WEST PALM BEACH, FL. State inspectors cited Don Ramon Restaurant at 7101 S. Dixie Hwy for five high-severity violations in a single visit during the week of August 17, including inadequate handwashing facilities, improper sewage or wastewater disposal, employees not reporting illness symptoms, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. It was one of 15 West Palm Beach restaurants to draw high-severity violations in the same seven-day stretch.
The Worst of the Week
Don Ramon's inspection also flagged the person in charge as absent or not performing duties, a condition inspectors documented alongside every other violation on the list. The sewage or wastewater disposal citation is among the most serious structural violations an inspector can record, placing it in a category that goes beyond food handling into the basic sanitation of the building itself.
Grand China at 804 Southern Blvd matched Don Ramon's high-severity count with five of its own. Inspectors cited improper hand and arm washing technique, inadequate shell stock identification records, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, time as a public health control not properly used, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Hook Fish and Chicken at 5701 N. Australian Ave drew four high-severity violations. Inspectors found no employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper hand and arm washing technique, and inadequate shell stock identification records. The facility was also cited for an intermediate violation: single-use items being improperly reused.
Park West Palm at 7301 Georgia Ave also accumulated four high-severity violations, including the person in charge absent or not performing duties, employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper hand and arm washing technique, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
Golden City at 1558 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd drew four high-severity violations as well. Those included employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing, improper hand and arm washing technique, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled.
What Inspectors Found Across the Rest of the Week
This Is It Cafe at 444 24th St was cited for three high-severity violations: food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Souvlaki Grille at 795 Belvedere Rd also drew three high-severity violations. Inspectors cited the person in charge as absent or not performing duties, employees not reporting illness symptoms, and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
Kouun Asian Eatery at 807 Belvedere Rd drew three high-severity violations: employees not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, and improper hand and arm washing technique.
Palm Beach Lobsters and Seafood at 2501 N. Dixie Hwy was cited for three high-severity violations, including the person in charge absent or not performing duties, improper hand and arm washing technique, and inadequate shell stock identification records. An intermediate violation for improperly cleaned multi-use utensils was also recorded.
Howley's Restaurant at 4700 S. Dixie Hwy drew two high-severity violations: inadequate handwashing by food employees and food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized.
Wingstop at 5335 N. Military Trl was cited for two high-severity violations, inadequate shell stock identification records and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, along with an intermediate violation for improperly cleaned multi-use utensils.
Hide Out Kitchen and Cafe at 215 N. Olive Ave drew one high-severity violation for parasite destruction procedures not followed.
Malakor Thai Cafe at 425 25th St was cited for one high-severity violation: no employee health policy or an inadequate one.
Jerk Island Take Out at 1739 W. 45th St drew the same citation, no employee health policy or an inadequate one, as its lone high-severity violation.
Dixie Bar and Grill at 5101 S. Dixie Hwy was cited for one high-severity violation: no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
What These Violations Mean
The handwashing violations documented this week at Golden City, Howley's Restaurant, Kouun Asian Eatery, Hook Fish and Chicken, and Palm Beach Lobsters and Seafood represent two distinct but related failures. Inadequate handwashing facilities means the physical infrastructure, the sink, soap, or drying materials, was not present or accessible. Improper technique means employees attempted to wash their hands but did so incorrectly, leaving pathogens on their hands regardless of the effort. Both conditions create a direct pathway from a food worker's hands to a customer's plate.
The employee illness reporting violations at Don Ramon, Hook Fish and Chicken, Park West Palm, Golden City, Souvlaki Grille, and Kouun Asian Eatery are among the most acutely dangerous citations on this week's list. Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States annually, spreads with extreme efficiency through food handled by a sick worker. A written health policy is not a formality; it is the mechanism that tells employees when they are legally required to stay home and gives a manager the authority to send them there.
The shell stock identification failures at Grand China, Hook Fish and Chicken, Palm Beach Lobsters and Seafood, and Wingstop carry a specific traceability risk. Shellfish, including oysters, clams, and mussels, are frequently consumed raw or lightly cooked. When the tags that identify where those shellfish were harvested are missing or improperly maintained, there is no way to trace an illness back to a contaminated harvest bed. That traceability gap matters most when someone gets sick.
Don Ramon's sewage or wastewater disposal citation stands apart from the food-handling violations on this week's list. Improper sewage disposal creates the risk of fecal contamination throughout a kitchen, and raw sewage carries pathogens including E. coli and Hepatitis A. That violation, combined with inadequate handwashing facilities at the same location, means two of the most basic hygiene systems in the building were simultaneously compromised during the same inspection.
The Longer Record
Dixie Bar and Grill has the longest inspection history of any facility on this week's list, with 47 prior inspections on record. Its single violation this week, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, is a citation that requires a management decision to fix, not a capital improvement. After 47 inspections, that citation appearing on the record is a different kind of finding than it would be for a newer operation.
Howley's Restaurant carries 41 prior inspections. Both of its high-severity violations this week, inadequate handwashing and improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, are recurring categories across the West Palm Beach inspection record this week, not anomalies.
This Is It Cafe has 35 prior inspections, and Hook Fish and Chicken also sits at 35. Malakor Thai Cafe has 34. These are not new restaurants encountering the inspection process for the first time; they are established operations with documented histories of state scrutiny.
Kouun Asian Eatery, by contrast, has only four prior inspections on record, making it among the newest operations on this week's list. It drew three high-severity violations, including inadequate handwashing facilities and employees not reporting illness symptoms, in what is still an early chapter of its inspection history.
Park West Palm has ten prior inspections. Its four high-severity violations this week, including no person in charge and improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, represent a significant accumulation for a facility still early in its record.
Hide Out Kitchen and Cafe's parasite destruction citation, recorded during its 24th inspection, remains unresolved in this week's data.
