Roaches on plates, in coolers, at bar temporarily shut down 4 restaurants

Restaurant Report Card

JACKSONVILLE, Fla – Four local restaurants were shut down because of roaches.

The inspector shut down Punto Rico, on Beach Boulevard, last week when she found live and dead roaches in several areas of the kitchen. The bugs were behind plates, under the food preparation tale, and one was found on a gasket inside the small wine cooler. Dead roaches were found in the kitchen as well.  It took three inspections to open Punto Rico back up with zero violation.

When News4Jax arrived at 10:45 a.m. Tuesday, the open sign was lit and the business hours showed that they opened at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. People could be seen inside but the doors were locked and they never answered the door.

Hop Shing on Old St Augustine Road also had a closure because of roaches. The inspector found 20-30 live roaches under a wooden plank near the freezer and 10 under broken tiles under the rice cooker.  Hop Shing was able to open back up the next day with zero violations.

Jim's Place on Arlington Expressway was cited with only one high priority violation and it was the one that got it shut down.  Live roaches were seen under the dish machine, on shelves, and on the floor in the main bar area. Jim's Place was allowed to open back up the next day after two additional inspections.  During the third one there were no violations.

India House on Baymeadows also had a closure last week because of roaches.  The owner's son was quick to explain what happened and showed Channel 4's cameras changes they made to control the problem. He walked around the kitchen and showing the repairs. 

First he said they replaced old wood that might have attracted bugs in the doorway.  They patched and repainted walls and also got rid of wood shelving and replaced it with metal shelves after the inspector said that might help.  He pulled out months of receipts showing pest control and said now they're getting exterminated twice a week to make sure the bugs don't come back.

India House had a quick turn around when the inspector came back the next day it was able to open back up. This time there were no violations.


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Anchor on The Morning Show team and reporter specializing on health issues.