FLORIDA. A children's entertainment restaurant in Boynton Beach, a fast-casual burger chain in Palm Beach Gardens, and an oceanfront Italian restaurant on Miami Beach's Ocean Drive were all ordered closed during the same seven-day stretch in August, each shut down for pest activity that state inspectors documented on-site.
The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation closed 23 restaurants statewide between August 12 and August 18, 2026. Nineteen of those closures were triggered by pest activity, including roaches, rodents, or flies, and in several cases all three at once. Two more were shut for sewage leaks, one for the absence of any warewashing facilities, and one for operating without a license.
The Week's Closures
The two St. Petersburg closures stand out for the breadth of what inspectors found. Big Catch at Salt Creek on 2nd Street South and Getaway on Gandy Boulevard were both shut down on August 12 after inspectors documented rodents, roaches, and flies at each location. Both reopened the same morning, Big Catch at 9:15 a.m. and Getaway ten minutes later at 9:25 a.m.
Maryland Fried Chicken/Rice Bowl on East Hinson Avenue in Haines City was also closed August 12 for a combination of roach and rodent activity, and cleared inspection by 10:21 a.m.
Chuck E. Cheese 781 on North Congress Avenue in Boynton Beach was ordered closed August 14 for rodent activity. The children's entertainment chain, where families bring young children for pizza and arcade games, reopened at 10:02 a.m. the same day.
BurgerFi on PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens was closed August 14 for a combination of roach and fly activity, and cleared by 9:17 a.m.
In Plantation, Rens Sushi Japanese and Thai Cuisine on South University Drive was shut down August 14 for roach and fly activity, reopening at 10:19 a.m.
Clase Azul of Estero on Gulf Coast Main Street in Fort Myers was closed August 13 for roach and fly activity and reopened at 9:17 a.m.
On Miami Beach's Ocean Drive, Osteria Del Mar was shut August 13 for rodent activity and reopened at 10:42 a.m. the following morning.
CVI.CHE 105 Aventura on Biscayne Boulevard was closed August 13 for roach activity and cleared by 12:41 p.m.
Thai Lotus Restaurant on US Highway 1 in Jupiter was also shut August 13 for roach activity, reopening at 9:34 a.m.
In Tampa, Grill at Morris Bridge on Cross Creek Boulevard was closed August 13 for roach activity and reopened at 9:34 a.m. Molly Malone's Irish Pub on East Davis Boulevard was shut August 12 for roach activity and had not listed a reopening time in state records as of the data available for this report.
Fuego Azteca Mexican Bar and Grill on Ohio Avenue in N Live Oak was closed August 14 for roach activity and cleared by 9:37 a.m.
In Boca Raton, Standard Cuisine and Cocktails on Southeast Mizner Boulevard was shut August 12 for roach activity and reopened at 10:26 a.m.
Dada on North Swinton Avenue in Delray Beach was closed August 12 for rodent activity. It did not reopen until 4:07 p.m. that afternoon, the latest reopening time recorded for any pest closure during the week.
Le Berger Restaurant on South Dixie Highway in Lake Worth was shut August 12 for rodent activity and cleared by 9:07 a.m.
Grande Martier at Post Office Arcade on Southwest Osceola Street in Stuart was closed August 12 for rodent activity and reopened at 9:42 a.m.
Tejas de Honduras on Southwest 106th Avenue in Cutler Bay was shut August 12 for roach activity and did not clear until 3:48 p.m.
Beyond Pest Activity
Four closures this week had nothing to do with roaches or rodents. Al Asala Shawrma on Emerson Street in Jacksonville was shut August 12 for sewage leaks and cleared by 8:47 a.m., the fastest resolution of any closure recorded during the week. Abuabed LLC on East Fletcher Avenue in Tampa was also closed August 12 for sewage leaks, reopening at 2:36 p.m.
Boat Club on Beckett Way in Tarpon Springs was ordered closed August 13 because it had no warewashing facilities on site. It did not reopen until 3:30 p.m. that afternoon.
The GMC Food Truck on Drew Street in Clearwater was shut August 12 for operating without a license. No reopening time was listed in state records.
Jaas Kitchen on Hutchinson Boulevard in Panama City Beach was closed August 13 for roach activity. No reopening time appeared in state records as of the data available for this report.
What These Violations Mean
Pest activity, the cause behind 19 of this week's 23 closures, is treated as an emergency closure trigger in Florida because pests are direct vectors for foodborne illness. Cockroaches carry salmonella, E. coli, and other pathogens on their bodies and legs, and they deposit those organisms on food prep surfaces, utensils, and food itself. When inspectors order a closure for roach activity, it means roaches were observed alive inside the facility during the inspection, not simply that evidence of prior activity was found.
Rodents present an overlapping but distinct risk. Rodent droppings and urine can contaminate food and surfaces with pathogens including salmonella and leptospira. A facility like Chuck E. Cheese, which serves children who are more vulnerable to foodborne illness than healthy adults, draws particular concern when rodent activity is the closure trigger.
The triple-pest closures at Big Catch at Salt Creek and Getaway in St. Petersburg, where inspectors found rodents, roaches, and flies simultaneously, indicate a facility where pest control has broken down across multiple categories at once. Flies are a separate transmission risk, capable of carrying pathogens from waste and contaminated surfaces directly onto food.
Sewage leaks, the trigger at Al Asala Shawrma in Jacksonville and Abuabed LLC in Tampa, represent a different category of immediate hazard. Raw sewage in a food preparation environment introduces fecal pathogens directly into the space where food is handled, and the risk does not require ingestion of the sewage itself. Surface contact and aerosol exposure are sufficient to transmit illness.
The Longer Record
State inspection records show that several facilities closed this week have accumulated substantial inspection histories in Florida's system. Dada in Delray Beach, which was shut for rodent activity and took until 4:07 p.m. to reopen, has a prior inspection record in the state database. The same is true for Molly Malone's Irish Pub in Tampa, which was closed for roach activity with no reopening time on record.
Chuck E. Cheese operates as a national chain with locations across Florida, meaning its Boynton Beach closure does not exist in isolation. Chain restaurants carry brand-level inspection histories that extend beyond a single address, and a rodent closure at a location that markets itself to families with young children carries weight regardless of how quickly the facility cleared reinspection.
The GMC Food Truck in Clearwater presents a distinct situation. An unlicensed operation has no inspection history in the state system by definition, because it was not operating legally. The closure was not the result of a routine inspection finding a violation at a known facility. It was the discovery of an operation that had never been licensed to serve food to the public at all.
Jaas Kitchen in Panama City Beach and Molly Malone's Irish Pub in Tampa remained without listed reopening times in state records at the time this report was compiled.
