CUTLER BAY, FL. State inspectors ordered Tejas de Honduras at 19200 SW 106 Ave shut down on August 12 after finding roach activity inside the restaurant, the third time in six years the Miami-Dade facility has been closed on an emergency basis.
The closure order required the restaurant to vacate by August 13. It reopened later that same day, at 3:48 p.m., after the August 13 follow-up inspection documented that the most urgent violations had been addressed.
What Inspectors Found
Tejas de Honduras: Inspection Pattern, 2025–2026
The August 12 inspection produced 9 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate violations before inspectors issued the closure order. The follow-up visit the next day still found 4 high-severity violations and 1 intermediate violation, even after the restaurant was permitted to reopen.
Among the violations documented on August 13, after reopening was approved, inspectors cited no person in charge present or performing duties. That finding appeared alongside three additional high-severity violations: no written employee health policy, employees not reporting symptoms of illness, and improper hand and arm washing technique.
A single intermediate violation, inadequate ventilation and lighting, also remained.
What These Violations Mean
Roach activity is among the most direct grounds for an emergency closure because cockroaches carry and spread pathogens across food preparation surfaces, utensils, and food itself. Unlike a temperature violation that can be corrected by moving food to a working cooler, a roach infestation signals contamination that is already present and spreading. An inspector cannot observe every surface a cockroach has contacted, which is why the state treats active pest presence as an immediate public health threat rather than a correctable deficiency.
The violations that persisted into the August 13 follow-up inspection compound that concern. The absence of a person in charge is not a paperwork problem. CDC data cited in the inspection record shows establishments without active managerial control have three times more critical violations. When no one is accountable for what happens in the kitchen, other failures tend to follow.
The employee health policy violations are acutely dangerous in combination with pest activity. Without a written policy requiring workers to report illness symptoms, a sick employee has no formal obligation to stay home. Norovirus, which spreads easily from person to person, is the leading cause of multi-victim foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings. A restaurant dealing with an active pest problem and lacking any system to keep sick workers out of the kitchen presents layered risk to customers.
Improper handwashing technique is the mechanism that connects all of it. Studies show that flawed handwashing leaves pathogens on hands even when a worker attempts to wash. If that worker has unreported symptoms, is handling food in a kitchen with active pest contamination, and no manager is present to intervene, the result is a direct transmission route to every plate leaving the kitchen.
The Longer Record
The August 12 closure was not an isolated event at this address. State records show 28 inspections on file for Tejas de Honduras, with 325 total violations documented across that history. That is an average of more than 11 violations per inspection over the life of the record.
This was the facility's second emergency closure for pest or contamination issues. The first came on March 3, 2020, when inspectors shut the restaurant down for sewage leaks. It reopened the following day. The August 2026 closure for roach activity marks the third emergency closure in total at the location.
The pattern in the inspection record from the past year is consistent. The November 13, 2025 inspection found 9 high-severity violations and 3 intermediate violations. A follow-up four days later, on November 17, still showed 3 high-severity and 1 intermediate violation. The March 9, 2026 inspection produced 8 high-severity violations and 2 intermediate violations. A follow-up four days later, on March 13, still found 2 high-severity and 2 intermediate violations.
In every recent inspection cycle, the follow-up visit has left high-severity violations unresolved.
The Pattern
Each of the four inspection cycles visible in the recent record follows the same arc: a high-violation-count routine inspection, a follow-up that reduces but does not eliminate high-severity findings, and then a return to elevated counts at the next routine visit. The August 2026 cycle added an emergency closure to that sequence, but the shape of the record was already there.
The three most recent routine inspections, in November 2025, March 2026, and August 2026, each produced 8 or 9 high-severity violations. The follow-up after each one left at least 2 high-severity violations open.
Tejas de Honduras was allowed to reopen on the afternoon of August 13 with 4 high-severity violations still on the books, including no person in charge and no written employee health policy.
