JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Village Bread Café at the Jacksonville Landing had to shut its doors for five nights when an inspector found roaches and the inspector returned four times before the restaurant was able to reopen.
Each time there were roaches. A restaurant has to be bug-free in order to reopen after a closure because of bugs.
News4Jax went by Village Bread Café at the Jacksonville Landing to find out why it took so many inspections and days to get rid of the bugs. The restaurant has had a problem with bugs since 2014 when it had its first closure because of roaches.
This time, the inspector wrote he found 15 live roaches on traps underneath the microwave on the cook line. The operator apparently grabbed the traps and threw them away. There were also more than 50 dead roaches in the kitchen by the bar in traps as well, according to the report.
The next day, the inspector came back and found more live roaches. He found the same thing the day after. Village Bread Café had to stay closed through the weekend.
On the following Monday, the inspector came back for the fourth time and the roaches still weren't gone.
Later that day, during the fifth visit, the inspector wrote there were no roaches and the restaurant was able to reopen.
The manager came and talked with News4Jax, but wouldn't say much. She said they get pest control every two weeks and that they did close, but now they're back open. She said this means the problem is clearly under control.
She also blamed the building, saying it's old and open air so they can't exterminate properly.
During that last visit, the inspector did open the restaurant back up with only one high-priority violation, which had to do with the license and not the food.
News4Jax stopped by neighboring Coastal Cookies to see whether it had similar problems with roaches.
Deanna Maynard, who has been working at the bakery off and on since she was 18 years old, explained that they sell a very different product, but the setup of the shop is the same -- wide open to all the elements in the building.
"I haven't seen anything. Even when it's raining, no bugs. Now, the gnats and the flies, we do see those. They have the doors open. They come in and out. But other than that, no bugs," Maynard said.
Maynard said they'll strategically put out fans to keep the bugs away, and they also get pest control about once a month. She said she saw Village Bread Café had been closed for a while, but didn't know why until she talked with News4Jax.
"I thought, maybe, because they had dirty dishes. I didn't know about roaches. He didn't say anything, but I did see three or four days of steady cleaning -- I did take notice to that," Maynard said.
This isn't the first time Village Bread Café in the Jacksonville Landing has been shut down. It's the third closure because of roaches in just four years.