FLORIDA. A Lake Worth catering company was emergency-closed on September 9 after state inspectors documented rodents, roaches, and flies simultaneously at the same facility, one of 35 pest-related emergency closures issued across Florida between September 9 and September 22, 2026.
Nissen's Catering at 7495 Park Lane Road in Lake Worth was cleared to reopen by 7:27 a.m. the same morning, suggesting the closure was resolved before most of its competitors had started their breakfast service. That speed is notable, but the combination of all three pest types at a single catering operation, one that prepares food transported to events rather than consumed on-site, made it among the most alarming findings in the two-week stretch.
The 35 closures spanned 22 roach-related incidents, nine rodent-related incidents, and three fly-driven shutdowns. Lake Worth, Miami, and Jacksonville each recorded three closures. Tampa and Fernandina Beach each recorded two.
The Worst of the Two Weeks
Casa Dora Italian Café at 108 E Forsyth St in Jacksonville was also closed September 9 for all three pest types and reopened by 12:16 p.m. that same day. Casa Dora sits in downtown Jacksonville's Forsyth Street corridor, a block frequented by office workers at lunch.
Domino's 5112 at 1124 S 14 St in Fernandina Beach was likewise shuttered September 9 for rodents, roaches, and flies, and cleared to reopen by 10:01 a.m. A Domino's franchise closure for combined pest activity is not a finding the chain's corporate standards contemplate as routine.
Arte Pizza at 109 N 3 St, also in Fernandina Beach, was closed the same day for roach and fly activity, giving the small Nassau County beach town two simultaneous emergency closures on September 9.
The Roach Closures
Roach activity drove more than six in ten closures during the period. Golden Corral at 1734 W 49 St in Hialeah was closed September 14 for both roach and rodent activity and reopened by 9:19 a.m. The buffet format at a Golden Corral means food sits in open warming trays for extended periods, giving insects repeated access points across a wide service line.
Victory Restaurant and Lounge at 3252 NE 1 Ave in Miami was closed September 14 for roach and rodent activity and did not reopen until 4:06 p.m. that afternoon, one of the longer turnaround times in the dataset.
Club Fellowship at 9827 E Hibiscus St in Miami was also closed September 14 for roach and rodent activity, giving Miami two simultaneous closures on the same date.
Shanghai 818 at 7860 Glades Rd in Boca Raton was closed September 16 for roach and rodent activity. Terranova's Italian Restaurant at 208 N State St in Bunnell was closed the same day for the same combination.
Deck 84 at 840 E Atlantic Ave in Delray Beach, a waterfront restaurant on the Intracoastal, was closed September 17 for roach and rodent activity and reopened by 2:52 p.m. The Atlantic Avenue address puts it among the most trafficked dining corridors in Palm Beach County.
Joven's at 435 S Myrtle Ave in Clearwater was closed September 18 for roach activity and reopened by 9:28 a.m., the latest closure date in the dataset and one of the faster turnarounds recorded.
Longwood Country Kitchen at 260 SR W 434 in Longwood was closed September 17 for roach activity and cleared by 8:19 a.m. Zen Noodles Bar at 3117 SW 34 St in Gainesville was closed September 14 for roach activity and reopened by 4:39 p.m.
Captain D's at 4373 W Fairfield Dr in Pensacola was closed September 11 for roach activity and reopened by 12:13 p.m. Thirsty Turtle Jensen at 1897 NE Jensen Beach Blvd in Jensen Beach was closed September 9 for roach activity and did not reopen until 4:18 p.m.
Jax 5th Ave Deli and Ale House at 951 Greenwood Blvd in Lake Mary was closed September 10 for roach activity. Thaiwoodhouse at 362 Granada Blvd in Ormond Beach was closed the same day for the same reason.
The Rodent and Fly Closures
The rodent closures cut across restaurant types with no apparent pattern by cuisine or format. Pub at 4476 Fountains Dr in Lake Worth was closed September 17 for rodent activity and reopened by 9:10 a.m.
