, employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, toxic chemicals stored or labeled improperly, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Florida Cracker Fish Company carried a different and more specific set of risks. Inspectors cited the restaurant for inadequate shell stock identification and records, meaning the facility could not document where its oysters, clams, or mussels came from, and for failing to follow parasite destruction procedures for fish. Both violations are specific to a seafood operation and both have direct traceability consequences if a customer gets sick.
Taco Dirty on West Platt Street drew six high-severity violations including inadequate shell stock identification, which is notable for a taco concept, and improper use of time as a public health control. That violation means food was being held in the temperature danger zone, between 41 and 135 degrees, without a documented time-tracking system to limit exposure.
Sal Y Mar at Midtown Tampa was cited for food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, one of the cleaner causal links to foodborne illness in the entire week's data. Inspectors also found no employee health policy, inadequate handwashing facilities, and employees not reporting illness symptoms.
Wandee Asian Fusion on Memorial Highway had no employee health policy, inadequate handwashing facilities, and improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals, in addition to shell stock identification failures and no consumer advisory for raw items.
Sweetwater Franchise Group on North Dale Mabry was cited for sourcing food from an unapproved or unknown supplier, the same violation that flagged Funky Sweets and, separately, Charley's Cheesesteaks and Wings on East Fowler Avenue. Three facilities in one week with food from unverified sources is not a coincidence, it is a pattern.
Penthouse Club on North Westshore Boulevard was cited for improper sewage or wastewater disposal alongside shell stock failures, no consumer advisory, and no allergen awareness. Woody's Greek Salads on South Dale Mabry drew five high-severity violations that were almost entirely chemical and allergen-related: two separate toxic substance violations, no allergen awareness, and no consumer advisory.
Oishi Sushi Bar on West Hillsborough Avenue was cited for parasite destruction failures and shell stock identification failures, both high-risk violations for a raw fish operation. Rosenheim Cafe and Restaurant on North 22nd Street drew five high-severity violations including improperly stored chemicals and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned.
Urban Indian on North Dale Mabry was cited for food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated, one of the more direct food quality violations in this week's data. Nawabi Hyderabad House Biryani Place on Amberly Drive drew four high-severity violations including handwashing failures and food contact surface issues. Pinto Thai on South MacDill Avenue closed out the list with four high-severity violations, including no employee health policy and improperly stored chemicals.
What These Violations Mean
The shell stock identification failure appeared at six of the fifteen facilities this week: Florida Cracker Fish Company, Taco Dirty, Funky Sweets, Wandee Asian Fusion, Penthouse Club, Rosenheim Cafe, Oishi Sushi Bar, and Nawabi Hyderabad House. When a restaurant cannot produce shell stock tags, it means there is no record of where the oysters, clams, or mussels came from, which harvest bed, which date, which dealer. If a customer gets sick from a contaminated batch, public health investigators have no chain to follow.
The parasite destruction failures at Florida Cracker Fish Company and Oishi Sushi Bar carry a more immediate biological risk. Fish served raw or undercooked, including sushi and ceviche preparations, must be frozen to specific temperatures for specific durations to kill parasites including Anisakis and tapeworm. Without documented freezing records, there is no way to verify that step was completed.
Employee illness reporting failures appeared at nine of the fifteen facilities, including Mi Tierra Latina, Florida Cracker Fish Company, Taco Dirty, Sal Y Mar, Sweetwater Franchise Group, Penthouse Club, Woody's Greek Salads, and Nawabi Hyderabad House. Norovirus, which causes the majority of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, spreads directly from an infected food worker's hands to the food they prepare. A sick employee who is not excluded from work is the most direct transmission route in food service.
Three facilities, Sweetwater Franchise Group, Funky Sweets, and Charley's Cheesesteaks and Wings, were cited for food from unapproved or unknown sources. Food that enters a kitchen outside the licensed supply chain has not been inspected by USDA or FDA, carries no traceability documentation, and may have been stored or transported without temperature controls. If that food causes an illness, investigators may have no way to trace it back to a source.
The Longer Record
Nawabi Hyderabad House on Amberly Drive has 36 prior inspections on record, the most of any facility in this week's data, and still drew four high-severity violations including handwashing failures and food contact surface problems. That is a facility with a long inspection history that has not resolved its most basic hygiene citations.
Wandee Asian Fusion carries 33 prior inspections and returned six high-severity violations this week, including no employee health policy and inadequate handwashing facilities. Mi Tierra Latina has 29 inspections on record and led the week with seven high-severity citations. Woody's Greek Salads, Rosenheim Cafe, and Pinto Thai each have 26 prior inspections. All three drew high-severity violations this week in categories, chemical storage, food contact surfaces, consumer advisory, that are not new compliance requirements.
At the other end of the spectrum, Funky Sweets has two prior inspections on record. Both of them produced high-severity violations. The facility is not a repeat offender in the traditional sense, but it has never had a clean inspection.
Charley's Cheesesteaks and Wings has seven prior inspections and was cited this week for food from an unapproved source, improperly stored chemicals, and no consumer advisory. Urban Indian has six prior inspections and drew a citation for food in poor condition or adulterated, a violation that requires an inspector to document that food in the kitchen was spoiled, mislabeled, or otherwise compromised.
Funky Sweets, with its unapproved food sourcing citation and zero allergen awareness at a dessert counter, has still never passed a high-severity inspection in its short operating history.
