WEST PALM BEACH, FL. State inspectors cited Cambridge Holdco LLC on Royal Palm Beach Boulevard with 11 high-severity violations in a single visit last week, the highest tally among six West Palm Beach restaurants that collectively logged 30 high-severity findings during the week of September 24 through September 30, 2026.
The violations at Cambridge Holdco were not minor paperwork gaps. Inspectors documented that food was not cooked to required minimum temperatures, that food contact surfaces had not been properly cleaned or sanitized, and that parasite destruction procedures for fish were not being followed. On top of that, no person in charge was present or performing duties, there was no written employee health policy, employees were not reporting illness symptoms, and handwashing technique was improper.
That combination, all in one inspection, is among the more serious profiles documented in Palm Beach County this year.
What Inspectors Found
La Perrada Del Gordo on Military Trail drew five high-severity citations. Inspectors found no person in charge on duty, employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, inadequate shellfish traceability records, and no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods. Two intermediate violations accompanied those findings, one for multi-use utensils not properly cleaned and one for inadequate toilet facilities.
Souvlaki on 25th Street matched La Perrada's five high-severity count. The violations there included the same cluster of management and illness-reporting failures: no person in charge, no written employee health policy, employees not reporting symptoms, improper handwashing, and inadequate shellfish identification records.
Three facilities tied at three high-severity violations each.
BurgerFi on South Rosemary Avenue was cited for food not cooked to required minimum temperature, toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled near food, and no allergen awareness demonstrated by staff. That last citation is notable at a burger chain, where customers with beef, dairy, or gluten allergies rely on staff to flag cross-contact risks accurately.
McDonald's #11750 on 45th Street drew violations for employees not reporting illness symptoms, improper handwashing technique, and inadequate shellfish stock identification records. A single intermediate violation for inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities rounded out the inspection.
Lost Weekend and Voltaire on Clematis Street was cited for inadequate shellfish traceability, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, and food not cooked to required minimum temperature.
What These Violations Mean
The illness-reporting and health policy failures documented at Cambridge Holdco, La Perrada Del Gordo, Souvlaki, and McDonald's #11750 are not bureaucratic technicalities. When a food worker shows up sick and has no written policy telling them to stay home, and when no manager is present to enforce one, the kitchen becomes a direct transmission route for Norovirus, which causes an estimated 20 million illnesses in the United States each year. The employee reporting violations at those four facilities represent the single most direct pathway from a sick worker to a sick customer.
Handwashing technique violations, cited at Cambridge Holdco, La Perrada Del Gordo, Souvlaki, and McDonald's #11750, compound that risk. An employee who attempts to wash their hands but does so incorrectly, skipping the 20-second scrub or bypassing soap entirely, leaves pathogens on their hands that are then transferred to every surface and food item they touch. The technique violation is distinct from simply not washing at all, but the outcome for customers can be identical.
The shellfish traceability violations, appearing at five of the six facilities, carry a specific danger that is easy to underestimate. Oysters, clams, and mussels are frequently consumed raw or lightly cooked, and they filter large volumes of water, concentrating whatever bacteria or viruses are present in that water. Without proper shellfish identification tags and receiving records, there is no way to trace an illness back to a specific harvest location or lot if customers become sick. That traceability gap was documented at Cambridge Holdco, La Perrada Del Gordo, Souvlaki, McDonald's #11750, and Lost Weekend and Voltaire.
The undercooking violations at Cambridge Holdco, BurgerFi, and Lost Weekend and Voltaire represent a different but equally serious failure. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Ground beef carrying E. coli requires reaching 155 degrees. When food does not hit those thresholds, pathogens that were present in the raw product survive to the plate. At BurgerFi, that violation arrived alongside a citation for toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, which introduces a separate and acute poisoning risk if a chemical container is mistaken for a food ingredient or cleaning solution.
The Longer Record
None of the six facilities flagged this week are newcomers to the state inspection system. The prior inspection counts tell a story about how long some of these problems have been accumulating.
BurgerFi on South Rosemary Avenue has the longest documented inspection history among the six, with 28 prior inspections on record. That history makes this week's three high-severity findings, including undercooking and missing allergen awareness, harder to attribute to inexperience or a new operation still finding its footing.
Cambridge Holdco, which led the week with 11 high-severity violations, has 27 prior inspections on record. Souvlaki on 25th Street has 26. La Perrada Del Gordo on Military Trail has 25. These are not facilities that have rarely seen an inspector. The violations documented this week, particularly the management presence failures and illness-reporting gaps, are categories that experienced operators with dozens of prior inspections should have addressed and maintained.
Lost Weekend and Voltaire on Clematis Street has 22 prior inspections on record, and this week's findings included food contact surfaces not properly cleaned and food not cooked to required minimum temperature. Those are not obscure code requirements. They are among the most fundamental standards in any commercial kitchen.
McDonald's #11750 on 45th Street has the shortest history among the six, with 17 prior inspections. The illness-reporting and handwashing violations there are concerning regardless of inspection count, but the relative youth of that location's record means there is less of a longitudinal pattern to evaluate compared to the other five facilities.
What stands out across the full set is the repetition of the same violation categories at multiple locations simultaneously: management absence, illness reporting failures, and shellfish traceability gaps appeared at four or five facilities in the same seven-day window. Whether that reflects a broader compliance gap in the local restaurant industry or a shift in how inspectors are prioritizing certain categories this inspection cycle is not answered by this week's records alone.
The Longer Record
What the inspection data does not yet show is whether any of the six facilities has returned for a follow-up inspection, and if so, which violations were corrected and which remained. Cambridge Holdco's 11-violation inspection is the most urgent open question. Eight of its 11 high-severity findings involved direct food safety and illness-transmission risks, and the facility's record of 27 prior inspections means this week's findings were not its introduction to state scrutiny.
