FLORIDA. A food distribution warehouse in Orlando was emergency-closed after inspectors found rodents, roaches, and flies all active at the same facility, one of 41 pest-related emergency closures state inspectors issued across Florida in a two-week stretch ending August 30, 2026.
DYA Ice Food Service, operating out of a distribution court at 4880 Distribution Ct in Orlando, was shuttered on August 17 with all three pest categories documented simultaneously. The facility did not reopen until 4:53 p.m. that same day. No URL was available for this location in state records, and its prior inspection history was not included in the data provided to this publication.
The two-week period produced 26 roach-related closures, 11 rodent-related closures, and 4 fly-related closures. Orlando led all cities with five emergency shutdowns, followed by Tampa with four, and North Miami Beach with three.
The Violations
The chain restaurants were not spared. Longhorn Steakhouse of Cypress Creek at 6225 N Andrews Ave in Fort Lauderdale was emergency-closed on August 21 for roach activity and did not reopen until 4:23 p.m. that afternoon.
Panera Bread at 4403 Roosevelt Blvd in Jacksonville was shut down the same morning for fly activity, reopening by 8:52 a.m. The Ocala Dunkin' Donuts at 8121 SW SR 200 was also closed for flies on August 21, with inspectors clearing it by 8:31 a.m., the fastest turnaround of the entire two-week period.
North Miami Beach accounted for three of the eleven rodent closures. Eat and Run Subs at 16775 N Miami Ave was closed on August 20 for both roach and rodent activity, reopening just before 9 a.m. CM Chicken at 1256 NE 163 St, one block away, was closed the day before for the same dual-pest combination. Seph Restaurant and Bakery at 1362 NE 163 St was also closed on August 19 for rodent activity, reopening at 12:30 p.m.
Three closures on the same street corridor in the same 24-hour window is the kind of clustering that suggests a neighborhood-level infestation problem, not isolated incidents.
Tampa's four closures were spread across the full two weeks. Doodle Noodle Bar at 9620 W Linebaugh Ave was closed August 17 for roach and fly activity, reopening at 11:15 a.m. Memo Modern Italian at 10103 Montague St was also closed that day for roaches, cleared by 8:29 a.m. Salem's Fresh Eats at 2015 N 50 St was shut down August 18 for roach activity, reopening at 9:16 a.m. Sushi Masa Premium at 17021 Palm Pointe Dr was closed August 21, the last of Tampa's four, with inspectors clearing it by 3:28 p.m.
Unexpected Locations
Some of the closures came at restaurants not typically associated with pest problems in the public imagination. Cooper at 4610 PGA Blvd in Palm Beach Gardens, an upscale address in one of South Florida's wealthier corridors, was emergency-closed August 19 for roach and fly activity, reopening at 10:42 a.m.
Dimitri's on the Water at 690 Dodecanese Blvd in Tarpon Springs, a waterfront dining destination in a city that draws tourists for its Greek heritage and sponge docks, was closed August 17 for roach activity, reopening by 9:01 a.m.
Hole in the Wall Seafood and Raw Bar at 23 Ave D in Apalachicola was closed August 18 for roach activity. Its reopening status was listed as unknown in state records.
Licking South Beach at 754-758 Washington Ave in Miami Beach, on one of the most heavily trafficked tourist corridors in the state, was emergency-closed August 19 for roach activity, with inspectors clearing it by 10:52 a.m.
What These Violations Mean
Live pest activity in a food service environment is not a paperwork violation. Roaches carry pathogens including Salmonella and E. coli on their bodies and legs, depositing them on food prep surfaces, utensils, and exposed food as they move through a kitchen. A single live roach documented by an inspector typically indicates a larger population behind walls, under equipment, and inside drains.
Rodent activity carries a distinct and in some ways more serious risk profile. Rodent droppings can transmit hantavirus, leptospirosis, and Salmonella. Unlike roaches, which tend to stay near food prep areas, rodents move through a facility's entire footprint, including storage areas, dry goods shelves, and spaces where packaging is kept. The three North Miami Beach closures for rodent activity, within a single block and a single day, suggest an infestation that does not respect property lines.
Fly closures, while less dramatic-sounding than roaches or rodents, represent a direct contamination vector. Flies land on waste, raw meat, and fecal matter before landing on food. The Panera Bread and Dunkin' Donuts closures, both on August 21 and both cleared within hours, suggest the fly activity was caught early. That is not always the case.
When inspectors document dual-pest activity, as they did at Eat and Run Subs, CM Chicken, Hot Wok, Crab Trap, Doodle Noodle Bar, Cooper, and DYA Ice Food Service, it signals that basic sanitation protocols have broken down broadly enough to support multiple species simultaneously. That is a different category of problem than a single roach near a drain.
The Longer Record
The data provided to this publication did not include prior inspection counts for the facilities listed in this roundup. What the closure dates and reopening times do reveal is a pattern of rapid compliance: the majority of the 41 facilities were cleared and reopened within hours of the initial emergency order.
Crab Trap at 16495 Perdido Key Dr in Pensacola, closed August 21 for roach and fly activity, reopened at 11:12 a.m. the same day. Bbee's Home Cooking Inc at 2511 Sanford Ave in Sanford, closed August 19 for rodent activity, was cleared by 8:06 a.m. Legends Caribbean Shack at 805 S Kirkman Rd in Orlando, closed August 18 for roaches, reopened by 9:03 a.m.
Quick reopenings indicate that operators were able to address the immediate conditions inspectors documented. They do not indicate that underlying infestation problems have been resolved. Pest populations are not eliminated by a single cleaning session.
Bar Louie at 4100 N Alafaya Trl in Orlando, closed August 17 for fly activity, took until 12:36 p.m. to reopen, one of the longer turnarounds for a fly-only closure. Romano's Pizzeria and Restaurant at 4010 US 1 S in St. Augustine, closed August 18 for roach activity, was not cleared until 4:32 p.m., the latest reopening of any roach closure in the two-week period.
Boardwalk Bar and Grill at 31044 Ave A in Big Pine Key, closed August 19 for rodent activity in the Florida Keys, reopened by 9:43 a.m. Its location at the end of the Overseas Highway, far from the nearest major inspection district office, makes the quick resolution notable.
The Hole in the Wall Seafood and Raw Bar in Apalachicola remains the single closure from this two-week period with no confirmed reopening date in state records.
