KISSIMMEE, FL. Food at Unidos Restaurant on Cypress Parkway was not cooked to the required minimum temperature during a May 19 state inspection, a violation that inspectors classify as high-severity because undercooking is one of the leading direct causes of foodborne illness. Despite that finding, and six additional high-severity violations documented the same day, the restaurant was not ordered to close.
State records show inspectors cited the Kissimmee restaurant for seven high-priority violations and two intermediate violations during the May 19 visit.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooked food violation sits at the top of the list because of what survives when heat falls short. Salmonella in poultry remains viable below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A customer who ate undercooked food that day had no way of knowing it.
The allergen awareness violation compounds that picture. Staff demonstrated no knowledge of allergen protocols, meaning a customer with a severe food allergy who asked whether a dish was safe had no reliable answer. Food allergies send roughly 30,000 Americans to emergency rooms each year.
Inspectors also found that no person in charge was present or performing supervisory duties. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Employees were using improper handwashing technique, meaning pathogens can remain on hands even after a wash attempt is made.
The restaurant had no written employee health policy. Without one, there is no formal mechanism to keep sick workers out of the kitchen. Wiping cloths were being used improperly, and multi-use utensils were not properly cleaned.
There was also no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked menu items, which means customers who are elderly, pregnant, or immunocompromised had no notice that certain dishes carried elevated risk.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of undercooked food and no allergen awareness in the same inspection is the kind of pairing that public health officials describe as acutely dangerous. Undercooking is not a paperwork problem. It is a direct pathway for Salmonella and other pathogens to reach a customer's plate.
The absence of an employee health policy at Unidos creates a structural gap that no amount of after-the-fact cleaning can fill. Without a written policy, there is no documented procedure requiring a sick employee to stay home. Norovirus, which accounts for roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, spreads most efficiently through infected food handlers who have no formal instruction to stay away from work.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces and multi-use utensils are not minor housekeeping issues. Bacterial biofilms can establish on insufficiently cleaned surfaces within 24 hours and resist standard sanitizing steps once formed. At Unidos, both categories were cited in the same inspection.
The person-in-charge violation ties the rest together. CDC data shows that establishments operating without active managerial control accumulate critical violations at roughly three times the rate of supervised kitchens. When no one is accountable for the floor, violations in every other category become more likely.
The Longer Record
The May 19 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Unidos Restaurant has been inspected 30 times, accumulating 282 total violations across its history. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
The most recent prior inspection, conducted on November 3, 2025, produced nine high-severity violations and six intermediate ones, a single-visit total that exceeded this month's count. That inspection came six months after a May 2025 visit that found two high-severity violations and four intermediate ones, preceded by a same-week follow-up on May 15 that found two high and four intermediate.
Going further back, a December 2024 inspection found five high-severity violations, followed one day later by a follow-up that found one high and one intermediate. An April 2024 inspection produced six high-severity violations.
The pattern across eight documented prior visits is consistent: high-severity violations appear, follow-up inspections show reduced counts, and within months the numbers climb again. The November 2025 visit, with its nine high-severity findings, represents the worst single-visit total in the recent record. May 2026 is now second.
Open for Business
Florida law gives inspectors the authority to order an emergency closure when conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. On May 19, with seven high-severity violations documented at Unidos Restaurant, including food not cooked to safe temperatures and no demonstrated allergen awareness, inspectors did not exercise that authority.
The restaurant at 367 Cypress Parkway remained open.