Dirty Dining

Dirty Dining — Restaurant Inspections & Closures

This page tracks Boca Post’s Dirty Dining coverage — restaurant inspections, emergency closures, and serious health violations documented in official state records across South Florida.

Stories here focus on establishments flagged by inspectors for conditions that led to shutdown orders, follow-up inspections, or significant violations.

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About This Page

The Dirty Dining category serves as a public-record hub for restaurant inspection enforcement and food safety actions. Coverage is based on published inspection reports, emergency closure orders, and disciplinary records released by state regulators.

Articles may include details about violations, closure reasons, follow-up inspections, and whether an establishment was later cleared to reopen. Reports are tied to official inspection data, not anonymous tips or reviews.

Inclusion in Dirty Dining coverage reflects inspection findings at a specific point in time and does not represent a permanent judgment about a business.

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How Boca Post Covers Dirty Dining

Boca Post reports Dirty Dining stories using official inspection and enforcement records from state regulatory agencies. We summarize what inspectors documented, when inspections occurred, and what actions were ordered.

Coverage sticks to documented findings and avoids speculation, exaggeration, or editorial commentary. When follow-up inspections show compliance or reopening, that information is included when available.

Our goal is to present clear, factual inspection results so readers can understand what regulators found and what actions were taken.

Understanding Restaurant Inspections and Violations

Dirty Dining is Boca Post’s ongoing public-service reporting on restaurant inspections conducted by the Florida Division of Hotels and Restaurants. The reports published here are based entirely on state inspection records and are intended to provide transparency into food safety enforcement — not to assign grades or make legal judgments about individual businesses.

What an Emergency Closure Means

An emergency closure is not a disciplinary action. It is a temporary measure taken when inspectors find conditions that pose an elevated risk to public health, safety, or employee welfare. A restaurant ordered closed must remain closed until the cited conditions are corrected and approved by inspectors. Common conditions that can result in an emergency closure include a lack of hot water or approved utilities, sewage backups or overflows, fire damage, pest infestations, or inadequate refrigeration. In Florida, inspections leading to emergency closures are conducted by Sanitation and Safety Inspectors with the Division of Hotels and Restaurants. Emergency closure reports are released statewide on a weekly basis.

What Inspection Reports Represent

Inspection reports reflect conditions observed at the time of inspection. Each report is a snapshot of what inspectors found on that specific day and may not represent an establishment’s long-term compliance history. On any given day, a restaurant may have more or fewer violations than those listed in its most recent inspection. Many issues are corrected during or shortly after an inspection, and follow-up inspections may reflect those changes.

Inspections vs. Disciplinary Actions

Inspection reports and disciplinary actions are separate processes. Inspections document observed conditions, while disciplinary activity reports may involve fines or formal actions issued through a final order. Not every inspection results in disciplinary action, and not every disciplinary action involves an emergency closure. Boca Post reports inspection and disciplinary records as they are released by the state to provide accurate, timely public information.

How to Read Florida Restaurant Inspection Violations

Florida food service inspections use a standardized violation code system aligned with the FDA Food Code. Violations are grouped by category and severity to ensure consistent reporting across thousands of inspections conducted statewide. The violation numbers referenced in inspection reports correspond to specific provisions of the Florida food code and allow inspectors to document findings uniformly.

High-Risk (Priority) Violations

High-risk violations typically involve conditions that can directly contribute to foodborne illness or contamination. These may include improper hot or cold food holding temperatures, cross-contamination, bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods, employee illness, pest activity, unsafe water supply, or sewage issues. When high-risk violations are not corrected, they are more likely to result in emergency closures.

Good Retail Practice (GRP) Violations

Good Retail Practice violations generally involve maintenance, storage, or procedural issues that do not pose an immediate health risk but are still required to be corrected. Examples include improper utensil storage, minor sanitation concerns, or facility maintenance issues.

Where Our Dirty Dining Coverage Applies

Boca Post’s Dirty Dining reports typically cover restaurant inspections across Palm Beach County and Broward County, including multiple cities and neighborhoods in each weekly release. Coverage is based on the inspection data made available by the state during that reporting period and may include establishments in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, and surrounding communities.
 

Florida Restaurants Temporarily Closed Due to Severe Health Code Violations

Each week, Boca Post tracks Florida restaurants temporarily closed due to severe health code violations following official state inspections.

Temporary closures are typically issued when inspectors identify conditions that present an immediate threat to public health. Under Florida regulations, restaurants may be ordered to stop operations until violations are corrected and a follow-up inspection confirms compliance.

Common reasons restaurants are temporarily closed in Florida include:

  • Live rodent or roach activity in food preparation areas

  • Sewage backup or wastewater contamination

  • Lack of running hot water

  • Unsafe food temperatures

  • Cross-contamination of raw and ready-to-eat foods

  • Repeated high-priority violations during inspection

When inspectors determine conditions warrant immediate enforcement, an Emergency Order or Administrative Complaint may be issued. The restaurant must correct the violations before reopening.

Most closures are temporary. After corrections are made, the establishment can request re-inspection. If the restaurant passes, it may resume operations.

Boca Post’s Dirty Dining coverage documents:

  • The restaurant name and city

  • Inspection date

  • Whether a temporary closure was ordered

  • The number and severity of violations

  • Re-inspection outcomes when available

All information is based on official Florida inspection and enforcement records.

Note from the editor:

Inspection and closure information published by Boca Post is sourced from official records released by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Conditions cited in inspection reports may change after the inspection date, and many establishments correct violations promptly.

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