CORAL SPRINGS, FL. Employees at TooJay's Deli on North University Drive were not reporting symptoms of illness to managers, according to a May 18 state inspection that found six high-severity violations at the restaurant — and left it open anyway.
That single finding, that sick employees were not flagged before handling food, sits at the top of a list that also includes food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled near food, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
What Inspectors Found
The cooking temperature violation is among the most direct risks in the report. Poultry that does not reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit can carry live Salmonella into the food served to customers.
Inspectors also cited the restaurant for not posting a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. That disclosure is required specifically to warn customers who face the highest risks, including elderly diners, pregnant women, and anyone with a compromised immune system.
Toxic chemicals found improperly stored or labeled near food represent a separate and immediate hazard. A mislabeled container or a chemical stored above a prep surface can contaminate food without any visible sign.
The time-as-a-public-health-control violation adds another layer. When a kitchen uses time rather than temperature to track food safety, strict written logs are required. The inspector found that protocol was not being properly followed, meaning food could have remained in the bacterial growth zone, between 41 and 135 degrees, without any documented accountability.
What These Violations Mean
The illness-reporting failure is the violation public health officials point to most often when tracing multi-victim outbreaks. Norovirus spreads most efficiently when a symptomatic employee handles ready-to-eat food, and it only takes a small number of viral particles to sicken a customer. The system depends on workers telling managers before they touch food. At this TooJay's on May 18, that system was not functioning.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, cutting boards, prep tables, and slicing equipment, create a secondary transmission route. Bacteria transferred from raw proteins to a surface, and then to a ready-to-eat item, do not require any further failure to cause illness. The surface itself becomes the vehicle.
Wiping cloths, cited here as an intermediate violation, amplify that problem. Cloths that are not stored in sanitizer solution between uses spread whatever contamination they pick up across every surface they subsequently touch. It is one of the most common and most underestimated contamination pathways in a commercial kitchen.
Together, the illness-reporting failure, the temperature violation, the unsanitized surfaces, and the improperly used wiping cloths form a chain. Each one is serious individually. In combination at a single facility on a single day, they represent a compounding risk for anyone who ate at this location on May 18.
The Longer Record
The May 18 inspection does not represent a sudden deterioration. State records show 41 inspections on file for this location, with 232 total violations accumulated over that history.
The inspection record from the past year alone shows a pattern of persistent high-severity citations. On April 10, 2025, inspectors found seven high-severity and three intermediate violations. A follow-up the next day, April 11, still produced three high-severity violations. February 2025 brought four high-severity violations. September 2025 brought three more.
The one clean inspection in this stretch, zero high-severity and zero intermediate violations on October 17, 2024, came one day after a five-high-severity inspection on October 16. That sequence, a serious inspection followed by a clean follow-up, recurs in this facility's record.
The location also carries a prior emergency closure. On April 4, 2024, state inspectors ordered the restaurant shut due to roach activity. It reopened the following day, April 5. That closure is now part of a record that includes 232 violations across 41 inspections.
Open for Business
A follow-up inspection was conducted the day after the May 18 visit. Records from May 19 show two high-severity violations still present.
The restaurant was not emergency-closed after the May 18 inspection, despite the six high-severity findings that included an illness-reporting failure, undercooking, and toxic chemicals near food.
It remained open.