ORLANDO, Fla — Nasty conditions with crawly critters are the last things you want to think about when it comes to your food. Pests are some of the main reasons state inspectors with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation can force restaurants to close until the problems are fixed.
The Action 9 team poured through thousands of inspections to look at restaurants in central Florida with violations so serious they had to close most often over the last few years.
When Action 9 Consumer Investigator Jeff Deal walked into The Parched Oak in Deland, he asked one of the owners, Danielle, about the number of times the restaurant had been forced to close temporarily since the beginning of 2023. She let Deal know the old management is gone and said, “I haven’t been here for two years. We have secured our kitchen, we’ve secured our management, everything like that, and it is moving the right direction.”
She said that in mid-October after The Parched Oak had to temporarily close six times since the beginning of 2023. The closures came with high priority violations like time/temperature control issues and rodent droppings in several visits. In December, inspectors noted rodent droppings on a food table. Then the restaurant had to close a seventh time about a week after the Action 9 team visited when inspectors found more rodent droppings and a live roach. The Parched Oak met state standards a day later.
China Master, inside the Volusia Mall in Daytona Beach, had to close ten times. Inspectors noted rodent droppings and rodent nesting materials in September. A live rodent and live roaches were discovered during an inspection in July. When the Action 9 team visited in mid-October it appeared to be closed for good.
Dr. Kevin Murphy with UCF’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management said, “Roaches and other pests leave behind their droppings and their droppings will also contaminate food.”
Dr. Murphy, who used to own and manage restaurants, noted these are the kind of high priority violations that lead state inspectors to shut restaurants down right away.
“High priority or critical violations usually pose an imminent threat for someone getting sick,” he added.
About a dozen other central Florida restaurants have been shut down three times since the beginning of 2023 including Breakfast Club in Oviedo.
Jeff Deal asked a man working the front counter inside Breakfast Club, “Have you had a lot of problems with roaches and things like that over the last couple years?”
The worker answered, “In the past, there have been issues, because they do come in on the trucks and busses and things like that, but we have worked recently to fix that.”
A man who identified himself as the owner of Breakfast Club, Luis Marquez, later met the Action 9 crew outside and claimed one state inspector was out to get them and said the last shutdown for roaches in May was for just 45-minutes.
Marquez said, “They’re looking because we’re a small business competing against a lot of chains, so we get picked on the most. But that’s the truth. I want you guys… if you’re gonna record something you know, record the truth.”
Robinson’s Restaurant on Main Street in Apopka may be a local favorite for some, but it too had problems. It had to close temporarily once in 2023, again in 2024 and most recently in May of this year after five live roaches were spotted on the wall next to cooking equipment.
When discussing the closures Jeff Deal said to the manager, “I think last year it was rodents. This year it was roaches.”
The manager answered, “Yeah, we took care of those. Yeah, those are good.”
Robinson’s Restaurant met state standards in its latest inspection in October and even though it had some violations, none involved roaches or rodents.
Jeff asked, “Do you have concerns about making people sick with some of the violations that you guys have had?”
The manager said, “I mean since we had those problems before, we’re doing our utmost to make sure those mistakes that we made in the past have been fixed.”
Breakfast Club in Oviedo had 28 violations in its latest inspection in October but met state standards. Action 9 has not been able to reach China Master and doesn’t know if that restaurant plans to reopen.
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