ST. JOHNS COUNTY, FL. State inspectors emergency-closed eight restaurants between September 23 and October 6, 2026, seven of them for live pest activity, and at least three of those restaurants had been through the same process before.
The stretch began on September 23 and hit its densest cluster on September 28, when three separate Jacksonville restaurants were shuttered on the same day. By the time the two-week period closed, a Hooters, a Vietnamese pho restaurant, and a Jacksonville grocery-restaurant combo had each accumulated their third documented closure at the same address.
The Worst of the Fourteen Days
Hooters on San Jose Boulevard was closed on September 29 after inspectors documented both roach activity and rodent activity on the premises. It is the only closure in this two-week period to involve two distinct pest types simultaneously, and it is the third time the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation has issued an emergency closure order at that address.
As of publication, the San Jose Boulevard Hooters has not confirmed a reopening. Its status remains unknown in state records.
Three restaurants were shuttered on September 28 alone. El Primo Restaurant and Grocery on Powers Avenue was closed for roach activity and reopened at 11:15 a.m. after remediation. It was that location's third closure on record.
Pho Vinh on North Primrose Drive in Orlando was also closed September 28 for roach activity, reopening at 10:44 a.m. That closure was also the third on record at that address.
Hong Kong Station on Beach Boulevard was the third restaurant shuttered that same day, also for roach activity. It reopened at 12:54 p.m.
The Other Closures
St James Café on West Duval Street in downtown Jacksonville was closed September 23, the first closure of the period, for roach activity. Its current status is unknown, and no reopening time appears in state records.
Ya Habibi Slice and Spice on St. Augustine Road was closed October 1 for roach activity and cleared for reopening at 9:39 a.m. the same day, one of the faster turnarounds in the period.
Moe's Southwest Grill number 759 on Applecross Road was closed September 30 for fly activity, a departure from the roach-dominated pattern of this period. It reopened at 10:06 a.m.
The Hot Dog Guy at 929 West Michigan Street in Orlando was the only closure not triggered by pest activity. Inspectors cited the absence of potable water, a condition that shuts down food preparation entirely. The stand reopened at 12:17 p.m. on September 24.
What These Violations Mean
Seven of the eight closures in this period were triggered by live pest activity, which state inspectors treat as an immediate public health hazard rather than a paperwork violation. Live roaches in a food preparation environment are not simply a sanitation concern. They carry pathogens including Salmonella, E. coli, and various strains of bacteria that cause gastroenteritis, and they deposit those pathogens on food surfaces, prep equipment, and stored ingredients through direct contact and fecal matter. Anyone who ate at Hooters on San Jose Boulevard, El Primo on Powers Avenue, Pho Vinh on North Primrose Drive, Hong Kong Station on Beach Boulevard, St James Café on West Duval Street, or Ya Habibi on St. Augustine Road in the days before these closures was eating in an environment where inspectors subsequently found live roaches active enough to trigger an emergency order.
Rodent activity, documented at Hooters alongside roaches, carries a distinct and elevated risk. Rodents introduce hantavirus, leptospirosis, and rat-bite fever into food environments through urine, droppings, and direct contact with food and surfaces. The combination of roach and rodent activity at a single facility, as documented at the San Jose Boulevard Hooters, represents a broader and more entrenched infestation than either pest alone.
The fly activity at Moe's Southwest Grill is classified separately but is not a minor violation. Flies transfer bacteria from waste and decomposing matter to food surfaces within seconds of landing. Inspectors do not issue emergency closure orders for a single fly on a window. The fly activity documented at the Applecross Road location was sufficient to meet the threshold for immediate shutdown.
The Hot Dog Guy's closure for no potable water is a different category of risk. Without a verified safe water supply, hand washing, equipment sanitation, and safe food preparation are all compromised. The violation is acute and operational rather than pest-related, but it is treated by state regulators as equally closure-worthy.
The Longer Record
Three of the eight closures this period were at locations with two prior emergency closures already on record, meaning each of those three facilities has now been emergency-closed three times at the same address. That pattern is significant. An emergency closure requires inspectors to find conditions serious enough to pose an immediate threat to public health, not merely a violation that can be corrected at the next routine inspection. Reaching that threshold three times at the same address suggests that whatever remediation was completed after prior closures did not produce lasting change.
El Primo Restaurant and Grocery on Powers Avenue and Pho Vinh on North Primrose Drive both carry that three-closure history. Both were closed and reopened within hours on September 28, which means both passed a follow-up inspection the same day. Whether same-day reopening after a third closure reflects genuine remediation or a more limited fix is not something the inspection record alone can answer.
Hooters on San Jose Boulevard also enters its third closure. Unlike the other two repeat locations, it has not confirmed a reopening in state records. That absence is notable: every other closure in this period that has a confirmed status reopened within hours of the initial shutdown.
St James Café on West Duval Street is the second facility with an unconfirmed status. It was closed September 23, the earliest closure in this period, and no reopening record has appeared in state data. That café sits in downtown Jacksonville, a block from the Duval County courthouse.
