WEST PALM BEACH, FL. Inspectors visiting Havana at 6803 S. Dixie Highway during the week of August 1 documented eight separate high-severity violations in a single visit, including food sourced from an unapproved or unknown supplier, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and toxic chemicals stored improperly near food preparation areas. That tally made Havana the most-cited facility in West Palm Beach for the week, and it was not alone.
Ten restaurants across the city drew high-severity violations between August 1 and August 7, 2026. The findings ranged from missing employee health policies to shellfish with no traceability records to handwashing failures at facilities that serve raw fish.
What Inspectors Found
At Havana, the eight violations formed an interlocking picture of systemic failure. There was no written employee health policy and at least one employee was not reporting symptoms of illness. Inspectors also noted improper handwashing technique, no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods, and inadequate shell stock identification records, meaning the origin of shellfish served at the restaurant could not be traced.
The food-sourcing violation is among the most serious on the list. Inspectors documented food from an unapproved or unknown source, which means at least some ingredients arrived outside the regulated supply chain with no USDA or FDA inspection record attached.
Sushi Jo at 6200 S. Dixie Highway drew six high-severity violations, a notable count for a restaurant that serves raw fish. The inspector found no person in charge present or performing supervisory duties, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, improper handwashing technique, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Sushi Jo also lacked adequate shell stock identification records.
The absence of a consumer advisory at a sushi restaurant is not a paperwork technicality. Customers who are pregnant, elderly, immunocompromised, or very young face elevated risk from raw fish and shellfish, and the advisory is the mechanism by which they are supposed to be warned.
Rocco's Tacos and Tequila Bar at 224 Clematis Street accumulated five high-severity violations. Inspectors found no person in charge, no written employee health policy, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic chemicals stored or labeled improperly. Multi-use utensils were also cited as not properly cleaned.
Ell Ideal at 934 Belvedere Road drew four high-severity violations, including two that track directly to outbreak risk: no employee health policy and an employee not reporting symptoms of illness. Inspectors also found food from an unapproved or unknown source and food not cooked to required minimum temperatures. Single-use items were documented as being improperly reused.
The combination at Ell Ideal of unapproved food sourcing and undercooking is particularly acute. Food that bypasses regulatory inspection and then is not brought to a temperature that would kill pathogens represents a compounding failure at two separate points in the handling chain.
West Palm Beach Canopy at 380 Trinity Place and its upstairs counterpart, West Palm Beach Canopy Rooftop Restaurant at the same address, were both inspected and both cited. The ground-floor Canopy drew four high-severity violations: no person in charge, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, and improper handwashing technique. The rooftop restaurant drew two high-severity violations, for food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Two facilities on the same premises each drawing high-severity violations in the same inspection week is a detail the records make plain.
Avocado Grill at 125 Datura Street was cited for improper handwashing technique and toxic chemicals stored or labeled improperly. Field of Greens at 250 S. Australian Avenue drew two high-severity violations: improper handwashing technique and food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated.
Subculture Coffee at 509 Clematis Street and Nico's Pizza at 340 Clematis Street each drew one high-severity violation. Subculture's was for improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals. Nico's was for food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized. Nico's also drew an intermediate violation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal.
What These Violations Mean
The employee illness violations at Havana, Ell Ideal, Sushi Jo, and West Palm Beach Canopy are not bureaucratic shortcomings. Norovirus, the pathogen most commonly transmitted by sick food workers, can contaminate an entire food prep environment from a single infected employee, and it takes as few as 18 viral particles to cause illness in a customer. A written health policy is the mechanism that is supposed to require workers to report symptoms and stay home. Without one, as documented at Havana, Ell Ideal, and Rocco's Tacos, there is no formal system requiring a sick employee to disclose their condition before handling food.
The handwashing failures documented at Sushi Jo, Havana, West Palm Beach Canopy, Avocado Grill, and Field of Greens compound that risk. Improper technique, meaning incomplete washing or skipping steps, leaves pathogens on hands even when a worker goes through the motions. Inadequate facilities, cited at Sushi Jo and West Palm Beach Canopy, mean the infrastructure for proper hygiene is not in place regardless of worker intent.
Food from unapproved sources, cited at both Havana and Ell Ideal, removes the traceability that makes outbreak investigation possible. If a customer becomes ill, inspectors and epidemiologists need to trace the food back through the supply chain to identify the contamination point and pull the product. When food arrives outside the regulated system, that chain does not exist.
The toxic chemical storage violations at Havana, Rocco's Tacos, Subculture Coffee, and Avocado Grill represent a separate and acute hazard. Mislabeled or improperly stored chemicals near food preparation areas create a direct pathway to chemical poisoning, which can cause acute illness within minutes of ingestion and is often misattributed to other causes.
The Longer Record
Avocado Grill, with 34 prior inspections on record, has the longest documented history of any facility cited this week. Havana follows with 30 prior inspections, and Ell Ideal with 29. That Havana is still accumulating eight high-severity violations in a single week after 30 documented inspections is a fact the record makes difficult to set aside.
Ell Ideal's 29 prior inspections place this week's findings in a similar context. The violations documented there this week, including food from unapproved sources and undercooking, are not the kinds of citations that typically appear at a facility encountering inspectors for the first time.
Rocco's Tacos has 22 prior inspections, Subculture Coffee 24, and Nico's Pizza 23. All three are well-established in the inspection record. West Palm Beach Canopy has 16 prior inspections, and the Canopy Rooftop Restaurant has 15, suggesting both venues have been operating long enough that this week's findings reflect sustained patterns rather than opening-week confusion.
Sushi Jo, with only 9 prior inspections, is a comparatively newer presence in the inspection record. Six high-severity violations, including the absence of a person in charge and missing shell stock records at a raw-fish restaurant, is a significant accumulation for a facility still early in its inspection history.
Field of Greens, with just 3 prior inspections on record, is the newest facility cited this week. One of its two high-severity violations was for food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated. What specifically was found in poor condition or adulterated was not detailed in the inspection data available for this report.
