A country diner in Santa Rosa County was shut down for six days this month after failing its random health inspection and five follow-up inspections.
The Santa Rosa Restaurant, located at 4540 Highway 90 in Pace, was issued an emergency closure notice from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation on Feb. 2 because of cockroach and rodent activity.
According to the DBPR’s inspection report, the Santa Rosa Restaurant was cited for 11 different violations. Among them, the inspector found about 14 live cockroaches in the kitchen area, most of them under the preparation table, and between 20 and 25 dead cockroaches.
The inspector also found evidence of rodent activity as four dried rodent droppings were found inside a pot that was stored in the preparation table, according to the report.
Other violations the restaurant was cited for included not storing the cheese, tomato and lettuce at the proper temperature, not storing the wiping cloth in a sanitizing solution and for storing cleaner on the same shelf as food.
Santa Rosa Restaurant failed its follow-up inspections on Feb. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 at which time live cockroaches were found each day, according to the inspection report. The restaurant passed its sixth follow-up inspection and was approved to reopen to the public on Monday.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Santa Rosa Restaurant closed by health inspector