ORLANDO, FL. Live roaches and flies inside the kitchen forced state inspectors to emergency-close Catrinas Mexican Fusion on N Semoran Blvd on July 24, 2026, the second time in the restaurant's documented inspection history that pest activity triggered a shutdown.
The closure was not the result of a single bad day. State records show 129 violations accumulated across 18 inspections at the 925 N Semoran Blvd location, including a pattern of high-severity citations stretching back through 2024 and 2025.
As of this report, state records do not confirm the restaurant has been allowed to reopen.
What Inspectors Found
Catrinas Mexican Fusion: Recent Inspection History
The July 24 inspection produced six high-severity violations alongside two intermediate ones. Inspectors documented roach and fly activity severe enough to warrant immediate closure under state emergency powers.
The follow-up inspection conducted the next day, July 25, found three high-severity violations and one intermediate violation still present. That the restaurant had not resolved all high-priority concerns within 24 hours is reflected in the unconfirmed reopen status.
Among the violations documented in the July 25 follow-up: food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. Inadequate ventilation and lighting rounded out the intermediate findings.
What These Violations Mean
Pest activity, the specific trigger for the July 24 closure, is treated as an emergency condition under Florida food safety law because roaches and flies are direct vectors for bacterial contamination. Roaches carry Salmonella, E. coli, and other pathogens on their legs and bodies, depositing them on food preparation surfaces, utensils, and food itself. Flies do the same, and are particularly dangerous near exposed ready-to-eat food. When inspectors find live activity rather than evidence of prior activity, the contamination risk is active and ongoing.
The finding that food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, cited in the July 25 follow-up, compounds that risk directly. A surface contaminated by pest activity and not properly sanitized becomes a transfer point for every item prepared on it.
Undercooking is a separate and serious concern. The July 25 inspection cited food not cooked to the required minimum temperature. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and a kitchen already compromised by pest activity and unsanitary surfaces presents multiple simultaneous pathways for a customer to become ill.
The toxic chemical storage violation adds a third category of risk entirely. Chemicals stored near or above food, or stored in unlabeled containers, can cause acute poisoning through direct contamination. This violation does not require a pest or a temperature failure to injure someone.
The Longer Record
The July 2026 closure was not the first time state regulators determined Catrinas Mexican Fusion posed an immediate threat to public health. Records show the restaurant has one prior emergency closure on record, making the July 24 shutdown its second.
The inspection record going back through 2024 shows the restaurant has never sustained a clean stretch. A single inspection in August 2024 produced zero high-severity and zero intermediate violations. Every other inspection with recorded results in the data shows at least one high-severity citation, and most show four or more.
The worst single inspection on record came in December 2025, when inspectors cited 10 high-severity violations and four intermediate ones at a single visit. That inspection was followed in January 2025 by four high-severity violations and two intermediate ones, then in April 2026 by five high-severity and three intermediate violations, and then by the closure-triggering inspection in July 2026.
Across 18 inspections and 129 total violations, the record shows a facility that has cycled through citations, follow-up visits, and at least one prior closure without resolving the conditions that keep producing high-severity findings. The pest activity documented on July 24 was not a new category of failure for this location.
Where Things Stand
State records do not show that Catrinas Mexican Fusion has been cleared to reopen following the July 24 closure and the July 25 follow-up inspection that still found three high-severity violations present.
The restaurant at 925 N Semoran Blvd may still be closed.
