FLORIDA. State inspectors emergency-closed 21 restaurants across Florida between October 10 and October 23, 2026, citing live pest activity at every location except one, and the most alarming single finding came from a sushi counter in downtown Jacksonville.
Kazu Sushi Burrito at 117 W. Adams St. in Jacksonville was shut down October 13 after inspectors documented live rodents, live roaches, and fly activity inside the restaurant simultaneously. It is the only closure in the two-week period to carry all three pest categories. The restaurant was allowed to reopen at 11:11 a.m. the following morning, roughly 20 hours after the closure order was issued.
Twelve of the 21 closures were roach-related. Six were tied to rodent activity. Two involved flies as the primary trigger. One closure, at Sub City in Miami Gardens, was issued for temperature violations rather than pest activity.
The Roach Closures
Spring Hill produced two roach-related closures on the same day. Crafted Dessert Co. at 120 Commercial Way was ordered closed October 15 for roach activity and cleared to reopen at 9:40 a.m. the next morning. Just blocks away, Breakfast Station at 8405 Northcliffe Blvd. was also shut down October 15 for roach activity and reopened at 8:24 a.m. the following day.
Two roach closures hit the same city on the same day in Jacksonville as well. Fuji 3 at 11362 San Jose Blvd. was closed October 13 for roach activity and did not reopen until 4:18 p.m. that afternoon, one of the longer same-day clearance windows in the period.
Caribbean Sandwich Shop and Bakery at 8240 W. Waters Ave. in Tampa was also closed October 13 for roach activity, reopening at 2:49 p.m. That same day, Joey's Pizza at 1312 Seven Springs Blvd. in New Port Richey was shut down for roaches and cleared by 8:54 a.m. the next morning.
Gomez Mexican Grill at 14561 Palm Beach Blvd. in Fort Myers was closed October 14 for roach activity and reopened at 9:20 a.m. the next day. Fort Myers also saw a second closure in the period, though that one involved flies rather than roaches.
Josie's Egg Station at 1625 Shepherd Rd. in Lakeland was shut down October 12 for roach activity and reopened at 11:49 a.m. the following day.
The Denny's franchise at 12100 W. Sunrise Blvd. in Plantation draws particular attention because it is a national chain operating under corporate food safety standards. Denny's #9597 was closed October 14 for both roach and fly activity and cleared to reopen at 8:56 a.m. the next morning. Wings & More at 2525 W. Davie Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale received a closure order the same day for the same combination of roach and fly activity, reopening at 10:36 a.m.
Riverview Fresh Cuisine at 9005 E. Adamo Dr. in Tampa was closed October 15 for roach and fly activity, reopening at 9:16 a.m. the following morning.
The Rodent Closures
Six facilities were shuttered for rodent activity during the two-week period, and the geography is wide. A rodent closure at a golf club was among the more unexpected findings.
Cypress Creek Golf Club at 1011 Cypress Village Blvd. in Sun City Center was ordered closed October 14 for rodent activity. It did not reopen until 1:02 p.m. that afternoon, one of the latest same-day clearance times in the entire dataset. A golf club dining facility serving a retirement community carries a particular expectation of cleanliness, and the afternoon timeline suggests the remediation was not straightforward.
Parched Oak at 145 N. Woodland Blvd. in Deland was closed the same day, October 14, for rodent activity and cleared by 8:18 a.m. the next morning.
Broad St. Diner at 125 Broad St. in Titusville was also closed October 14 for rodent activity, reopening at 8:09 a.m. the following morning.
Azul Tequila Mexican Restaurant at 1121 E. Oak St. in Arcadia was shut down October 12 for rodent activity and cleared at 10:01 a.m. the next day.
Rotis Indian Restaurant at 13025 US Hwy. 301 S. in Riverview was closed October 12 for rodent activity and reopened at 11:53 a.m. the following day.
Miami Crab and Seafood Restaurant at 20723 NW 2nd Ave. in Miami Gardens was closed October 12 for rodent activity and cleared by 9:07 a.m. the next morning.
What These Violations Mean
Live pest activity in a food service environment is not a paperwork problem. Cockroaches carry bacteria including Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria on their legs and bodies, depositing those pathogens on food-contact surfaces, utensils, and food itself as they move through a kitchen. When inspectors document live roaches rather than just evidence of prior activity, it means the infestation is active and ongoing during food preparation hours.
Rodent findings carry a different and in some ways more acute risk. Rodents urinate constantly as they move, leaving trails of contamination across every surface they cross. At Cypress Creek Golf Club and Broad St. Diner, both closed October 14, inspectors found conditions that met the threshold for emergency closure, meaning the risk to the public was immediate enough that the facilities could not remain open even one more service period.
The triple-pest closure at Kazu Sushi Burrito is the most medically significant finding in this dataset. Simultaneous rodent, roach, and fly activity indicates a facility where multiple contamination vectors were operating at once. Flies are particularly dangerous at a raw fish counter because they land directly on exposed protein, regurgitate digestive enzymes, and move between waste and food surfaces within seconds.
Keke's Breakfast Cafe at 7609 State Rd. 7 in Parkland and Ice Spot at 13499 S. Cleveland Ave. in Fort Myers were both closed for fly activity alone, on October 12 and October 16 respectively. Fly closures in food facilities often involve the kind of volume that makes the risk visible to inspectors immediately, not a single insect near a window.
The Longer Record
The Monkey Bar of Clearwater at 1681 Gulf to Bay Blvd. stands out for a reason that has nothing to do with the severity of its pest finding. It is the only facility in this dataset with no confirmed reopening status. Every other closed restaurant in the two-week period has a documented clearance time. The Monkey Bar does not. That absence in the record is itself a fact worth noting.
The two Spring Hill closures on October 15 occurring within the same community on the same day suggests either a coordinated inspection sweep of that area or a broader pest pressure problem in that corridor. Both Crafted Dessert Co. and Breakfast Station cleared quickly, but the simultaneity is notable.
The Denny's closure in Plantation is the only national chain in the dataset. Corporate food safety programs at franchise operations typically include third-party audits and internal inspection schedules layered on top of state oversight. The October 14 closure for roach and fly activity at that location raises questions about whether those internal systems flagged the conditions before a state inspector did.
Kazu Sushi Burrito's triple-pest closure and its 20-hour remediation window remain the defining data point of this two-week period. The facility reopened. What the record does not show is how long the rodents, roaches, and flies had been present before October 13.
