FLORIDA. Thirty-one restaurants across the state were emergency-closed for pest activity in the two-week stretch between September 28 and October 11, 2026, with roaches driving 20 of those shutdowns, rodents behind six more, and flies or mixed infestations accounting for the remaining five.
The Closures
The most unresolved case in the dataset involves Hooters on San Jose Boulevard in Jacksonville, which was closed September 29 for both roach and rodent activity. No reopening time appears in state records. A closure that produces no follow-up timestamp is the exception in this dataset, not the rule.
Lolas Filipino Café and Mini Store at 1241 Blanding Boulevard in Orange Park is the other closure with no confirmed reopening date. State records show the October 2 closure for roach activity, and the status remains unknown.
Jacksonville accounted for five of the 31 closures, more than any other city in the state during the period. Beyond Hooters, inspectors closed Ya Habibi Slice and Spice on St. Augustine Road for roaches on October 1, with that location reopening by 9:39 a.m. Hong Kong Station on Beach Boulevard was closed September 28 for roach activity and reopened by 12:54 p.m. El Primo Restaurant and Grocery on Powers Avenue was also closed September 28 for roaches and cleared by 11:15 a.m.
The Oviedo mall corridor produced three closures on the same day. Asian Express at 1700 Oviedo Mall Boulevard, 2 Hermanos Taco Burrito at 1605 Oviedo Mall Boulevard, and Mediterranean Gourmet at 1525 Oviedo Marketplace Boulevard were all shuttered September 28 for roach activity. All three reopened the same morning, between 9:34 a.m. and 10:47 a.m.
Tampa contributed three closures. Pisco Bar and Restaurant on North Armenia Avenue was closed September 28 for roaches and reopened by 10:43 a.m. Pepo's Café on Northdale Boulevard was shuttered October 1 for roaches and cleared by 2:42 p.m. Perry's BBQ Asian Grill at the Citrus Park Town Center Mall food court was closed September 30 for roach activity and reopened by 2:43 p.m.
Miami's three closures included a national chain and a dual-concept restaurant. Chipotle Mexican Grill at 6290 South Dixie Highway was closed September 29 for fly activity and cleared by 8:10 a.m., the fastest reopening in the dataset. Allegro Ma Non Troppo and Socal Taco Company at 1000 South Miami Avenue was closed September 30 for roach activity and reopened by 10:16 a.m.
The rodent closures stretched from the Panhandle corridor down to the Gulf Coast. Rocky's Pizzeria Restaurant at 105 North Ocean Shore Boulevard in Flagler Beach was closed September 28 for rodent activity and reopened by 9:56 a.m. Subway at 2004 66th Street North in St. Petersburg was shuttered the same day for rodent activity and cleared by 10:38 a.m. Sailor's Return on SW Anchorage Way in Stuart was closed September 28 for rodent activity and did not reopen until 4:24 p.m., the latest clearance time among the rodent cases.
Whistle Stop Grill and Bar on Main Street in Safety Harbor was closed September 30 for rodent activity and cleared by 10:04 a.m. Anytime Eat on Drew Street in Clearwater was also closed September 30 for rodent activity, reopening at 3:14 p.m. Oh Greek at the Ellenton outlet mall food court was shut October 1 for rodent activity and cleared by 10:58 a.m.
The Fly Cases
Fly-related closures drew four emergency orders during the period. Moe's Southwest Grill at 9620 Applecross Road in Jacksonville was closed September 30 for fly activity and reopened by 10:06 a.m. Chicken Guy at 4301 South University Drive in Davie was also closed September 30 for fly activity and cleared by 10:08 a.m.
Esposito Pizza on James L. Redman Parkway in Plant City was closed September 29 for fly activity and reopened by 10:10 a.m. Mama Kitchen on West International Speedway Boulevard in Daytona Beach drew a combined roach and fly citation September 29 and reopened by 9:22 a.m.
What These Violations Mean
Live roaches inside a restaurant are not a housekeeping problem. Cockroaches travel between sewers, drains, and food prep surfaces, depositing bacteria including Salmonella and E. coli on every surface they cross. When an inspector documents live roach activity as the basis for an emergency closure, it means the infestation was visible during the inspection itself, not merely suggested by droppings or egg casings. Twenty of the 31 closures in this period met that threshold.
Rodent activity carries a different contamination profile. Rodent droppings contain pathogens including Hantavirus and Salmonella, and a single rodent can deposit dozens of droppings per night across prep surfaces, shelving, and food storage areas. The six rodent-related closures in this period, including locations in Safety Harbor, Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Flagler Beach, Stuart, and Ellenton, each required inspectors to document evidence sufficient to justify immediate emergency closure rather than a standard citation and scheduled follow-up.
Fly activity triggers emergency closure when inspectors observe flies making contact with food or food-contact surfaces in sufficient numbers to represent an active contamination risk. Flies carry pathogens on their legs and regurgitate digestive enzymes onto food surfaces. The four fly-related closures here, at locations including a Chipotle in Miami and a Moe's in Jacksonville, were each cleared within hours, suggesting the contamination source was identifiable and removable quickly.
The speed of reopening tells its own story. Most of these 31 locations reopened within hours of closure, which means the underlying infestation was either treated overnight or the evidence was addressed to an inspector's satisfaction on a follow-up visit. What speed does not tell you is whether the conditions that allowed the infestation to develop, gaps in food storage, drainage issues, structural entry points, were actually corrected.
The Longer Record
The Davie corridor produced two closures from neighboring addresses. Brandon Asian Cuisine at 6417 Stirling Road was closed October 1 for roach activity and reopened by 8:37 a.m. Chicken Guy at 4301 South University Drive, less than three miles away, was closed the day before for fly activity. Two emergency closures within 24 hours in the same city, at different restaurants, from different pest types, is not a coincidence that explains itself.
The Oviedo mall cluster is worth noting separately. Three food-court and strip-mall restaurants on the same boulevard were all shuttered on the same morning for roach activity. That pattern suggests a shared structural or sanitation condition in the building, not three independent pest events. Whether the property management was notified is not reflected in the state records.
Kiku Sushi on South Tamiami Trail in Osprey was closed September 29 for roach activity and did not reopen until 4:13 p.m., one of the longer clearance windows among the roach cases. Down Under Restaurant on Wades Place in Fernandina Beach was closed September 28 for roaches and cleared by 9:57 a.m. Mexican Grill and Cantina Don Patron in Yulee was closed September 29 for roach activity and reopened by 10:40 a.m.
Pho Vinh on North Primrose Drive in Orlando was closed September 28 for roach activity and reopened by 10:44 a.m. Bayview Diner on East Oakland Park Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale was closed September 28 for roach activity and cleared by 7:13 a.m., the earliest reopening time in the entire dataset.
The two closures that remain unresolved, Hooters on San Jose Boulevard in Jacksonville and Lolas Filipino Café and Mini Store on Blanding Boulevard in Orange Park, both closed in the first days of October with no confirmed reopening date in state records.
