WEST PALM BEACH, FL. Inspectors visiting Red Crab Juicy Seafood on North Military Trail last week found employees washing their hands with improper technique, food contact surfaces that had not been properly cleaned or sanitized, and no adequate records identifying where the restaurant's shellfish came from, according to state inspection data for the week of May 4 through May 10, 2026.
That combination of three high-severity violations at a restaurant built around raw and lightly cooked shellfish drew some of the most serious findings in Palm Beach County during the inspection week.
What Inspectors Found at Red Crab
The shellfish records violation is notable on its own. Red Crab's menu is centered on crab, shrimp, oysters, and other shellfish, and state law requires restaurants to maintain shell stock identification tags so that any individual harvest lot can be traced if customers become ill. Inspectors found those records were inadequate.
The handwashing citation added to the picture. Inspectors documented that employees were not using proper hand and arm washing technique, meaning that even when workers attempted to wash their hands, the method was insufficient to remove pathogens.
The third high-severity finding involved food contact surfaces. Cutting boards, prep surfaces, and other equipment that touches food directly had not been properly cleaned and sanitized, according to the inspection record.
Two intermediate violations rounded out the report. Inspectors cited the restaurant for improperly reusing single-use items and for inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities.
Eatalia: A Sick Worker Problem
Across town, Eatalia on Okeechobee Boulevard drew two high-severity citations of a different kind. Inspectors found that the person in charge was either not present or not performing required supervisory duties, and that employees were not reporting symptoms of illness as required.
No intermediate violations were noted at Eatalia. The two high-severity findings were enough to place it among the week's most serious inspection results in the city.
What These Violations Mean
The shellfish traceability failure at Red Crab carries consequences that extend well beyond a paperwork problem. Oysters, clams, and mussels are frequently eaten raw or barely cooked, which means any bacteria or virus present in the shellfish at harvest survives to the table. Shell stock identification tags are the only mechanism that allows health officials to trace a contaminated lot back to its source if customers start reporting illness. Without those records, an outbreak investigation stalls before it starts. Inspectors found those records were inadequate at Red Crab during this inspection period.
The handwashing technique violation at the same restaurant compounds that risk. A worker who touches raw shellfish, then attempts to wash their hands but does so incorrectly, carries pathogens to the next surface they touch. The violation is not about skipping handwashing entirely. It is about a method that fails even when the attempt is made, which is harder to catch and harder to correct than a worker who simply does not wash at all.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces at Red Crab represent a third, independent pathway for contamination. Cutting boards and prep surfaces that are not adequately sanitized between uses transfer bacteria from one food to the next. In a shellfish kitchen, where raw product and ready-to-eat items may share prep space, that transfer can move dangerous pathogens directly onto food that will not be cooked again before it reaches a customer.
At Eatalia, the illness-reporting failure is among the most acutely dangerous violations in the state's classification system. Norovirus and hepatitis A are both transmitted through food handled by sick workers, and both have caused multi-victim outbreaks traced to a single employee who continued working while symptomatic. The absence of an active person in charge at the same inspection makes the illness-reporting gap worse. A manager who is present and engaged is the primary mechanism for catching a sick worker before they reach the line. Eatalia had neither functioning safeguard in place during this inspection.
The Longer Record
Red Crab on North Military Trail has now accumulated 26 inspections on record with the state. That volume of visits reflects years of regulatory contact, and the presence of three high-severity violations during this inspection period is not a first-time stumble for a new operation finding its footing. A restaurant with 26 inspections behind it has had repeated opportunities to build the food safety infrastructure that prevents the exact violations inspectors documented this week, including proper handwashing protocols, shellfish recordkeeping systems, and surface sanitation procedures.
Eatalia on Okeechobee Boulevard shows 23 prior inspections on record. The two high-severity findings from this week, centered on management presence and employee illness reporting, are the kind of violations that point to operational culture rather than equipment failure or a one-time oversight. A person-in-charge violation means the supervisory structure required by state food safety rules was not functioning during the inspection. That is not a broken refrigerator. It is a decision, or the absence of one.
What the prior inspection counts cannot tell a reader is whether either restaurant has been cited for the same violations in earlier visits. The data for this reporting period covers only the current week. Red Crab's shellfish recordkeeping failure and Eatalia's illness-reporting gap may be recurring citations or may represent new problems surfacing in otherwise stable operations. That distinction matters, and the full inspection history for both locations is available through the state's public records.
Neither restaurant had a closure order issued during the week of May 4. Both remained open as of the inspection dates in the state's records. Whether the violations documented at Red Crab and Eatalia were corrected on-site during the inspection or required a follow-up visit is not reflected in the data for this period.