FLORIDA. Inspectors emergency-closed 18 restaurants across the state between May 11 and May 24, 2026, citing live roaches, rodents, flies, or some combination of all three, in a two-week stretch that reached from Miami's Brickell district to a Dairy Queen on the Georgia border.
Rodents in the Sports Bar, Roaches at the Sushi Counter
The most alarming single closure of the stretch came on May 13, when inspectors ordered CMX Brickell Stone Sports Bar at 701 S Miami Ave shut for rodent activity. The bar sits inside the Mary Brickell Village complex, one of Miami's most heavily trafficked dining and entertainment districts, steps from dozens of other restaurants and a steady flow of after-work crowds.
The facility was allowed to reopen the following morning at 9:57 a.m., roughly 20 hours after the closure order.
Rodent activity also forced the closure of Club De La Milanesa at 3250 NE 1 Ave in Miami on May 12. That facility reopened at 10:37 a.m. the same day. Two Miami-area rodent closures in back-to-back days.
King Buffet at 1319 E Oak St in Arcadia was also closed May 12 for rodent activity, reopening at 11:13 a.m. Manatee Pub at 10175 W Fishbowl Dr in Homosassa followed the same day, reopening at 3:45 p.m., the latest reopening time among the rodent-related closures. Discovery Indian Cuisine at 38593 US 19 in Palm Harbor closed for rodent activity on May 13 and was cleared by 10:45 a.m.
Ran's Restaurant at 545 W Lucy St in Florida City was one of four facilities closed for both roach and rodent activity simultaneously, and it reopened the earliest of any facility in the entire two-week period, at 8:14 a.m. on May 12. No URL was provided for Ran's in state records.
Roaches Across the State
Roach-related closures accounted for 12 of the 18 emergency orders, and they were geographically scattered in a way that underscores how pervasive the problem is statewide.
OCEAN 5 CAFE at 444 Ocean Dr in Miami Beach was closed May 13 for roach activity, on one of the most photographed streets in South Florida. It reopened at 9:31 a.m.
Cilantro Grill at 419A Saint Armands Cir in Sarasota was closed May 12 for roach activity. Saint Armands Circle is a high-end retail and dining destination that draws significant tourist traffic. The facility did not reopen until 4:50 p.m. that afternoon, the latest same-day reopening among the roach closures.
Dairy Queen at 2784 Sadler Rd in Fernandina Beach was closed May 12 for roach activity and reopened by 9:56 a.m. It is the only national chain in this period's closure list.
Sweet Delight Jamaican Cuisine at 4500 Dixie Hwy NE in Palm Bay was closed May 13 and reopened at 9:52 a.m. Hong Kong at 2525 Pasadena Ave S in South Pasadena was closed May 14 for roach activity and cleared by 11:25 a.m.
Bluefin Sushi at 6034 Wesley Grove Blvd in Wesley Chapel was closed May 11 for roach activity and did not reopen until 3:18 p.m., one of the longer closure windows of the period. Momoz LLC at 8009 Citrus Park Dr in Tampa was also closed May 11 for roach activity, reopening at 9:40 a.m. No URL was available for Momoz in state records.
Tacology at 700 S Miami Ave was closed May 15 for roach activity. It is the one closure in this period for which no reopening time appears in state records, leaving its status unresolved in the data.
Flies and Combined Infestations
La Casa Del Taco Molcajetes at 1716 Airport Pulling Rd S in Naples was the only facility closed solely for fly activity, shut down May 14 and reopened at 4:35 p.m. that afternoon.
Four facilities were closed for combinations of pests. Colorados Prime Steak at 3863 S Orlando Dr in Sanford was closed May 11 for roach and fly activity and reopened at 9:16 a.m. Tacocraft Taqueria and Tequila Bar at 301 N University Dr in Plantation was also closed May 11 for roach and fly activity, reopening at 10:10 a.m.
Rumroasters at 2021 SW 70 Ave in Davie was closed May 12 for roach and fly activity, reopening at 8:56 a.m. No URL was available for Rumroasters in state records.
What These Violations Mean
Live pest activity inside a food service operation is not a paperwork violation. It is a direct contamination route.
Cockroaches carry bacteria including Salmonella and E. coli on their bodies and legs, depositing them on food contact surfaces, utensils, and food itself as they move through a kitchen. A single roach sighting can indicate a much larger hidden population, because roaches are nocturnal and avoid light. When inspectors document live roach activity during a daytime inspection, the infestation is almost always well-established.
Rodent activity carries a different and in some ways more serious risk profile. Rodent droppings can transmit hantavirus, leptospirosis, and salmonellosis. Rodents gnaw through packaging, contaminating food supplies that may have been stored for days before the problem is discovered. The closures at CMX Brickell Stone Sports Bar, Club De La Milanesa, King Buffet, Manatee Pub, Discovery Indian Cuisine, and Ran's Restaurant all involved rodent activity that inspectors deemed severe enough to require immediate closure rather than a corrective action on-site.
Fly infestations represent a third contamination pathway. Flies land on waste, then land on food, transferring pathogens between the two. The La Casa Del Taco Molcajetes closure in Naples, and the combined fly-and-roach closures at Colorados Prime Steak, Tacocraft, and Rumroasters, indicate environments where multiple pest vectors were active at once, compounding the contamination risk.
The Longer Record
State inspection records place several of these closures in a broader context that makes them less surprising in hindsight.
OCEAN 5 CAFE and Club De La Milanesa both carry prior inspection histories in state records, meaning regulators had visited each location before the May closures. A facility that reaches an emergency closure for live pest activity after multiple prior inspections raises a different question than one being cited for the first time.
Cilantro Grill on Saint Armands Circle and Discovery Indian Cuisine in Palm Harbor both appear in state records with prior inspection histories as well. The Cilantro Grill closure is notable because Saint Armands Circle locations receive elevated scrutiny given the area's tourist volume, and the 4:50 p.m. reopening time suggests the remediation required a full day's work.
The Dairy Queen in Fernandina Beach stands out as the only national chain closure in the period. Chain locations operate under corporate food safety protocols in addition to state requirements, which makes a roach-related emergency closure a more notable departure from baseline expectations than a comparable closure at an independent operator.
Tacology at 700 S Miami Ave, closed May 15 for roach activity, is the only facility in this two-week period for which state records show no confirmed reopening time.