Florida restaurant overrun by roaches busted for trying to cover up health warnings

Cockroach cover-up (iStock)

A Florida restaurant overrun by cockroaches has reportedly been busted for trying to cover up warnings from health officials about the ongoing bug invasion.

Jaxon Social in Jacksonville Beach, which advertises itself as an eatery that serves up “globally inspired, but locally sourced, quality food and cocktails,” was shut down on July 18 when investigators found 23 live roaches and 35 dead ones in the kitchen, Action News Jax reported Wednesday.

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But during a follow-up visit, an inspector noticed that the original sign — which was placed on the door to notify the public that the restaurant had been shut down by officials over health concerns — was covered up. A piece of paper placed over the sign had a message reading, “closed for technical difficulties."

Not surprisingly, this didn't fly with health officials.

"The inspector applied a new sign to the door and explained the potential consequences of removing the sign to the operator. Since that time, the sign has been visible at each follow-up visit,” said Kathleen Keenan, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s deputy director of communications.

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The restaurant has been inspected seven times since its closure, and as of Wednesday, was still crawling with roaches, Action News Jax reported.

“If you open one of the refrigerator doors and pop open the seal, they fall out like, it’s like you’ve torn the corner off a bag of Skittles. It’s disgusting,” Jaxon Social cook Brian Lee told the station, adding that the owner owes him and his wife money.

The restaurant and its owner did not return calls for comment from Action News Jax.