FORT MYERS BEACH, FL. Food at Waves Island Bar on 5th Street was not cooked to the required minimum temperature during a state inspection on July 13, a violation that means pathogens like Salmonella can survive in the food and reach the plate. The bar walked away from that inspection with six high-severity violations and two intermediate ones. It was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooked food violation was not the only finding that put customers at direct risk. Inspectors also cited the bar for inadequate handwashing facilities and for employees using improper hand and arm washing technique, a combination that means staff had neither the infrastructure nor the training to keep pathogens off their hands between tasks.
There was no written employee health policy on file. Without one, there is no formal mechanism to keep a sick worker off the line.
No one in a position of authority was present or performing supervisory duties during the inspection. And the bar had posted no consumer advisory warning customers that some items on the menu may be raw or undercooked, a disclosure required specifically to protect elderly diners, pregnant women, and anyone with a compromised immune system.
The two intermediate violations added to the picture. Inspectors documented improper sewage or wastewater disposal, a finding that carries fecal contamination risk throughout the facility. Multi-use utensils were not being properly cleaned, a condition that allows bacterial biofilms to form on surfaces that touch food with every use.
What These Violations Mean
The undercooked food violation is among the most direct routes to a foodborne illness outbreak. Salmonella in poultry, for example, survives at temperatures below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A customer who ate undercooked food at Waves Island Bar on July 13 had no way of knowing the risk.
The handwashing failures compound that risk in a specific way. Inspectors found both that the physical facilities were inadequate and that employees were not washing correctly when they did attempt it. That is not a single lapse; it is a systemic breakdown in the most basic hygiene control a food service operation has.
The absence of an employee health policy matters because Norovirus, one of the most common causes of foodborne illness in the United States, spreads directly from sick food workers to customers through contaminated food and surfaces. A written policy is the mechanism that keeps a symptomatic employee off the line. Without one, the decision is informal and inconsistent.
The improper sewage disposal finding at Waves Island Bar is not a paperwork issue. Raw sewage contains pathogens including E. coli and Hepatitis A. When wastewater is not disposed of correctly, those pathogens can reach food contact surfaces, equipment, and the hands of employees.
The Longer Record
July 13 was not an anomaly for Waves Island Bar. State records show the facility has been inspected eight times in total, and inspectors have found high-severity violations in six of those eight visits.
The pattern stretches back to at least October 2024, when inspectors cited three high-severity and one intermediate violation. The February 2025 inspection produced five high-severity violations. The July 2025 visit yielded three more high-severity citations. By December 2025, there were two high-severity and one intermediate violation. The July 2026 inspection, with six high-severity violations, is the worst single visit on record for this facility.
Across all eight inspections, the bar has accumulated 35 total violations. It has never been emergency-closed.
The two inspections that produced zero violations, in January 2025 and November 2023, sit between stretches of repeated high-severity citations. They do not represent a turning point; the violations returned at the next inspection after each of them.
Still Open
State inspectors left Waves Island Bar open on July 13 despite documenting six high-severity violations, including food cooked below safe temperatures, no handwashing infrastructure, no employee health policy, and improper sewage disposal.
The bar has now logged high-severity violations in six of its last eight inspections, a run covering nearly three years.
It has never been closed.
