KENDALL, FL. Food from an unapproved or unknown source was on the line at TAP42 at 11735 Sherry Lane when state inspectors arrived on August 24, 2026, and that was only the beginning of what they found.
Inspectors documented 10 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate violations during the visit. The facility was not emergency-closed.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation is among the most consequential on the list. When food arrives from an unapproved or unknown supplier, it has bypassed the federal inspection chain entirely, meaning there is no traceability if a customer gets sick.
Inspectors also cited the kitchen for food not cooked to required minimum temperatures. That violation appeared alongside two separate chemical storage citations: toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Both chemical violations were flagged at the high-severity level.
The person in charge was either not present or not performing supervisory duties. Two separate handwashing violations were documented: employees not washing adequately, and employees using improper technique. Inspectors also found that food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and that employees were not reporting illness symptoms.
A consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods was absent, meaning customers had no notice that certain items carried elevated risk.
On the intermediate tier, inspectors documented improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, single-use items being reused, and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
What These Violations Mean
The food-from-unapproved-sources citation is not a paperwork problem. Suppliers outside the regulated chain are not subject to USDA or FDA inspection, and if a contaminated ingredient causes illness, there is no paper trail to trace it back. Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli have all been linked to uninspected supply chains.
The undercooking violation compounds that risk directly. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. If the source of that poultry is already unverified, and the cooking step that would kill pathogens is also skipped, the margin of safety for anyone eating that food is gone.
Two chemical violations at the high-severity level on the same inspection is unusual. Improperly stored or unlabeled chemicals near food preparation areas create a direct contamination pathway, and mislabeled containers have caused acute poisoning when workers or customers encountered them unknowingly.
The illness-reporting violation deserves its own attention. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, spreads almost exclusively through infected food workers who continue handling food while sick. A kitchen without an active manager on duty, where employees are not required to report symptoms, has no mechanism to catch that before it reaches a plate.
The Longer Record
The August 24 inspection was not an isolated event. State records show TAP42 has accumulated 133 total violations across 15 inspections on record, with no emergency closures in that history.
The pattern of high-severity violations is not new. Inspectors documented 9 high-severity violations during a November 2025 visit, and 5 high-severity violations in both July 2025 and April 2025. The April 2025 inspection on the 28th alone drew 5 high and 4 intermediate violations, followed one day later by a separate visit that found 1 more high-severity citation.
The August 24 visit, with 10 high-severity violations, is the single worst inspection in the facility's recent history by that measure. A follow-up inspection the very next day, August 25, found 2 high and 3 intermediate violations still present, meaning not all of the most serious issues had been resolved within 24 hours.
Open for Business
Florida's emergency closure authority is triggered when inspectors determine a facility poses an imminent threat to public health. The threshold is a judgment call, and state records show TAP42 did not meet it on August 24, 2026, despite the 10 high-severity findings.
The follow-up inspection on August 25 reduced the high-severity count to 2. But the original inspection, with food from an unknown source, undercooked food, two chemical storage violations, no manager on duty, and employees not reporting illness, was conducted while the restaurant served customers.
TAP42 remained open throughout.
