ORLANDO, Fla — Action 9 is looking inside local restaurants hit with food safety violations that could make you sick. The team went through three years of state records to identify some of the top offenders in central Florida.
The state data revealed a popular sit-down restaurant with standard American fare, a Chinese takeout place, a buffet, and even a local brewery were among the top offenders.
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Action 9 poured through nearly 75,000 state inspections to find central Florida’s worst violators, basing the findings on the total number of violations over the last three years with intermediate and high-priority violations given more weight than basic violations. Basic violations were assigned a score of one. Intermediate violations were assigned a score of two. High-priority violations were assigned a score of three.
At La Fiesta Cantina NSB on Flagler Avenue in New Smyrna Beach, Action 9 Consumer Investigator Jeff Deal said, “We’re working on a story about food safety violations.”
La Fiesta needed multiple follow-up inspections over the last few years. It was even forced to temporarily close last year after inspectors found eight high-priority violations including rodent droppings under the cookline sink and live flying insects.
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“Flies typically lay their larvae on decaying food or waste. And they walk on it and then they fly around again, So yeah, they’re very dangerous,” said Dr. Kevin Murphy with UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management.
Dr. Murphy is a food safety expert who used to own and manage restaurants. He said violations like that can lead to food borne illnesses, that’s why state inspectors force restaurants to temporarily close.
That happened several times at China Lee on Kirkman road in Orlando. The takeout restaurant was temporarily closed nine times over the last few years.
Action 9 Consumer Investigator Jeff Deal asked, “Do you have rodents at the front counter here? What about roaches?”
A woman working out front said, “No, sir. You’re not going to do that here.”
During one inspection in March, China Lee had more than 50 violations. A live rodent was spotted, 400 rodent droppings at the front counter, and 116 live roaches. Two of the roaches were inside the flour.
Jeff Deal noted, “Some of these violations are pretty gross.”
Last year, a reviewer on Google posted a photo of what she said was a bug in her food at China Lee.
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Across the county in Winter Garden, New York Beer Project also had some problems.
When Jeff Deal stopped by he said, “We saw that you guys have one of the worst records in all of central Florida.”
In one recent inspection, New York Beer Project also had live flying insects, and it had a food contact surface soiled with mold-like substance or slime, and no soap in a handwash sink.
The brewery and restaurant wasn’t shut down, but it had more than 40-violations during one inspection last year and has required many follow-up inspections.
A manager on duty provided the Action 9 team with email addresses to company leaders.
In a written statement, the company let Action 9 know:
“Health violations and follow-up re-inspections are not uncommon and affect all restaurants in the state. We are operating in full compliance with the health guidelines and laws of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.”
Dr. Kevin Murphy said, “Restaurants can be poorly run and not get shut down, and they have to be constantly re-inspected.”
Murphy told the Action 9 team the number of re-inspections required really surprised him when looking at the records of restaurants in this story.
At El Palacio Buffet on Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando, Consumer Investigator Jeff Deal showed the list of inspections read off the outcomes.
He said, “Facility temporally closed, facility temporarily closed. So, you guys were closed down a bunch of times.”
The restaurant was shut down temporarily eight times in the last three years.
Inspectors also found roaches. One reviewer who posted a photo of a roach wrote “This place is disgusting. So many roaches everywhere from the tables to the buffet.”
A manager later told Jeff Deal on the phone, ownership changed a year and half ago, but state records show the current owners took over in October of 2023.
Back in New Smyrna Beach, Action 9 stopped at a different restaurant on Flagler Avenue.
At The Grille at Riverview, the on-duty manager called a man she identified as the owner and GM to address the questions.
Jeff Deal said, “Hi there. How are you?”
The owner answered, “Good. Let’s take it outside, gentlemen.”
Action 9 planned to ask him about the live flying insects, roach activity and rodent droppings found in one of its most recent inspections.
Once outside, Jeff Deal said, “We were looking at the state inspections and saw that you guys have one of the worst records in central Florida.”
The owner answered, “Well, just check our records from the last health department inspection. Just take it from there. Thank you very much.”
He then turned to walk away.
Jeff Deal then said, “But over the last three years, though, you’ve had a lot of violations. “
The owner responded, “Thank you.”
Deal asked, “Is there anything you want to say about it?”
The owner answered, “Nope. Thank you.” He continued heading inside.
Jeff Deal asked, “Are you concerned about making people sick at all?”
The owner didn’t respond and let the door close behind him.
In the latest inspection from DBPR at The Grille at Riverview, the restaurant only had one basic violation. But that was just one day after a follow-up inspection was required where the flying insects, roaches and rodent droppings were found.
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La Fiesta Cantina NSB later followed up by email. It said it took immediate action to correct the problems and that all of the violations have since been resolved. It pointed out its inspections since June 2025 have met state health and safety standards.
Here’s the entire written response from La Fiesta:
Over 18 months ago, on April 18, 2025, our restaurant closed for one day at the direction of an inspector with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The inspector noted several items of concern, and we responded to every item with urgency. We immediately conducted a comprehensive sanitizing of the restaurant. The next morning, the DBPR confirmed the safety of the restaurant and approved our reopening.
Over the next six weeks, DBPR inspectors conducted a series of follow-up visits to monitor our progress in addressing the violations identified during the initial inspection. Those subsequent visits confirmed that we resolved major issues, and we were permitted to remain open while addressing the remaining items, all of which have since been resolved.
Here are some of the corrective actions we’ve taken to prevent violations from recurring.
• We recognize insects and pests are native to the riverside location of La Fiesta, so on top of regular rigorous cleaning we use a licensed pest control company. We increased the frequency of the visits by the company. We also reinforced aging concrete to eliminate cracks and potential entry points.
• The inspector found that the dish machine’s chlorine sanitizer did not maintain proper concentration. Within hours, we had the machine professionally repaired. We engaged the services of a professional who performs weekly checks and maintenance on the dish machine.
• We purchased a commercial heated holding cabinet to keep food at the recommended safe temperatures. We retrained staff on food safety protocols and log procedures and provided DBPR with documentation of our training. We also implemented a strict protocol where we monitor and log temperatures every two hours.
In June 2025, an unforeseen pipe failure set into a motion another series of inspections. On June 18, before we opened for lunch, a water pipe broke at one of our sinks. We immediately called a licensed plumber who temporarily shut off the water to make the repair. During the brief interruption in water service, a DBPR inspector visited the restaurant, observed the plumber at work, and reported that the water shut-off was a violation of regulations. Once she did that, DBPR was obligated to conduct a series of follow-up inspections—even though the repair was fixed and the water was back on before she left the premises.
Several hours after the water was back on, a follow-up inspection was conducted. It concluded that La Fiesta met the full health and safety standards. Two days later, another inspection concluded that La Fiesta met the full health and safety standards. And in all inspections since then, La Fiesta has met the full health and safety standards.
We invite you to take a tour of our entire restaurant—including the kitchen, food prep stations, and food storage spaces. We can walk you through the changes we have made, and you can see firsthand our vigilance to ensure the health and safety of our guests. We are also happy to connect you with the professionals who have assisted in our improvements and introduce you to regular patrons of La Fiesta. Please, contact me directly to arrange any of these things.
Even though millions of people get sick from food each year, Dr. Murphy said we are fortunate we have good food safety protocols in the United States. With so many people eating meals out now, only a small percentage of people per meal actually get sick.
Check out this slideshow for a look at other top violators:
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