TAMPA, FL. State inspectors ordered Sushi Masa Premium on Palm Pointe Drive shut down on August 21 after finding roach activity inside the restaurant, the second emergency closure the Tampa sushi spot has faced across 21 inspections on record.
The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation vacated the restaurant the same day inspectors documented the infestation. The restaurant reopened later that afternoon at 3:28 p.m., records show.
What Inspectors Found
Sushi Masa Premium: Recent Inspection Record
The closure-triggering violation on August 21 was roach activity. That single high-priority finding was enough for inspectors to order the restaurant vacated immediately under state emergency closure authority.
A second inspection conducted the same day, after the restaurant worked to address the violation, documented one high-severity and three intermediate violations. The restaurant was cleared to reopen at 3:28 p.m.
Three days later, on August 24, inspectors returned and found two more high-severity violations and one intermediate violation. Those included inadequate shell stock identification records and food contact surfaces that had not been properly cleaned or sanitized. Inspectors also cited improper use of wiping cloths.
What These Violations Mean
Roach activity is one of the fastest routes to an emergency closure under Florida food safety law, and for specific reasons. Roaches carry bacteria including Salmonella and E. coli on their bodies and in their droppings. In a sushi restaurant, where much of the food is served raw or minimally processed, the risk is more direct than in a kitchen where heat kills pathogens before the food reaches a plate.
The shell stock identification violation documented on August 24 carries its own distinct risk. Shellfish, including oysters, clams and mussels, are high-risk foods precisely because they are often consumed raw. When a restaurant cannot produce proper identification tags and records for its shellfish supply, there is no way to trace the source if a customer gets sick. An outbreak investigation has nowhere to start.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, the second high-severity finding from August 24, are among the most direct contamination routes in any kitchen. Cutting boards, prep surfaces and utensils that carry residue from one food item to the next transfer bacteria directly onto whatever is prepared next. In a sushi kitchen, where raw fish is handled on those same surfaces, that transfer is uninterrupted by cooking.
Wiping cloths, cited as an intermediate violation, compound the problem. Cloths used across multiple surfaces without proper sanitizing solution become carriers themselves, spreading contamination from one area of the kitchen to another with every wipe.
The Pattern
The August 21 closure was not the first time state regulators have ordered Sushi Masa Premium vacated. Records show the restaurant has one prior emergency closure in its inspection history, meaning this month's shutdown is the second time inspectors have found conditions serious enough to pull customers out of the building.
Across 21 inspections on record, the restaurant has accumulated 96 total violations. That averages to more than four violations per inspection visit over its documented history.
The inspection record shows a pattern that predates this month. In July 2025, inspectors found three high-severity and one intermediate violation. In April 2026, the tally was identical: three high-severity and one intermediate. The restaurant did pass a June 2025 inspection with zero high-severity or intermediate violations, a clean record that makes the subsequent deterioration more notable, not less.
High-severity violations appeared in six of the eight most recent inspections on record. The single clean inspection in June 2025 stands as the exception across a stretch of visits that otherwise produced repeated high-priority citations.
The Longer Record
Twenty-one inspections is a substantial history for a permanent food service facility. At 96 total violations across that span, Sushi Masa Premium has averaged a high-severity finding in the majority of its recent visits, with two emergency closures now documented in that record.
The prior emergency closure, combined with this month's roach-activity shutdown, places the restaurant in a category that goes beyond a single bad inspection. Two emergency closures across 21 visits means inspectors have twice found conditions that could not be corrected during a routine visit and required customers to leave the building.
The three-day gap between the August 21 reopening and the August 24 return inspection is also notable. Inspectors who came back on August 24 found two new high-severity violations, including the shellfish traceability problem. Whether those violations were present during the closure inspection and not documented, or developed in the three days after the restaurant reopened, the records do not specify.
What the records do show is that as of August 24, three days after the emergency closure, Sushi Masa Premium was still producing high-severity violations on inspection.
