FLORIDA. A small-town café in Starke was shut down Tuesday morning after inspectors documented rodents, roaches, and flies all in the same facility, one of 25 restaurants emergency-closed across Florida during the week of October 6 through October 12, 2026.
Twenty-three of those 25 closures were triggered by pest activity. The remaining two were not food temperature failures. One was an unlicensed operation. The other was a pizza shop leaking sewage.
The Week's Worst
Call Street Café on Call Street in Starke was closed October 9 and reopened the same morning at 8:10 a.m., the earliest recorded reopening of any facility shut down during the week. Inspectors cited rodent activity, roach activity, and fly activity together, making it one of only two facilities where all three pest categories appeared in the same closure order.
Thai Cuisine and Noodle House on San Jose Boulevard in Jacksonville was the other. Closed October 7, it reopened before 10 a.m. after inspectors documented both roach and rodent activity at the location.
Miami Shores Golf Club on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami Shores was shut down October 9 for roach and rodent activity. The golf club setting distinguishes it from the week's restaurant closures, a reminder that food service operations inside recreational facilities face the same inspection standards as standalone restaurants.
Copp Winery and Brewery on West Gulf to Lake Highway in Crystal River was closed October 7 for rodent activity. It did not reopen until 3:25 p.m., the longest closure window of any facility shut down that day.
Pest, Sewage, and No License
The two non-pest closures stand apart from the rest of the week.
NY Best Pizza on South Westmonte Drive in Altamonte Springs was closed October 7 after inspectors documented sewage leaks on the premises. It reopened at 11:44 a.m. Sewage in a food preparation environment is an immediate contamination risk, and the state treats it as an emergency-level violation requiring closure.
The Marketplace on Vistana Drive in Orlando was shut down October 9 for unlicensed activity, meaning the operation was running without a valid state food service license. It did not reopen until 4:04 p.m., the latest reopening time recorded for any facility during the entire week.
Among the pest-only closures, several involved combinations of two pest types. Tribute to Tobacco Road by Kush on South Miami Avenue in Miami was closed October 8 for roach and fly activity. Asian Fusion Buffet on Harbor Village Lane in Apollo Beach was closed October 7 for roach and fly activity. Nawabi Hyderabad House Biryani Place on West Lake Mary Boulevard in Lake Mary was closed the same day for rodent and fly activity.
China Spring III on Wiles Road in Coral Springs was closed October 8 for roach and rodent activity. Baci Beachside on Highway A1A in Satellite Beach was shut down the same day for rodent and fly activity.
La Carreta Mia at Miami International Airport on Northwest 21st Street was closed October 6 for rodent and fly activity. Airport food service concessions operate under the same state inspection authority as street-level restaurants.
Single-pest closures made up the majority of the week's total. World Tennis Club on Airport Road in Naples was closed October 7 for rodent activity alone. Winghouse Bar and Grill on North Atlantic Avenue in Daytona Beach was closed the same day for roach activity. Buccaneer Restaurant on Lake Drive in Palm Beach Shores was closed October 7 for fly activity.
Gaspar Patio Bar and Grille on North 56th Street in Temple Terrace was closed October 7 for rodent activity and did not reopen until 2:47 p.m. The Grill at Stonegate Golf Club on Village Drive in Poinciana was closed the same day for fly activity and reopened before 10 a.m.
Panhandlers on Highway 98 in Santa Rosa Beach was closed October 6 for rodent activity. Bamboo Creek China Bistro on Belle Terre Parkway in Palm Coast was closed the same day for roach activity. Loading Zone on East Washington Street in Orlando was also closed October 6, for rodent activity.
Amar Orlando on South Orange Blossom Trail was closed October 7 for roach activity. No. 1 Jin Jin Kitchen on Ariana Street in Lakeland was closed October 8 for roach activity and did not reopen until 12:37 p.m. Northside Asian Kitchen on US Highway 98 North in Lakeland was also closed October 7 for roach activity, reopening at 2:39 p.m.
Harpoon Harry's Crab House on South Franklin Street in Tampa was closed October 6 for roach activity and did not reopen until 3:32 p.m., one of the longer single-day closures in the week's data.
China One on Sheridan Street in Davie was closed October 7 for roach activity.
What These Violations Mean
Roach activity is the most common trigger in this week's closures, appearing in 16 of the 25 orders. Live roaches in a food service environment are not merely a sanitation problem. Cockroaches carry pathogens including Salmonella and E. coli on their bodies and in their waste, and they move between sewage, trash, and food contact surfaces without distinction. An inspector documenting roach activity inside a kitchen is documenting a direct contamination pathway to the food being served.
Rodent activity carries similar risks, compounded by the volume of contamination a single rodent can produce. Rodent droppings, urine, and nesting materials can contaminate dry goods, cooking surfaces, and stored equipment throughout a facility, often in areas that are not cleaned between inspections. Facilities like World Tennis Club in Naples and Copp Winery and Brewery in Crystal River, which are not traditional restaurant settings, face the same contamination exposure as any other licensed food service operation.
Fly activity, cited at seven facilities this week including the Grill at Stonegate Golf Club and Buccaneer Restaurant in Palm Beach Shores, is treated as an emergency violation when flies are found in food preparation or storage areas. Flies transfer bacteria between surfaces with each landing, and a population large enough to trigger a closure order represents sustained, repeated contact with food and equipment.
The sewage leak at NY Best Pizza in Altamonte Springs is a separate category of risk. Sewage contains fecal coliform bacteria at concentrations that can cause acute illness, and any contact between sewage and food, food contact surfaces, or employee hands creates an immediate public health hazard. The state does not require a specific volume or duration of leakage to order a closure.
The Longer Record
Several facilities closed this week carry inspection histories that put the current findings in context. Call Street Café in Starke has prior inspections on record, meaning this week's three-pest closure did not occur at a brand-new operation with no regulatory history. The same is true of China Spring III in Coral Springs and No. 1 Jin Jin Kitchen in Lakeland, both of which have been inspected previously before this week's roach-related emergency orders.
Miami Shores Golf Club and Copp Winery and Brewery represent the week's more unusual institutional closures. Both are recreational venue food operations, a category that sometimes accumulates less inspection scrutiny than high-volume urban restaurants, yet both generated emergency closure orders for pest activity this week.
La Carreta Mia at Miami International Airport is part of a well-known South Florida Cuban restaurant chain. Airport concession locations operate under the same state licensing and inspection framework as any other food service permit holder, and this week's closure for rodent and fly activity is part of the facility's documented inspection record.
Harpoon Harry's Crab House in Tampa reopened at 3:32 p.m. on October 6 after its roach-activity closure, the same day it was shut down. Whether the conditions that triggered the order had been building across prior inspections is a question the facility's full inspection record would answer. That record exists and is public.
