WINTER GARDEN, FL. Inspectors visiting Tijuana Flats #260 on Shoreside Way on May 4 found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, a violation that means customers had no guarantee the ingredients on their plates had passed a single federal safety inspection. The restaurant was not closed.
That finding was one of seven high-severity violations documented during the visit, along with four intermediate violations. State records show it is the eighth consecutive inspection at this location to turn up high-severity citations.
What Inspectors Found
Beyond the unapproved food sourcing, inspectors cited toxic chemicals stored or labeled improperly in the facility. Chemicals stored near food preparation areas can contaminate food directly, and a mislabeled container can cause staff to misuse a substance they believe is something else entirely.
Inspectors also found food in poor condition, described as mislabeled or adulterated. That citation, combined with the unapproved sourcing finding, means the facility had ingredients that arrived outside the regulatory inspection chain and, separately, food that had already degraded or been misidentified once it was on site.
The facility had no written employee health policy. That means there was no documented system requiring sick workers to stay out of food handling roles. Inspectors additionally cited improper handwashing technique, a violation distinct from simply skipping handwashing: staff made an attempt but did so incorrectly, leaving pathogens on their hands.
Required procedures for specialized food processes were not followed, and no consumer advisory was posted to inform customers about raw or undercooked items on the menu. On the intermediate side, inspectors documented improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils that were not properly cleaned, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and improper use of wiping cloths.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved sources is among the most consequential findings an inspector can document. When a restaurant sources ingredients outside USDA or FDA-approved suppliers, there is no chain of inspection records to consult if a customer becomes ill. Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli have all been traced to uninspected supply chains. At Tijuana Flats on Shoreside Way, that violation appeared alongside a separate citation for food already found to be in poor or adulterated condition, meaning the sourcing and quality problems were concurrent, not sequential.
The toxic chemical storage violation carries a different but immediate risk. Cleaning agents and sanitizers stored near food preparation areas can enter food through spills, aerosol drift, or simple mislabeling. A worker reaching for what a label says is one product and getting another is not a theoretical scenario; it is the documented mechanism behind a category of acute poisoning cases that inspectors flag this violation to prevent.
The combination of no employee health policy and improper handwashing technique is particularly direct. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, spreads person to person through exactly this route: a sick employee with no policy requiring them to stay home, handling food with hands that were washed incorrectly. Neither violation alone is unusual. Both appearing together at the same inspection compounds the exposure risk substantially.
Improper sewage or wastewater disposal, listed as an intermediate violation, introduces fecal contamination risk throughout the facility. It is not a minor housekeeping citation.
The Longer Record
This location opened its inspection record with a clean visit in April 2022, zero violations of any severity. That is the only inspection in nine on record that produced no high-severity findings.
Every inspection since December 2022 has included high-severity violations. The May 2023 visit produced 11 high-severity citations, the worst single inspection in the location's history. The September 2025 inspection, the most recent before this month, matched the current total exactly: 7 high, 2 intermediate. The May 4, 2026 inspection came in at 7 high, 4 intermediate.
Across all nine inspections on record, this facility has accumulated 80 total violations. It has never been emergency-closed.
Tijuana Flats #260: Inspection History
The pattern is not a restaurant that had one bad stretch and recovered. High-severity violations have appeared at every inspection since late 2022, in counts ranging from 2 to 11. The specific categories have shifted across visits, but the severity level has not.
After the May 4 inspection, with seven high-severity violations documented including food from an unknown source, toxic chemicals stored improperly, and no written health policy governing sick employees, Tijuana Flats #260 on Shoreside Way remained open for business.