JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A popular fish camp was shut down for one night after cockroaches were found in the kitchen.
Clark's Fish Camp reopened, but only after several inspections cleared it.
During an inspection last week, there were three high priority violations, including cockroaches and flies. News4Jax has been to Clark's Fish Camp several times for different reasons.
The restaurant was closed last year after Hurricane Matthew for three weeks because of flooding.
Clark's closed its door for one night last week after the inspector found seven live cockroaches under the kitchen alley window. Two more cockroaches were in the kitchen service window and another was found behind the oven. The inspector wrote up that managers and team members started killing the cockroaches and that it was a repeat violation.
News4Jax received a statement from Adele Peoples, with Clark's Fish Camp. She blamed last year's flooding for the cockroach problem.
"We would like to first and foremost apologize for any inconvenience caused by the recent events. Due to damage caused by Hurricane Matthew and the intense flooding we endured, an issue arose. We immediately resolved the problem with structural repairs and the switching of our pest control company. Our latest inspection showed no signs of problems and we were reopened. We're extremely confident that no future issues will arise," said Peoples.
The day after the closure, the inspector returned to Clark's, but did not reopen the restaurant because there was a single live cockroach that crawled out from under the cooler.
During a follow-up inspection, there could be no cockroaches present or the restaurant had to stay closed.
The inspector gave the team more time, came back later that day and reopened the restaurant with zero serious violations.