YULEE, FL. State inspectors ordered Mexican Grill and Catina Don Patron on Lofton Square Court closed on September 29 after documenting roach activity inside the restaurant, the fourth time in six years the Nassau County location has been shut down by the state.
The closure order required the restaurant to vacate by September 30. Inspectors returned the following morning and cleared the facility, allowing it to reopen at 10:40 a.m. that day.
What Inspectors Found
Don Patron Emergency Closure History
The September 29 inspection turned up 7 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate violations. That tally placed it among the more serious single-day findings in the restaurant's recent history, though not the worst: a May 2026 inspection had cited 10 high-severity violations, and a November 2025 inspection had produced 9 high-severity and 7 intermediate violations.
The roach activity documented on September 29 was the specific trigger for the emergency closure order.
What This Violation Means
A roach infestation inside a food service operation is classified as an emergency condition under Florida law because cockroaches are direct vectors for foodborne illness. Roaches carry pathogens including Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria on their bodies and in their waste, and they deposit those contaminants on any surface they cross, including food preparation counters, cutting boards, utensils and food itself.
Unlike a temperature violation or a missing label, pest activity cannot be corrected by adjusting a dial or writing something down. It requires a full halt to service, physical removal of the infestation and a clean inspection before customers can return. That is why the state has authority to order immediate closure rather than issuing a citation and scheduling a follow-up.
The fact that inspectors cleared the restaurant the following morning does not mean the underlying conditions that allowed roaches to establish were fully resolved. It means the observable infestation met the threshold for reopening. Whether those conditions remain is a question the next routine inspection will answer.
The Pattern
The September 29 closure was not an isolated event at this address. State records show the restaurant has been emergency-closed four times since July 2020, with the two earlier closures in 2020 and 2021 both tied to rodent activity. The shift from rodents to roaches in the most recent closure suggests the facility has contended with multiple categories of pest pressure over the years, not a single recurring problem that was never addressed.
The broader inspection record reinforces that picture. Across 44 inspections on record, the restaurant has accumulated 333 total violations.
Three of the last four inspection cycles followed the same arc: a high-violation inspection, followed by a same-day or next-day follow-up showing zero high-severity violations. That pattern, repeated across November 2025, May 2026 and now September 2026, indicates the restaurant can pass a follow-up inspection. It does not indicate the underlying conditions have changed between cycles.
The Longer Record
Forty-four inspections over the life of this location is a substantial record for a single restaurant in Nassau County. The 333 violations accumulated across those visits average out to more than seven violations per inspection, a figure that includes routine visits as well as the high-violation days that preceded closures.
The prior emergency closures in 2020 and 2021 were both for rodent activity, each resolved within a single day. The current closure follows that same rapid-turnaround model. But three prior emergency closures before this one, all at the same address, place the September 29 shutdown in a context that a first-time closure would not carry.
The May 2026 inspection, just four months before the September closure, produced the highest single-day high-severity violation count in the recent record: 10 high-severity violations. That inspection was not a closure, but it came close to the severity level that triggered the September shutdown. The restaurant cleared a follow-up the next day in May as well.
The December 2025 and February 2027 follow-up inspections both returned zero high-severity violations, which is consistent with a facility that responds to inspections rather than one that ignores them. The question the record raises is whether the response is lasting or whether conditions deteriorate between visits.
The restaurant has been licensed for permanent food service and was confirmed open as of 10:40 a.m. on September 30. Whether the roach activity documented on September 29 has been fully remediated, or whether inspectors will find evidence of it again on the next unannounced visit, remains an open question.
