ORLANDO, FL. Inspectors visiting Tomasinos Pizza on East Colonial Drive in late September found that the restaurant was serving food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, a violation that state health officials flag as one of the most difficult to trace if a customer gets sick.
That was one of six high-severity violations documented at the 2612 E. Colonial Dr. location on September 28, 2026. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation stands out because it has no easy fix on site. When a restaurant purchases from an unapproved or unidentified supplier, that food has bypassed USDA and FDA inspection systems entirely. If a customer becomes ill, investigators have nowhere to start.
Inspectors also cited the restaurant for failing to demonstrate allergen awareness. No staff member could show inspectors that employees understood which menu items contained common allergens or how to handle requests from customers with food allergies.
Parasite destruction procedures were not being followed, a violation that applies when fish, pork, or wild game is served without the freezing or cooking protocols required to kill organisms including Anisakis and Trichinella. Food contact surfaces, including cutting boards and prep areas, were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Toxic chemicals were stored or labeled improperly near food areas. And employees were observed using improper handwashing technique, meaning pathogens can remain on hands even after a washing attempt is made.
The five intermediate violations included multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, single-use items being reused, inadequate ventilation and lighting, toilet facilities in poor condition, and equipment in disrepair.
What These Violations Mean
The food-from-unapproved-sources citation is not a paperwork problem. Suppliers who operate outside the regulatory system are not subject to routine inspections for Listeria, Salmonella, or other pathogens. If an outbreak occurs, the supply chain cannot be traced, which means contaminated product stays in circulation longer and more people get sick before the source is identified.
The allergen violation carries a different but equally direct risk. Food allergies affect an estimated 32 million Americans, and allergic reactions send roughly 30,000 people to emergency rooms each year. When no staff member can demonstrate awareness of which dishes contain peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, or other common allergens, a customer who discloses an allergy has no reliable protection.
The parasite destruction failure matters most for any menu item featuring fish. Anisakis larvae, present in many species of raw or undercooked fish, can embed in the stomach lining and cause severe abdominal pain. The required safeguard is simple: freeze fish to a specified temperature for a specified duration before serving. When that step is skipped or undocumented, the risk transfers entirely to the customer.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces are how bacteria move from one ingredient to another without any visible sign. A cutting board used for raw protein and not properly sanitized before the next use can transfer pathogens to vegetables, bread, or anything else prepared on that surface.
The Longer Record
The September inspection was not an outlier. State records show Tomasinos Pizza has been inspected 34 times and has accumulated 274 violations in total.
The two most recent prior inspections, in August 2026, each produced six or seven high-severity violations. The July 2026 visit logged seven high-severity citations. In October 2025, inspectors returned twice within ten days, finding six high-severity violations on the first visit and one on the second. A February 2025 inspection found five high-severity violations, followed the next day by a return visit that found two more.
That pattern, high-severity violations found, followed by return visits, followed by more high-severity violations, has repeated across multiple years of the record. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
Still Open
State inspectors documented six high-severity violations at Tomasinos Pizza on September 28, 2026, including food from an unknown source, no demonstrated allergen awareness, and parasite destruction procedures not being followed.
The restaurant was not closed.
It has accumulated 274 violations across 34 inspections on record and has never received an emergency closure order.
As of the date of that inspection, it remained open for business on East Colonial Drive.
