FLORIDA. A Hooters on San Jose Boulevard in Jacksonville was emergency-closed September 29 after inspectors documented both live roach activity and rodent activity during the same visit, one of 52 pest-related emergency closures state inspectors issued across Florida between September 22 and October 5, 2026. As of this report, its reopening status remains unknown.
The two-week stretch produced closures in nearly every corner of the state, from a strip-mall Filipino café in Orange Park to a waterfront restaurant in Lantana, from a Chipotle in Miami to a Subway in St. Petersburg. Roaches drove 34 of the 52 shutdowns. Rodents accounted for 11. Flies and other pest activity made up the remaining six.
Jacksonville led all cities with six emergency closures during the period.
The Closures
The Jacksonville closures hit across different neighborhoods and restaurant types. Ya Habibi Slice and Spice on St. Augustine Road was closed for roach activity October 1 and reopened the next morning at 9:39 a.m. Hong Kong Station on Beach Boulevard was shut September 28 for roaches and cleared by 12:54 p.m. the same day.
El Primo Restaurant and Grocery on Powers Avenue was closed September 28 for roach activity and reopened by 11:15 a.m. St. James Café on West Duval Street, closed September 23 for roaches, had not confirmed a reopening as of this report.
Oviedo produced four closures in a single day, all on September 28, all at the Oviedo Mall. 2 Hermanos Taco Burrito, Mediterranean Gourmet, Asian Express, and Cuppasta were each emergency-closed for roach activity within hours of each other. Three of the four reopened the following morning before 11 a.m.
Tampa's four closures spanned both roach and rodent categories. Bella's Italian Café on South Howard Street was shut September 23 for roach and fly activity combined, one of the more serious multi-pest citations in the dataset. It reopened that afternoon at 4:01 p.m. Pisco Bar and Restaurant on North Armenia Avenue was closed September 28 for roaches and cleared by 10:43 a.m.
Pepo's Café on Northdale Boulevard was shut October 1 for roach activity and did not reopen until 2:42 p.m., one of the longer same-day closures in the period. Perry's BBQ Asian Grill at Citrus Park Town Center Mall was closed September 30 for roaches and reopened by 2:43 p.m.
Among chain restaurants, Moe's Southwest Grill at 9620 Applecross Road in Jacksonville was closed September 30 for fly activity and cleared by 10:06 a.m. Chipotle Mexican Grill on South Dixie Highway in Miami was shut September 29 for flies and reopened the next morning at 8:10 a.m. Subway 4419 on 66th Street North in St. Petersburg was closed September 28 for rodent activity and reopened by 10:38 a.m.
Los Agaves Royal Palm on Royal Palm Beach Boulevard was closed September 24 for both roach and rodent activity, the same dual-pest combination that triggered the Hooters closure five days later. It reopened that afternoon at 2:50 p.m.
Hive Waterfront Restaurant on Floral Road in Lantana was closed September 23 for roach and rodent activity combined and cleared by 9:00 a.m. the following morning. The Winghouse Bar and Grill on East Silver Springs Boulevard in Ocala was closed September 25 for roach and fly activity, and its reopening status remains unconfirmed.
Brandon Asian Cuisine on Stirling Road in Davie was closed October 1 for roach activity and reopened by 8:37 a.m. Chicken Guy on South University Drive, also in Davie, was shut September 30 for fly activity and cleared by 10:08 a.m.
Lolas Filipino Café and Mini Store on Blanding Boulevard in Orange Park was closed October 2 for roach activity. Its reopening status is not recorded in the state data.
What These Violations Mean
Live roaches inside a food-service facility are not simply a cleanliness problem. Cockroaches carry pathogens including Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria on their bodies and legs, and they deposit those organisms on food-contact surfaces, prep areas, and stored ingredients as they move through a kitchen at night. When an inspector documents live roach activity, it means the infestation is active enough to be visible during a daytime inspection, which typically understates the population size.
Rodent activity is a different category of risk. The state citations in this period, at facilities including Whistle Stop Grill and Bar in Safety Harbor, Rocky's Pizzeria in Flagler Beach, and Sailor's Return in Stuart, document rodent presence in operating kitchens. Rodent droppings can contaminate dry storage, open food containers, and prep surfaces with Hantavirus, Leptospira, and Salmonella-carrying waste. Unlike roaches, which scatter when disturbed, rodents establish travel routes and return to the same areas nightly, meaning a single documented visit typically indicates repeated access.
Fly activity, documented at six facilities including Chipotle on South Dixie Highway and Esposito Pizza in Plant City, represents a direct food-contamination pathway. Flies feed and defecate on exposed food, then land on preparation surfaces. The risk is acute when flies are documented near ready-to-eat items or open ingredients, which is the condition that triggers an emergency closure rather than a standard citation.
Four facilities in this period were cited for two pest types simultaneously: Hooters in Jacksonville, Los Agaves in Royal Palm Beach, Sonic in Zephyrhills, and Hive Waterfront in Lantana. A multi-pest citation indicates conditions severe enough to support more than one infestation simultaneously, which inspectors treat as evidence of systemic sanitation failures rather than an isolated incident.
The Longer Record
Several facilities in this roundup carry inspection histories that make the closure less surprising in context. Steamers of Naples on Airport Road was closed October 1 for roach activity. China Lee on South Kirkman Road in Orlando, shut September 22 for roaches, operates at an address with a documented inspection history in state records. Bayview Diner on East Oakland Park Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale was closed September 28 and cleared before 7:13 a.m., the earliest same-day reopening in the dataset, which suggests the facility was prepared to address violations quickly.
Bagelicious and More on County Line Road in Spring Hill was closed September 23 for roach and fly activity combined and reopened by 8:57 a.m. the following morning. Tavern at Cheval on Cheval Boulevard in Lutz was shut September 24 for roach and fly activity and cleared by 9:45 a.m.
Discovery Indian Cuisine on US 19 in Palm Harbor and Pizzitalia's Clearwater on McMullen Booth Road were both closed September 22 for rodent activity and both reopened the same morning. Their proximity in the calendar and geography, two Pinellas County facilities on the same day, reflects a pattern visible across the dataset: closures cluster by date and region, which can indicate coordinated inspection sweeps as much as coincidental failures.
San Marcos Mexican Grill in Marianna was closed September 24 for roach activity and did not reopen until 4:26 p.m., one of the longer clearance times in the period. Bistro Palms, also in Marianna, was closed September 22 for roaches and reopened by 10:22 a.m. Two separate Marianna restaurants emergency-closed within two days of each other for the same violation type.
Still Closed
Four facilities in this dataset had no confirmed reopening as of the period covered by state records: Lolas Filipino Café and Mini Store in Orange Park, the Hooters on San Jose Boulevard in Jacksonville, St. James Café on West Duval Street in Jacksonville, and Nori Thai Restaurant on Blind Pass Road in St. Pete Beach, closed September 23 for roach activity. The Winghouse Bar and Grill in Ocala, shut September 25 for roach and fly activity combined, also carries no confirmed reopening date in the state data.
The Hooters closure remains the most significant unresolved case in the period, a nationally recognized chain location shut for two pest types simultaneously, with no state record yet confirming it met standards to reopen.
