JACKSONVILLE, FL. State inspectors walked into Umami at 11701 San Jose Blvd. on October 7, 2026, and found toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used inside a working restaurant kitchen — one of six high-severity violations documented that day.
The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The toxic substances citation is among the most immediately dangerous a food service inspector can issue. Chemicals stored near or above food, unlabeled cleaning agents, or improperly used sanitizers can contaminate food directly, with no warning and no visible sign for a customer.
Inspectors also cited the restaurant for food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Cutting boards, prep tables, and similar surfaces that touch food throughout the day are a primary vehicle for bacterial transfer between raw and ready-to-eat items.
Three of the six high-severity violations were tied directly to employee illness. Inspectors found no adequate employee health policy, documented that employees were not reporting illness symptoms, and cited improper hand and arm washing technique. Those three violations, taken together, describe a kitchen where a sick employee could prepare food, handle surfaces, and serve customers without any institutional check on that process.
The sixth high-severity violation: no person in charge was present or performing duties.
Three intermediate violations rounded out the report. Multi-use utensils were not properly cleaned, ventilation and lighting were inadequate, and toilet facilities were inadequate or improperly maintained.
What These Violations Mean
The illness-related cluster at Umami is worth examining closely. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States, spreads primarily through infected food workers who either do not know they are sick, do not report symptoms, or do not wash their hands effectively. All three of those failure points appeared in this single inspection.
A written employee health policy is not a bureaucratic formality. It is the mechanism that tells a worker with vomiting or diarrhea to stay home, and it gives management the authority to enforce that. Without one, the decision of whether a sick employee works is informal, and in a busy kitchen, the answer is often yes.
Improper handwashing technique compounds the problem. Studies cited in state inspection guidance show that even workers who attempt to wash their hands often leave significant pathogen loads on their skin if the technique is wrong. The attempt, in other words, is not enough.
The toxic substances violation stands apart from the illness cluster. Chemical contamination of food does not require a sick employee or a lapse in handwashing. It requires only that a cleaning agent or pesticide be stored, labeled, or used incorrectly near food or food-contact surfaces.
The Longer Record
The October 7 inspection was not an anomaly. Umami has accumulated 164 violations across 30 inspections on record in Duval County.
The eight most recent prior inspections, dating back to 2023, each included high-severity violations. The December 2024 inspection produced three high-severity and five intermediate violations. The February 2024 inspection produced four high-severity and one intermediate. High-severity violations appeared in every single inspection on record going back through 2023.
Umami: Recent Inspection Pattern
The restaurant was emergency-closed once before, in November 2016, after inspectors found roach activity. It reopened the next day.
A follow-up inspection two days after the October 7 visit, on October 9, found one remaining high-severity violation and no intermediate violations. That is a significant reduction from six high-severity citations in 48 hours. Whether the underlying conditions that produced those six violations have been addressed in any lasting way is a question the record has been asking, in some form, for years.
Umami remained open on October 7, 2026, with six high-severity violations on the books, including improperly stored toxic substances and no system in place to keep sick employees out of the kitchen.
