When you eat out you expect your food to be prepared with the utmost care, and usually, it is - but on some very rare occasions, this is not always the case. Thankfully, to cut down on these occasions the government has laws in place that require all public eateries to participate in periodical mandatory health inspections. With that being said, Hillsborough County health inspectors report nearly 1/4 of restaurants inspected over the past 21 days did not pass.
According to the information provided by the Tallahassee Democrat, over the past 21 days, 345 restaurants in Hillsborough County passed the inspection at the first visit and 134 restaurants didn't pass the first inspection.
Most eateries in violation were issued warnings, however, there were also several issued "administrative complaints" and a small group issued "emergency orders." Dozens of those in violation were ordered hefty fines upwards of several hundred dollars, and the site also lists restaurants with the most violations over the past 30 days.
La Hacienda Mexicana located at 5537 Sheldon Rd, Tampa, was one of the top offenders. This restaurant, with a 4.5-star review on Google, had the most violations recently - 29 to be exact - marked against them on Jan. 31, 2019.
They were reinspected on Feb. 4 and were still in violation of 5 health codes. In 2017 they were fined $400 and were temporarily forced to close due to 27 health violations.
Several of their health violations on Jan. 31 consisted of food-related concerns, such as food possibly being held in the "danger zone" for too long, food being stored on the floor, dead roaches on site, and accumulation of black/green mold-like substance inside the ice bin. There were also many violations non-food related like no paper towels or mechanical hand drying device provided at handwash sink.
Most of these violations were retracted on their most recent inspection.
READ ALSO: Florida Officials Are Asking Tourists Not To Poop On These Islands
Following closely behind with 27 violations issued Feb. 7 is Gaspar's Grotto, 1805 E 7th Ave, then 26 violations issued Jan. 21 to Mangia Bene Pizzeria, 1811b N 15th St, and more:
READ MORE: People Are Not Happy The Florida Everglades Are Now Open For Oil Drilling
It is important to note that not all health violations are food related and may just be minor safety concerns. Before jumping to conclusions you should check the offending restaurants (and list of restaurants with no offenses) for more information regarding the fine details of their inspection reports.
All of the information can be found here.
Aidan Goulding, 23, is shown in an undated handout photo alongside his mother Sonia Monk and brother Wylder Goulding. Goulding was one of four Canadian Armed Forces members who was killed in an out of control grass fire during a training exercise at CFB Wainwright Saturday night.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Wylder Goulding (Mandatory Credit)
Pte. Hayden Lykkemark, from 3rd Battalion Princess Patriciaâs Canadian Light Infantry based at Edmonton, is shown in an undated handout photo published to social media. Lykkemark died during a training exercise at CFB Wainwright on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Facebook, Nadine Dunford (Mandatory Credit)
Sgt. Morgan Wong, 26, is shown in an undated handout photo. Wong was one of four Canadian Armed Forces members who was killed in an out of control grass fire during a training exercise at CFB Wainwright Saturday night.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Canadian Armed Forces (Mandatory Credit)