WEST PALM BEACH, FL. Inspectors visiting Havana at 6803 S. Dixie Highway last week documented eight separate high-severity violations in a single inspection, the highest tally among the 15 West Palm Beach restaurants cited for serious violations during the week of August 3 through August 9, 2026.
The list at Havana was long and specific. Inspectors cited the restaurant for obtaining food from unapproved or unknown sources, a violation that severs the traceability chain if a customer gets sick. They also found inadequate shell stock identification records, meaning shellfish on hand could not be traced to a licensed harvester. Food was not cooked to required minimum temperatures. Toxic chemicals were improperly stored or labeled near food. There was no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked items on the menu.
Beyond the food itself, inspectors found no written employee health policy, an employee not reporting symptoms of illness, and improper hand and arm washing technique, three violations that together describe a kitchen where the most basic disease-transmission safeguards were absent.
What Inspectors Found Across the City
Sushi Jo at 6200 S. Dixie Highway drew six high-severity violations. The person in charge was not present or not performing duties. An employee was not reporting symptoms of illness. Inspectors also cited inadequate handwashing facilities and improper handwashing technique, a combination that means the infrastructure for hand hygiene was broken and the technique was wrong even when attempted. Sushi Jo also lacked shell stock identification records and had no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, a significant gap for a restaurant serving raw fish.
Rocco's Tacos and Tequila Bar at 224 Clematis Street accumulated five high-severity violations. No person in charge was present. There was no written employee health policy. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, a direct cross-contamination risk. Toxic chemicals were improperly stored or labeled. The restaurant also had no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items, a notable omission on a menu that includes dishes prepared below full cook temperatures.
Ell Ideal at 934 Belvedere Road was cited for four high-severity violations, including food from unapproved or unknown sources and food not cooked to required minimum temperatures. Two illness-related violations rounded out the list: no written employee health policy and an employee not reporting symptoms. Inspectors also noted single-use items being improperly reused.
West Palm Beach Canopy at 380 Trinity Place drew four high-severity violations, including no person in charge, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, and improper handwashing technique. The adjacent operation at the same address, West Palm Beach Canopy Rooftop Restaurant, received two high-severity violations of its own, for unsanitized food contact surfaces and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Two distinct operations at the same address, both cited in the same week.
Rama V Thai and Sushi at 1900 Okeechobee Boulevard was cited for four high-severity violations: no person in charge, an employee not reporting symptoms, improper handwashing technique, and inadequate shell stock identification records. For a restaurant serving sushi and raw shellfish, the absence of traceability documentation for those products is among the more serious findings of the week.
Jon Smith Subs at 3929 S. Dixie Highway received four high-severity citations, including no person in charge, an employee not reporting illness, improper handwashing technique, and no allergen awareness demonstrated. That last violation is notable: food allergies send roughly 30,000 Americans to emergency rooms each year, and a sub shop where staff cannot identify allergens in ingredients presents a direct risk to customers with serious food allergies.
El Tipico Quetzal Cafeteria at 714 Belvedere Road was cited for three high-severity violations, including improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock identification records, and time as a public health control not properly used. That third violation means food was held in the temperature danger zone, between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit, without the documentation required to track how long it had been there.
Latitude 26 at 1301 Summit Boulevard drew two high-severity violations for no person in charge and an employee not reporting illness symptoms. Avocado Grill at 125 Datura Street was cited for improper handwashing technique and improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals. Subculture Coffee at 509 Clematis Street received one high-severity violation for improperly stored chemicals, alongside two intermediate violations. Nico's Pizza at 340 Clematis Street was cited for unsanitized food contact surfaces and improper sewage or wastewater disposal.
Field of Greens at 250 S. Australian Avenue drew two high-severity violations: improper handwashing technique and food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated. Subway at 901 Southern Boulevard was cited for an employee not reporting symptoms of illness and food not cooked to required minimum temperatures.
What These Violations Mean
The illness-reporting violations documented this week at Havana, Ell Ideal, Sushi Jo, West Palm Beach Canopy, Rama V Thai and Sushi, Jon Smith Subs, Latitude 26, and Subway are not paperwork problems. Food workers who do not report symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea, or jaundice are the leading cause of multi-victim outbreaks. Norovirus, which spreads through contaminated hands and surfaces, can sicken dozens of customers from a single infected employee before anyone connects the cases.
The food sourcing violations at Havana and Ell Ideal carry a different kind of risk. When food enters a restaurant from an unapproved or unidentified source, it has bypassed USDA and FDA inspection. If a customer becomes ill, there is no harvest record, no distributor log, no way to trace the product back to its origin. The inadequate shell stock identification records at Havana, Sushi Jo, Rama V Thai and Sushi, and El Tipico Quetzal Cafeteria compound this problem specifically for raw shellfish, which are consumed with minimal or no cooking and are a known vector for Vibrio and hepatitis A.
The undercooking violations at Havana, Ell Ideal, and Subway represent the most direct pathway to a Salmonella or E. coli illness. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. The violation does not record the exact temperature measured, but the citation means inspectors observed food that had not reached the threshold required to kill pathogens.
Improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals, documented at Havana, Rocco's Tacos, Avocado Grill, and Subculture Coffee, are a separate category of risk entirely. Cleaning chemicals stored near or above food preparation surfaces can contaminate food through spills, mislabeling, or splash. The risk is acute, not cumulative.
The Longer Record
Rama V Thai and Sushi has 38 prior inspections on record, the longest history of any facility cited this week. Four high-severity violations in a single visit, including the absence of an on-site manager and inadequate shellfish traceability, carry more weight against a backdrop of 38 prior inspections than they would for a restaurant in its first year.
Havana has 30 prior inspections on record. Ell Ideal has 29. Avocado Grill has 34. These are not new restaurants learning the rules. Each has been inspected dozens of times, and each appeared on this week's list with multiple serious citations.
Sushi Jo, by contrast, has only 9 prior inspections on record. Six high-severity violations this early in a facility's inspection history, including absent handwashing infrastructure and no illness-reporting system, suggests foundational compliance gaps rather than accumulated drift.
Field of Greens has just 3 prior inspections on record, making it one of the newest facilities in this week's data. It was already cited for food in poor condition or adulterated, a violation that at any stage of operation indicates a food quality control problem that has not been caught or corrected. The West Palm Beach Canopy Rooftop Restaurant, with 15 prior inspections, and the Canopy's main operation, with 16, both drew high-severity violations in the same week at the same address. Whether the two operations share management oversight or kitchen infrastructure, the records do not say.
