FLORIDA. A food distribution center in Orlando was emergency-closed after state inspectors found rodents, roaches, and live fly activity all present at the same time, one of 41 pest-related restaurant emergency closures recorded across Florida in the two-week period ending August 28, 2026.
DYA Ice Food Service, at 4880 Distribution Court in Orlando, was shuttered on August 17. The facility handles food service supply and did not reopen until 4:53 p.m. that same day, more than eight hours after the closure order was issued. No URL was provided for this facility in state records.
The two-week stretch produced 26 roach-related closures, 11 rodent-related closures, and 4 involving fly or other pest activity. Orlando led all cities with five emergency closures. Tampa followed with four, North Miami Beach recorded three, and Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale each produced two.
The Closures
August 21 was the single busiest day of the period. Eight restaurants were emergency-closed on that date alone, spanning Pensacola, Miramar Beach, Panama City, Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Ocala, and Jacksonville.
Crab Trap on Perdido Key Drive in Pensacola was closed that morning for both roach and fly activity, then allowed to reopen at 11:12 a.m. The restaurant sits on the waterfront along the Alabama state line, a stretch that draws heavy summer tourist traffic.
Longhorn Steakhouse of Cypress Creek at 6225 N Andrews Ave in Fort Lauderdale was also closed August 21 for roach activity, reopening at 4:23 p.m. It is among the highest-profile national chains to appear on this period's closure list.
Panera Bread at 4403 Roosevelt Blvd in Jacksonville was closed for fly activity on August 21 and reopened before 9 a.m. Dunkin' Donuts at 8121 SW SR 200 in Ocala was also closed for flies that day and cleared by 8:31 a.m., the fastest documented turnaround of any closure in the two-week period.
North Miami Beach produced three closures within 24 hours between August 19 and 20. Eat and Run Subs at 16775 N Miami Ave was found with both roach and rodent activity on August 20, reopening before 9 a.m. CM Chicken at 1256 NE 163 St, which had no state URL in the inspection record, was closed the previous day for the same combination, roach and rodent activity together, and cleared by 10:04 a.m. Seph Restaurant and Bakery at 1362 NE 163 St was closed August 19 for rodent activity alone, reopening at 12:30 p.m.
Three closures on the same street or within blocks of each other in the same 24-hour window is not a coincidence inspectors typically ignore.
Tampa's four closures were spread across the period. Doodle Noodle Bar at 9620 W Linebaugh Ave was closed August 17 for roach and fly activity, reopening at 11:15 a.m. Memo Modern Italian at 10103 Montague St was also closed August 17 for roach activity, clearing inspection by 8:29 a.m. Salem's Fresh Eats at 2015 N 50 St was closed August 18 for roaches, reopening at 9:16 a.m. Sushi Masa Premium at 17021 Palm Pointe Dr was the last Tampa closure, shut August 21 for roach activity and cleared by 3:28 p.m.
Hole in the Wall Seafood and Raw Bar at 23 Ave D in Apalachicola was closed August 18 for roach activity. It is the only facility in this two-week period for which the state's records show no confirmed reopening time.
What These Violations Mean
Live pest activity during a state inspection is treated as an immediate public health threat, which is why it triggers emergency closure rather than a standard citation. Roaches are the most common trigger in this data set, appearing in 26 of the 41 closures. They are not merely a sanitation problem. Cockroaches carry and spread pathogens including Salmonella and E. coli on their bodies and in their droppings, and they move freely between garbage, drains, and food-contact surfaces. When an inspector documents live roaches, it means the infestation has reached a threshold visible during daylight or active kitchen hours, which understates the actual population present.
Rodent activity, documented in 11 closures, represents a different contamination route. Rodent droppings contain concentrated quantities of Hantavirus, Salmonella, and Leptospira bacteria. Unlike roaches, rodents tend to contaminate areas in patterns, leaving droppings along established travel routes near walls, under equipment, and inside storage areas. Facilities like Eat and Run Subs, CM Chicken, and Hot Wok on Emerson Street in Jacksonville were found with both roach and rodent activity simultaneously, which inspectors treat as compounded risk because it indicates multiple entry points and sustained harborage conditions.
Fly activity, documented at four facilities including Panera Bread in Jacksonville and Dunkin' Donuts in Ocala, is often dismissed as a nuisance. But flies transfer bacteria from any surface they land on, including garbage and drains, to food within seconds. The presence of fly activity severe enough to prompt emergency closure indicates a volume and access pattern that routine pest control had not addressed.
The case of DYA Ice Food Service in Orlando is the most serious in the data set for a structural reason. A food distribution facility supplies other restaurants. Pest contamination at that level does not stay within its own walls.
The Longer Record
State inspection records do not include prior inspection counts in the data provided for this period, which limits the ability to say definitively whether any individual facility had been cited repeatedly before this closure. What the data does show is pattern by geography and facility type.
North Miami Beach produced three closures in a single 24-hour window, all within a few blocks of each other on or near NE 163 Street. That density suggests either a shared structural pest pressure in that corridor, such as a common waste removal schedule or building conditions, or an inspection sweep that targeted the area deliberately.
Orlando's five closures involved a wide range of facility types: a Caribbean restaurant, a sushi fusion spot, a national bar chain, a food distribution center, and a Cuban bistro. Havana Bistro and Cafe at 7975 S Orange Blossom Trail was closed for rodent activity and cleared by 9:06 a.m. on August 21, the earliest reopening among the Orlando closures. Temak House Sushi Fusion at 5417 International Drive, a high-traffic tourist corridor, was closed August 19 for roach activity and reopened by 10:21 a.m.
Legends Caribbean Shack at 805 S Kirkman Rd was closed August 18. Bar Louie at 4100 N Alafaya Trail, a national chain location near the University of Central Florida corridor, was closed August 17 for fly activity and did not reopen until 12:36 p.m.
The fastest closures and reopenings in this period, some cleared within two to three hours, indicate that some facilities were able to immediately remediate the documented conditions. That speed is notable but does not resolve whether the underlying harborage conditions were eliminated or simply reduced below the inspection threshold.
The Unresolved Case
Every facility in this two-week period has a confirmed reopening time in state records except one. Hole in the Wall Seafood and Raw Bar at 23 Ave D in Apalachicola was closed August 18 for roach activity. As of the data available for this period, its status remains unknown. Apalachicola is a small Gulf Coast fishing town with a fraction of the inspection infrastructure serving Orlando or Miami. Whether a follow-up inspector was dispatched, and when, is not reflected in the records provided.
That gap is what the data leaves open.
