SOUTH DAYTONA, FL. Staff at Webber's Steakhouse & Sushi on South Ridgewood Avenue demonstrated no allergen awareness during a state inspection on April 30, according to records from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. For a restaurant serving sushi, that violation carries an immediate and specific danger: customers with shellfish, fish, or sesame allergies who ask questions and get wrong answers can end up in an emergency room.
The inspection that day found 7 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate violations. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The allergen violation was not the only finding with direct consequences for diners. Inspectors also documented that employees used improper hand and arm washing technique, and that the facility's handwashing infrastructure was itself inadequate. Both violations were flagged at the high-severity level.
The restaurant also had no written employee health policy, meaning there was no documented mechanism to keep sick workers out of the kitchen. Inspectors noted that food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and that time was not being properly used as a public health control, a method sushi operations frequently rely on when food is held outside of refrigeration.
Rounding out the high-severity findings: no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods. At a restaurant serving raw fish, state code requires that customers be warned of the risk.
On the intermediate side, multi-use utensils were not properly cleaned, single-use items were being reused, waste disposal was improper, and toilet facilities were inadequate or poorly maintained.
What These Violations Mean
The allergen violation is the one that public health officials describe as immediately life-threatening. Food allergies affect 32 million Americans, and allergic reactions send 30,000 people to emergency rooms each year. At a sushi restaurant, where common allergens including fish, shellfish, soy, and sesame appear in dozens of menu items, a staff member who cannot identify ingredients or cross-contact risks is a direct hazard to any allergic customer who walks in.
The handwashing violations compound every other risk on the list. Improper technique leaves pathogens on hands even when a worker makes the attempt to wash. When the facility's handwashing infrastructure is also inadequate, the problem becomes structural: proper hygiene is not just being skipped, it is being made difficult. Both violations were documented on the same day at Webber's.
The time-as-public-health-control violation matters specifically in a sushi context. When food is held outside refrigeration and time is used instead of temperature to track safety, the process requires strict documentation and adherence to specific windows. Inspectors found that process was not being properly followed. Combined with food contact surfaces that were not properly sanitized, the conditions for bacterial transfer were present across multiple points in the kitchen.
The absence of a consumer advisory for raw and undercooked foods is a separate category of harm. Pregnant women, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems are at elevated risk from raw fish. Without the required advisory on the menu, those customers have no warning.
The Longer Record
The April 30 inspection was not an outlier. State records show Webber's Steakhouse & Sushi has been inspected 49 times and has accumulated 576 total violations across its history.
The pattern in recent inspections is consistent. In October 2025, inspectors found 6 high-severity and 4 intermediate violations. In November 2024, they found 8 high-severity and 3 intermediate. In April 2024, 7 high-severity and 4 intermediate. The April 30, 2026 inspection, with its 7 high-severity violations, fits directly into that rhythm.
The restaurant has been emergency-closed three times. In July 2017, it was shut for roach activity and reopened two days later. In February 2021, it was closed for rodent activity and reopened the same day. Most recently, on February 25, 2026, it was again emergency-closed for rodent activity. It passed a follow-up inspection and reopened the following day, February 26. That February 26 inspection still found 2 high-severity and 1 intermediate violation on the same day the facility was cleared to reopen.
Two months after that closure, inspectors returned and found 7 high-severity violations.
Still Open
State emergency closure authority is triggered by conditions that present an immediate threat to public health, including active pest infestations, sewage issues, or loss of utilities. Seven high-severity violations, on their own, do not automatically meet that threshold under Florida's inspection framework.
Webber's Steakhouse & Sushi was open for business after the April 30 inspection.
The 576 violations on record span nearly five decades of inspections. The three emergency closures span nine years. The most recent one was 64 days before inspectors walked back in and found the kitchen operating without allergen awareness, without a health policy for sick employees, and without properly sanitized food contact surfaces.
The restaurant remained open.