MIAMI, FL. Back in March 2026, state inspectors ordered Dicrespo on SW 152nd Street closed after finding roach activity on the premises, triggering an emergency shutdown that gave the restaurant until March 13 to vacate the building. It was the sixth time in the facility's documented history that inspectors had moved to shut it down, and the fifth time roach activity was listed as the specific cause.
The March 11 inspection did not stop at roaches. Inspectors cited 12 high-severity violations and 6 intermediate violations that day, one of the heaviest single-inspection totals in the facility's recent record.
What Inspectors Found
The roach finding alone was enough to close the restaurant. But inspectors also documented that food employees were not reporting symptoms of illness, and that handwashing practices were inadequate.
Food contact surfaces were not being properly cleaned or sanitized, and food was not being cooked to required minimum temperatures. Inspectors further cited a missing consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items, and toxic substances that were improperly identified, stored, or used.
On the equipment side, inspectors found cooling and cold-holding equipment that could not maintain required temperatures, alongside inadequate ventilation and lighting.
A follow-up inspection on March 12 found 8 high-severity and 3 intermediate violations still present. By March 13, that count had dropped to 6 high-severity and 2 intermediate violations, and the restaurant was cleared to reopen that afternoon.
What These Violations Mean
Roach activity is among the most direct triggers for an emergency closure because cockroaches carry pathogens including Salmonella and E. coli on their bodies and legs, depositing them on food preparation surfaces, utensils, and food itself. A single roach sighting in a food prep area is treated as a high-priority finding; enough activity to prompt an emergency shutdown means inspectors observed a level of infestation they judged to be an immediate public health threat.
The combination of violations documented on March 11 compounded that risk significantly. Food workers who do not report illness symptoms are the leading cause of multi-victim outbreaks, particularly for norovirus, which spreads rapidly when an infected employee handles food. Paired with inadequate handwashing, that creates a direct contamination pathway from employee to customer.
Food not cooked to required minimum temperatures is a separate and serious concern. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and undercooking is one of the most consistently documented causes of foodborne illness in Florida inspection records. At Dicrespo, that violation appeared on the same day as the roach closure, the handwashing failure, and the improperly stored toxic substances.
Improperly stored or unlabeled toxic substances create a risk of chemical contamination of food, which can cause acute illness with symptoms that are difficult to distinguish from foodborne bacterial illness in the immediate aftermath.
The Longer Record
Dicrespo has 42 inspections on record and 490 total violations documented across those visits. That is not the profile of a facility with an isolated bad week.
The March 2026 closure was the fifth time roach activity specifically triggered an emergency shutdown at this address. The prior roach closures occurred in October 2025, December 2017, November 2016, and July 2015. The October 2025 closure followed an inspection on October 14 that found 8 high-severity and 4 intermediate violations, and the facility reopened the following day after a reinspection showing 2 high-severity and 1 intermediate violation.
The pattern between closures is consistent. An inspection in January 2025 found 7 high-severity and 4 intermediate violations. A follow-up two days later found 3 high-severity and 3 intermediate violations. An April 2025 inspection found 8 high-severity and 3 intermediate violations. High-severity findings at this facility are not anomalies between closures; they are the baseline.
Dicrespo Emergency Closure History
Five roach closures over eleven years at the same address. The December 2017 closure has no confirmed reopen date in state records.