NEW PORT RICHEY, FL. Back in April 2026, state inspectors ordered Las Perlas on Trouble Creek Road shut down after finding rodent activity inside the restaurant, the second time in the facility's documented history that inspectors have pulled its operating authority entirely.
The closure was ordered on April 15. Inspectors returned the same day, and the restaurant was cleared to reopen at 4:19 that afternoon. But the circumstances that led to the shutdown, and the inspection record that preceded it, tell a more complicated story.
What Inspectors Found
Las Perlas Inspection History, 2024-2026
The closure-triggering violation was rodent activity, documented during the April 15 inspection. Inspectors conducted two separate visits that day. The first turned up two high-severity violations and four intermediate ones. The follow-up, conducted after corrective action, still showed one high-severity violation and two intermediate violations before the restaurant was allowed to reopen.
The high-severity violations cited on April 15 included inadequate handwashing facilities and no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods. The intermediate violations covered multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, single-use items being reused, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities.
That is a wide range of problems for a single inspection day, separate from the rodent finding that triggered the closure itself.
What These Violations Mean
Rodent activity in a food service environment is among the most direct public health threats inspectors can document. Rodents carry pathogens including Salmonella and Hantavirus, and they contaminate surfaces, food packaging, and stored ingredients through droppings, urine, and direct contact. Customers eating at a restaurant with active rodent presence have no way to know the food they are served has not been in contact with contaminated surfaces or materials.
The inadequate handwashing facilities violation compounds that risk. Without functioning handwashing infrastructure, employees handling food after contact with contaminated surfaces have no practical means to break the transmission chain. Studies consistently link handwashing failures to foodborne illness outbreaks, and inspectors treat the absence of adequate facilities as a structural barrier to basic hygiene, not a procedural lapse.
The consumer advisory violation is a separate but serious concern. Customers with compromised immune systems, pregnant women, elderly diners, and young children face elevated risk from raw or undercooked proteins. Without a posted advisory, those customers cannot make an informed choice about what they order. That is why state code treats the missing advisory as a high-severity violation, not a paperwork issue.
The improperly cleaned multi-use utensils and reused single-use items documented on April 15 carry their own risk. Utensils that are not properly sanitized develop bacterial biofilms within 24 hours, and those biofilms are resistant to standard cleaning once established. Reusing items designed for a single use, whether gloves, cups, or foil, introduces cross-contamination pathways that are difficult to trace if a customer later becomes ill.
The Longer Record
The April 2026 closure did not arrive without warning. Across 14 inspections on record, Las Perlas has accumulated 64 total violations. That volume alone is notable for a permanent food service establishment in Pasco County, but the pattern within those inspections is what stands out.
The December 2024 inspection produced five high-severity violations and one intermediate. Less than five months later, in early May 2025, inspectors returned and found six high-severity violations and two intermediate violations on May 5, followed by four more high-severity violations on May 6. That two-day sequence in May 2025 represents the most concentrated burst of serious findings in the facility's recent history before April 2026.
July 2025 produced a clean inspection, with no high-severity or intermediate violations documented. December 2025 brought one high-severity violation. Then April 2026 brought the closure.
This is the second emergency closure in the restaurant's documented record. The prior closure is on file, though the inspection data does not specify its date or triggering violation. What the record does show is that Las Perlas has cycled through periods of serious violations, a clean inspection, more serious violations, and now a second shutdown, all within roughly 16 months of documented history.
The restaurant was cleared to reopen on April 15, the same day it was closed. Whether the conditions that produced 64 violations across 14 inspections have been durably addressed is a question the inspection record, not the reopening clearance, will ultimately answer.