PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL. Chops Lobster Bar at 101 Plaza Real South in Boca Raton was emergency-closed on September 8 after inspectors documented rodent, roach, and fly activity inside the restaurant. It was the third time state inspectors have ordered that location shut down.
The closure was one of 15 across Palm Beach County and surrounding areas between September 8 and September 21, 2026. Thirteen of those closures were triggered by pest activity. Seven involved locations that had been closed before.
The Worst of the Worst
Chops Lobster Bar reopened the same day at 12:26 p.m. That quick turnaround, from emergency closure to reopening in a matter of hours, was a pattern repeated across nearly every location in this two-week stretch.
Au Bon Gout Take Out Restaurant at 5273 N Dixie Highway in Pompano Beach carries the longest closure record of any facility in this period. Inspectors ordered it shut on September 15 for rodent activity. It was the fourth time the state has closed that location.
Au Bon Gout reopened at 12:08 p.m. the same day.
Pest Activity Across the County
Nissen's Catering at 7495 Park Lane Road in Lake Worth was closed September 9 after inspectors found rodent, roach, and fly activity, all three pest categories present simultaneously. No URL is on record for that location.
Two restaurants at the same Lake Worth address were closed on September 17. Fountains Country Club Main Dining Room at 4476 Fountains Drive was shut at 8:52 a.m. for rodent activity and cleared to reopen within the same morning. The Pub, also at 4476 Fountains Drive, was closed the same day for the same reason and allowed to reopen at 9:10 a.m.
A country club and its adjacent pub, both shuttered for rodents on the same morning.
Deck 84 at 840 E Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach was closed September 17 for roach and rodent activity. The waterfront restaurant, a well-known dining destination on the Intracoastal, had been closed twice before. Inspectors allowed it to reopen at 2:52 p.m.
Shanghai 818 at 7860 Glades Road in Boca Raton was shut September 16 for roach and rodent activity. It was the second closure on record for that location. The restaurant reopened at 3:18 p.m.
One Thai Restaurant at 4232 Northlake Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens was closed September 8 for roach and rodent activity and reopened at 9:09 a.m.
Thirsty Turtle Jensen at 1897 NE Jensen Beach Boulevard was closed September 9 for roach activity and allowed to reopen at 4:18 p.m.
Pizzapiez at 614 SE 10th Street in Deerfield Beach was closed September 15 for rodent activity and cleared by 12:32 p.m.
Beyond Pest Activity
Two closures in this period had nothing to do with pests.
Rivales Taqueria and Craft Bar at 106 N Olive Avenue in West Palm Beach was closed September 14 because the restaurant had no warewashing facilities available. That means dishes, utensils, and food-contact surfaces could not be properly sanitized. It was the second closure on record for Rivales. Inspectors allowed it to reopen at 9:20 a.m.
IHOP at 1503 Belvedere Road in West Palm Beach was closed September 10 after inspectors documented a sewage backup. Raw sewage in a food preparation or service environment is an immediate public health emergency. It was the second closure on record for that IHOP location, and the restaurant was not cleared to reopen until 3:57 p.m.
Two locations in the broader dataset fell outside Palm Beach County proper. Oodle Ramen and More at 5812 Conroy Road in Orlando was closed September 15 for fly activity and reopened at 2:31 p.m. I Love NY Pizza and Subs at 6602 Old Winter Garden Road in Orlando was shut September 8 for roach and fly activity and reopened at 8:04 a.m. Yum Yum Hot Pot at 10063 S US Highway 1 in Port St. Lucie was closed September 8 for rodent activity. It was the second closure on record for that location. Inspectors allowed it to reopen at 2:53 p.m.
What These Violations Mean
Roaches and rodents are not a nuisance problem in a commercial kitchen. They are a direct contamination pathway. Rodents leave droppings and urine on food-contact surfaces, inside dry storage areas, and along the paths they travel through walls and cabinets. Roaches carry pathogens including Salmonella and E. coli and spread them across every surface they cross. When inspectors find evidence of both in the same kitchen, as they did at Chops Lobster Bar, Shanghai 818, Deck 84, One Thai Restaurant, and Nissen's Catering, the contamination risk extends to every surface in the facility.
Fly activity, documented at Nissen's Catering, Oodle Ramen and More, I Love NY Pizza and Subs, and Chops Lobster Bar, presents a parallel risk. Flies feed on organic waste and then land on food and preparation surfaces, transferring bacteria with each contact. A fly observed landing on food that is then served to a customer is a direct transmission event.
The closure at Rivales Taqueria for no warewashing facilities is a different category of risk but no less serious. Without functional sanitizing equipment, plates, cutting boards, and utensils accumulate bacteria across service hours. Cross-contamination between raw proteins and ready-to-eat food becomes likely rather than possible.
The sewage backup at the West Palm Beach IHOP represents the most acute single-event risk in this period. Sewage contains a broad spectrum of pathogens including norovirus, hepatitis A, and coliform bacteria. Any food or surface exposed during a backup event is presumed contaminated until the area has been professionally remediated and cleared.
The Longer Record
Seven of the 15 locations closed during this period had been shut down by state inspectors at least once before. That number is not a coincidence. Facilities that have been emergency-closed once have already demonstrated that conditions inside can deteriorate to the level that triggers state intervention. Closing, cleaning, and reopening in the same afternoon does not address the underlying conditions that allowed pest activity to establish in the first place.
Au Bon Gout Take Out in Pompano Beach stands apart. Four emergency closures on record at a single take-out restaurant on N Dixie Highway represents a documented pattern of recurring infestation. Each closure was followed by a same-day reopening. The cycle has repeated at least four times.
Chops Lobster Bar in Boca Raton has now been closed three times. The most recent closure, for rodents, roaches, and flies together, came at a restaurant positioned in an upscale shopping plaza. The prior closure history makes the September 8 finding something other than an isolated incident.
Deck 84 in Delray Beach, a restaurant with a prominent waterfront location on E Atlantic Avenue, was on its third documented closure event. The two Orlando locations, Oodle Ramen and I Love NY Pizza and Subs, had no prior closures on record, making their September findings first-time emergency interventions rather than a continuation of a known pattern.
Nissen's Catering in Lake Worth, which had all three pest categories documented simultaneously, has no state URL on record in the inspection database. That gap in the public record makes it the one location in this period where the full inspection history cannot be independently verified.
