FLORIDA. Three Florida restaurants were found crawling, scurrying, and swarming with all three pest types simultaneously during a two-week stretch in August 2026, as state inspectors ordered 57 emergency closures for roach, rodent, and fly activity between August 4 and August 17, a pace of more than four shutdowns every single day.
The Closures
The most alarming single location in the two-week period was Big Catch at Salt Creek on 2nd Street South in St. Petersburg, which inspectors closed on August 12 after finding rodent, roach, and fly activity all present at the same time. The restaurant reopened by 9:15 a.m. that same morning.
Just miles away, Getaway on Gandy Boulevard in St. Petersburg was also shut down August 12 with the same triple combination of pest types. That location also cleared reinspection and reopened at 9:25 a.m.
In Sebastian, Khob Khun Thai Sushi on US Highway 1 was closed August 11 for rodent, roach, and fly activity and had reopened by 9:00 a.m. the following morning. At Miami International Airport's Concourse D, Villa Pizza was shuttered August 11 for all three pest types, reopening at 10:14 a.m.
Among the most unexpected closures of the period was Chuck E. Cheese at 244 N. Congress Avenue in Boynton Beach, a children's entertainment restaurant, closed August 14 for rodent activity. It reopened at 10:02 a.m.
BurgerFi on PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens was closed August 14 for roach and fly activity, reopening at 9:17 a.m. On the same day, Fuego Azteca Mexican Bar and Grill on Ohio Avenue in N. Live Oak was shuttered for roach activity and cleared by 9:37 a.m.
Rens Sushi Japanese and Thai Cuisine on S. University Drive in Plantation was also closed August 14, for roach and fly activity combined, reopening at 10:19 a.m.
On Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, the upscale Osteria Del Mar was emergency-closed August 13 for rodent activity. The restaurant, located at 720 Ocean Dr., cleared reinspection and reopened at 10:42 a.m.
Chains, Tourist Spots, and One Unresolved Case
The period's closures cut across every category of Florida dining. National chains were not spared.
Jersey Mike's Subs on Conroy Road in Orlando was closed August 7 for roach activity and reopened at 8:43 a.m., among the fastest turnarounds in the dataset. Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen at 6310 103rd Street in Jacksonville was closed August 4 for roach activity and reopened at 8:58 a.m.
Sloppy Joe's on Gulf Boulevard in Treasure Island, a beachfront bar and restaurant, was closed August 11 for rodent and fly activity. It reopened at 1:44 p.m., one of the longer same-day turnarounds in the period.
Shells of St. Pete Beach on Gulf Boulevard was shut down August 7 for rodent, roach, and fly activity and reopened at 12:24 p.m. That location sits directly on the tourist corridor running the length of St. Pete Beach.
At Miami's Wynwood-adjacent Design District, Tacombi on NE 2nd Avenue was closed August 6 for rodent and fly activity, reopening at 9:21 a.m.
In Key West, New York Pasta Garden on Duval Street was closed August 11 for roach and fly activity and did not reopen until 12:11 p.m.
The most unresolved case in the dataset is Jaas Kitchen on Hutchinson Boulevard in Panama City Beach, closed August 13 for roach activity with no reported reopening time in state records.
What These Violations Mean
Live roaches inside a food service operation are not a housekeeping problem. They are a direct contamination pathway. Roaches travel between sewage, garbage, and food preparation surfaces, depositing bacteria including Salmonella and E. coli on every surface they cross. When inspectors document live roach activity, they are documenting an active, ongoing contamination risk to any food being prepared in that kitchen at that moment.
Rodent activity carries a distinct and in some ways more serious risk profile. Rodent droppings contain Hantavirus, Salmonella, and Listeria. Rodents gnaw through food packaging, contaminating product that may show no visible sign of damage. A restaurant with active rodent evidence, the kind that triggers an emergency closure, has typically had that infestation long enough for droppings to accumulate in multiple locations, meaning the problem did not begin the day the inspector arrived.
Flies represent a third contamination route, one that moves quickly across a kitchen. A fly that lands on raw meat and then lands on a prepared salad is a direct transmission vector. The simultaneous presence of all three pest types, as documented at Big Catch at Salt Creek, Getaway, Khob Khun Thai Sushi, Villa Pizza at Miami International, and Shells of St. Pete Beach, means all three contamination pathways were active at once.
The speed of some reopenings in this dataset, multiple restaurants cleared within hours of closure, reflects the state's reinspection process rather than any judgment about how long the infestation had been present. A restaurant can pass reinspection the same morning by demonstrating that visible pest activity has been addressed and the premises cleaned. It cannot demonstrate in a few hours that the underlying infestation is eliminated.
The Longer Record
Rotis Indian Grill on US Highway 301 South in Riverview appears in this dataset twice. The restaurant was closed August 4 for rodent and fly activity and again August 11 for rodent and roach activity, seven days apart, at the same address. Both closures are recorded under the same state license identifier. Two emergency closures in one week at a single location is the starkest repeat-violation pattern in this entire two-week period.
Molly Malone's Irish Pub on E. Davis Boulevard in Tampa was closed August 12 for roach activity with no confirmed reopening time in state records, leaving its status alongside Jaas Kitchen as unresolved at the close of the reporting period.
The airport concession closures, Villa Pizza at Concourse D and Famous Famiglia Pizzeria at the same NW 21st Street complex, both closed August 10 and 11 respectively, point to a facility where pest pressure was present across multiple food vendors operating in close proximity. Airport food court environments, with shared utility chases and high food-waste volume, are documented in inspection literature as high-risk for pest migration between adjacent stalls.
Sugar Bae on Sunset Strip in Fort Lauderdale was closed August 7 for roach activity and reopened at 12:37 p.m. Dada on N. Swinton Avenue in Delray Beach, a well-known arts-district restaurant, was closed August 12 for rodent activity and reopened at 4:07 p.m., one of the latest same-day reopenings in the period. The late-afternoon clearance suggests a remediation effort that took the better part of a business day.
Jaas Kitchen in Panama City Beach remains the single closure from this two-week period with no confirmed reopening date in state records.