Fountains Country Club Main Dining Room, also at 4476 Fountains Dr in Lake Worth, was closed the same day for rodent activity and reopened by 8:52 a.m. Two separate food service operations at the same address, both closed for rodents on the same date.
Michelle's Brown Bag Café LLC at 630 S Orange Ave in Sarasota was closed September 17 for rodent activity and reopened by 8:32 a.m. San Jose Country Club Dining Room at 7529 San Jose Blvd in Jacksonville was closed September 15 for rodent activity and reopened by 8:16 a.m.
Pizzapiez at 614 SE 10 St in Deerfield Beach was closed September 15 for rodent activity. Parched Oak at 145 N Woodland Blvd in Deland was also closed September 15 for rodent activity and cleared by 8:40 a.m.
Au Bon Gout Take Out Restaurant at 5273 N Dixie Hwy in Pompano Beach was closed September 15 for rodent activity and reopened by 12:08 p.m. Lin Cajun Grill Inc at 1500 Apalachee Pkwy in Tallahassee was closed the same day for rodent activity and reopened by 10:37 a.m.
The fly-driven closures were fewer but concentrated in the middle of the period. CT Cantina and Taqueria at 176 N Pointe Dr in Dania Beach was closed September 16 for fly activity and reopened by 9:21 a.m.
Oodle Ramen and More at 5812 Conroy Rd in Orlando was closed September 15 for fly activity and did not reopen until 2:31 p.m. Vale Food Company at 420 N Federal Hwy in Fort Lauderdale was closed the same day for fly activity and reopened by 3:32 p.m.
What These Violations Mean
Live pest activity is not a paperwork violation. When inspectors document live roaches in a food preparation area, those insects have been traveling across food contact surfaces, equipment interiors, and stored ingredients, potentially depositing bacteria including Salmonella and E. coli along every path. The problem is not the roach an inspector sees. It is every surface that roach crossed before the inspector arrived.
Rodent activity carries a distinct contamination route. Rodent droppings contain pathogens transmissible to humans, including Hantavirus and Salmonella. Rodents also gnaw through food packaging, contaminating product that may appear visually intact. The closures at the two Fountains Drive operations in Lake Worth, a pub and a country club dining room at the same address, closed on the same day for rodent activity, suggest a shared infestation that crossed whatever physical boundary separates the two facilities.
Fly infestations, documented at CT Cantina in Dania Beach, Oodle Ramen in Orlando, Vale Food Company in Fort Lauderdale, and as a secondary pest at several of the combined-infestation closures, represent a direct transmission route from waste and decaying matter to food surfaces. Flies do not need to land on food for long. A single contact is sufficient to transfer bacteria.
The combined-pest closures are the most serious category in this dataset. Nissen's Catering, Casa Dora in Jacksonville, and Domino's 5112 in Fernandina Beach all drew closures for roaches, rodents, and flies simultaneously. Each pest type typically requires a separate entry point and a separate food source within the facility. Finding all three at once suggests an infestation that had been building for some time before inspectors arrived.
The Longer Record
Snak Shak at 3144 Lenox Ave in Jacksonville was closed September 14 for roach activity. San Jose Country Club and Casa Dora gave Jacksonville three closures across six days, a concentration that places the city alongside Miami and Lake Worth at the top of this period's geographic rankings.
The two Fernandina Beach closures on September 9, Arte Pizza and Domino's, came within hours of each other in a town whose restaurant row is concentrated near the historic downtown and the beach approaches. Both reopened the same morning.
Several of the fastest reopenings in this dataset, Longwood Country Kitchen cleared by 8:19 a.m., Michelle's Brown Bag Café by 8:32 a.m., Fountains Country Club by 8:52 a.m., suggest that inspectors arrived early, found violations, and that operators had pest control on-site within hours. Whether the underlying infestation was fully resolved or only suppressed enough to pass a follow-up inspection is a question the closure data alone cannot answer.
Nissen's Catering reopened at 7:27 a.m. on September 9, less than three hours after most pest control services open for business. It was the fastest turnaround in the dataset, for the closure with the most pest types documented.
