Treasure Coast — Restaurant Inspection Briefing

Restaurants whose recent-window violation count is at least 50% lower than the prior window, with the most recent inspection clean.

Inspectors ordered three Treasure Coast kitchens shut in recent weeks. VERO BCH YACHT CLB REST in Vero Beach, MEATING STREET STEAKHOUSE & SEAFOOD in Port St. Lucie, and BERRY FRESH CAFE in Stuart each drew emergency orders for serious health violations. Six restaurants passed the sustained-improvement test. That means at least four inspections in each 12-month window, recent HP+Critical counts cut by 50% or more, and an active license. VERO BCH YACHT CLB REST in Vero Beach dropped HP+Critical counts from 12 to 2 across the two 12-month windows — an 83.3% improvement. Also included three spots that were flagged for rodent droppings, live roaches, and mold-like buildup. STUART BOATHOUSE in Stuart, PIZZA MIA OF VERO BEACH in Vero Beach, and HOKKAIDO SUSHI & STEAK LLC in Fort Pierce each had more than 35 rodent droppings along food prep areas, or live and dead roaches, or mold-like buildup inside the ice machine. The state’s food safety inspections in the 90-day window found more than 35 rodent droppings along food prep areas at HOKKAIDO SUSHI & STEAK LLC in Fort Pierce — a restaurant that had been cited for the same issue just a year earlier. At least 18 Treasure Coast restaurants are now under emergency order — meaning the state has issued a temporary closure order, and the place is shut down or has been ordered to shut down. That’s 18 restaurants in 90 days. The state does not close restaurants — it records the resulting license-status change — but the order still stands, and the restaurants are not allowed to serve food. Some places simply vanished. JUGOS Y FRUTAS EL GUERO in Vero Beach, SEAFOOD KITCHEN in Stuart, and LUCKY TACO in Port St. Lucie lost their licenses in recent weeks, and the state has no record of their ongoing operations. The state’s new license activity shows 27 new restaurants opened in the 90-day window. That’s a net gain of 16 places in the Treasure Coast food scene. The new places include ANGELO'S ITALIAN RESTAURANT in Port St. Lucie, which opened its doors earlier this month. One more thing: 49 restaurants in the Treasure Coast area have permanently closed. That’s a list that includes several places that were still on the radar in late 2023, like VEGGIE BURGER in Vero Beach and SUSHI CAFE in Stuart, which were still around but failed to file their annual reports. Some, like PIZZA MIA OF VERO BEACH in Vero Beach and TACO REAL in Coral Springs, were marked in the system as likely defunct — meaning they had not been inspected in over 180 days, and their business records were either inactive or dissolved. Some places just stayed off the radar — the ones that have not had an inspection for over 180 days, and whose licenses are still active. These are the ones that can be in business but are effectively unregulated, and they make a mess of the Treasure Coast food scene like a hurricane through the Everglades.

• VERO BCH YACHT CLB RESTVero Beach1 INTScore 10
• MEATING STREET STEAKHOUSE & SEAFOODPort St. Lucie3 BASScore 3
• BERRY FRESH CAFEStuart
• SWEETIES DINER LLCFort Pierce
• WINGS BOMB TO GO LLCPort St. Lucie3 BASScore 3

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