LAKE WORTH, FL. Back in March 2026, state inspectors ordered Le Berger Restaurant LLC on S Dixie Highway shut down after documenting roach and rodent activity inside the kitchen, the same finding that had closed the same restaurant six times before.
The closure order was issued on March 10, 2026. Inspectors gave the restaurant until March 11 to vacate the premises.
What Inspectors Found
Le Berger Restaurant: Emergency Closure History
The March 10 inspection that triggered the closure also produced two high-severity violations. Those included roach and rodent activity serious enough to warrant an immediate emergency shutdown order under Florida's public health statutes.
The restaurant cleared a follow-up inspection the next morning. Inspectors returned on March 11 and found only one intermediate violation, and Le Berger was allowed to reopen at 9:51 a.m.
The Violations
The most recent inspection on record, conducted on May 12, 2026, found the restaurant had not stabilized. Inspectors cited three high-severity violations and two intermediate violations during that visit.
Those high-severity findings included inadequate handwashing by food employees, no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. The two intermediate violations were single-use items being improperly reused and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
A May 11 inspection, the day before, had found six high-severity violations and two intermediate violations. A second inspection the same day cleared the restaurant with zero high-severity findings and one intermediate violation.
That sequence, three inspections across two days in May, suggests inspectors were conducting close follow-up monitoring. The high-severity count on May 11 was the worst single-day tally in the recent inspection record.
What These Violations Mean
Roach and rodent activity inside a food service kitchen is among the narrowest categories of violation that Florida law treats as grounds for immediate closure without warning. Roaches and rodents contaminate food contact surfaces, utensils, and stored ingredients with pathogens including salmonella. Unlike a temperature violation that can be corrected on the spot, an active pest infestation requires extermination and deep cleaning before the facility is safe to operate.
The May 12 finding that toxic chemicals were improperly stored or labeled carries a different but equally direct risk. Chemicals stored near food, or placed in unlabeled containers, can cause acute poisoning if they contact ingredients or if employees mistake them for food-safe products. There is no symptom delay with chemical contamination the way there is with bacterial illness. Customers can become sick the same day.
Inadequate handwashing, also cited in the May 12 inspection, is the most direct transmission pathway for foodborne illness in a restaurant setting. When employees handle raw proteins and then touch ready-to-eat food without washing, or touch unsanitary surfaces and return to food prep, they carry pathogens directly to the plate. The absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods compounds this, because customers who are pregnant, elderly, or immunocompromised cannot make an informed choice about what they order.
Reusing single-use items, the intermediate violation from May 12, creates cross-contamination risks that accumulate invisibly. Gloves, foil, and disposable utensils are designed to be used once because repeated use degrades their integrity and transfers bacteria between tasks.
The Longer Record
Forty-seven inspections are on record at this address, producing a total of 285 documented violations. That volume alone is notable for a single permanent food service location. But the pattern inside those numbers is what distinguishes Le Berger from a restaurant that had a bad stretch.
Every one of the six prior emergency closures at this address was triggered by the same cause: roach and rodent activity. The first came in January 2019. Two more followed in the fall of 2021, separated by six weeks. Two more came in 2023, separated by four months. The March 2026 closure was the sixth time the same finding forced the same restaurant to close.
The inspection record in the months surrounding the March 2026 closure shows a facility that passed cleanly in December 2025, with zero high-severity and zero intermediate violations. But October 2025 had produced three high-severity violations, and July 2025 had produced one. The December clean inspection did not hold.
After the March 11 reopening, the May 2026 inspections found the restaurant back in serious violation territory, with six high-severity violations documented on May 11 alone. As of the most recent inspection on record, May 12, 2026, three high-severity violations remained.