The kitchen tells on itself. Florida baseline first: Duval County's chronic density is 18% above the Florida average. Duval County counts 100 recent high-priority hits. Mix: 1 Brunch, 1 Pizza, 1 Seafood, and 1 Sushi. The line deserved better.
Emergency Orders
44 records this window
Restaurants closed by DBPR emergency order in the last 90 days.
ROYALE CAFE in Jacksonville, PHILLY BOYZ FERNANDINA in Yulee and THE HIDDEN CRAB in Fernandina Beach put the sharpest marks on Duval County's list. These are the places where the heat is real. Inspectors ordered 44 kitchens shut in recent weeks via emergency orders across the state. When a state inspector pulls that lever, they order the kitchen closed on the spot. It is a fast move. It happens faster than an administrative action, faster than a license cancellation, and faster than a company dissolving. In this group of Red Alert cases, 2 were cafes and 1 was seafood.
- ROYALE CAFEJacksonville4 HP3 INT3 BASPestScore 483last visit 2025-10-24
- PHILLY BOYZ FERNANDINAYulee2 HP1 INT3 BASPestScore 263last visit 2026-06-04
- THE HIDDEN CRABFernandina Beach3 HP1 BASPestScore 351last visit 2026-06-01
- NERO’S CAFE/TINI MARTINI BARSt. Augustine1 HPPestScore 150last visit 2026-05-29
- DUNKIN & BASKIN ROBBINS STORE 336447Jacksonville2 HP4 INT1 BASPestScore 291last visit 2026-05-27
+39 more in this section on the live site.
Near Miss
100 records this window
Inspections in the last 30 days that posted high-priority violations but were not shut down.
KEKE'S BREAKFAST CAFE 304115 in Jacksonville, TEQUILAS MEXICAN RESTAURANT in Jacksonville and O C WHITES in St. Augustine led the board in Duval County. These kitchens walked away from inspectors with high-priority citations in a recent 30-day window. They are the near misses on the watch list. One hundred high-priority citations were posted across these locations, but none resulted in an emergency-order closure. The restaurants stayed open, yet they drew serious inspector attention for HP and BAS violations. A kitchen can survive one bad shift, but a pattern of citations tells you something about the management upstairs.
- KEKE'S BREAKFAST CAFE 304115Jacksonville6 HP2 INT9 BASPestScore 679last visit 2026-02-26
- TEQUILAS MEXICAN RESTAURANTJacksonville4 HP1 INTScore 410last visit 2026-03-31
- O C WHITESSt. Augustine3 HP1 INT9 BASPestScore 369last visit 2025-11-21
- CORNERSTONE CAFESt. Augustine3 HP1 INT5 BASPestScore 365last visit 2025-07-22
- GROUPER SHACK JAX BEACHJacksonville Beach6 HP3 INT7 BASScore 637last visit 2026-06-05
+95 more in this section on the live site.
Worst Offenders
223 records this window
Active enforcement targets and repeat offenders: restaurants carrying emergency-order history, chronic 11-year systemic violation patterns, or cross-flag enforcement tiers.
Two hundred 23 historical bad actors have surfaced in Duval County according to an 11-year pattern view. The list is led by CASA DORA ITALIAN CAFE in Jacksonville and GRILLED CHEESE GALLERY in Jacksonville. A kitchen is a place of habit, and some habits are hard to break. These names show the kind of recurring failures that suggest management has stopped listening. The full repeat-offender record sits below.
- CASA DORA ITALIAN CAFEJacksonvilleActive bad actorlast visit 01/26/2026
- GRILLED CHEESE GALLERYSt. AugustineActive bad actorlast visit 02/20/2026
- CASA MARINA HOTEL & RESTAURANTJacksonville BeachActive bad actorlast visit 03/26/2026
- RED LANTERNJacksonvilleActive bad actorlast visit 01/13/2026
- RAMADA BY WYNDHAM JAX HOTEL AND CCJacksonvilleActive bad actorlast visit 04/27/2026
+218 more in this section on the live site.
Closures
18 records this window
The closed-door file: confirmed shutdowns, owner-validated closure posts, DBPR status signals, and external places data that say service has stopped.
Cooks don't lie. Temperature logs don't either: HOT DIGGITY DAWGS AND MORE in Jacksonville, JIM'S PLACE in St. Augustine and NESBITT DREAMETTE in Saint Johns carried the front of this Duval County file. 18 restaurants carry one or more defunct-indicator signals (silent inspector, license inactive, corp dissolved, or third-party verifier confirmation) in the 90-day public window. Across the closure-signal cohort: 2 Mexican spots, 1 Hotel, 1 Ice Cream, and 1 Pizza. 15 standalone restaurants and 3 chain locations. Trend line: closure-signals volume is steady against the last public cut. These are signals, not all confirmed permanent closures — Closure Score 4/4 = third-party verified; lower scores = likely / probable / DBPR-flagged-inactive. That is management, not mystery.
- HOT DIGGITY DAWGS AND MOREJACKSONVILLEclosure score 2
- JIM'S PLACESt. Augustineclosure score 3
- NESBITT DREAMETTESaint Johnsclosure score 3
- RUBY PLACESAINT AUGUSTINEclosure score 2
- SIMONETTA'S BRICK OVEN PIZZA BUSJACKSONVILLEclosure score 2
+13 more in this section on the live site.
New Owners
19 records this window
DBPR ownership-change records in the last 30 days — "Approve Change Owner Request" actions.
Walk into any prep room and the truth lives in the cooler: HOT WOK in Jacksonville, ROSE L CARIBBEAN RESTAURANT in Jacksonville and FRITANGA NICA JAX in Jacksonville led the board in Duval County. 19 ownership-change filings posted in the 30-day window. Trend line: ownership-change volume is even with the last public cut. These are operator turnovers — a new owner-of-record on an existing license — not closures, cancellations, or revocations. The line deserved better.
- HOT WOKJacksonville
- ROSE L CARIBBEAN RESTAURANTJacksonville
- FRITANGA NICA JAXJacksonville
- AMELIA'S LATIN AMERICAN GRILLFernandina Beach
- FORK YEAH! FAMILY GRILLESt. Augustine
+14 more in this section on the live site.
Chain Activity
71 records this window
Multi-location chain brands flagged via aggregated signals across all locations.
Past the velvet rope, the back of house keeps no secrets: 71 chain brands surface in Duval County’s rollup, covering 441 locations between them: 140 FSQ-confirmed closures, 11 lapsed licenses. Leading brands: Burger King, Taco Bell Of America Llc, Jimmy John's.
- Burger KingFlorida33 flagged locations
- Taco Bell Of America LlcFlorida16 flagged locations
- Jimmy John'sFlorida10 flagged locations
- Hardee'sFlorida13 flagged locations
- Compass Group Usa IncFlorida9 flagged locations
+66 more in this section on the live site.
Most Improved
4 records this window
Restaurants whose recent-window violation count is at least 50% lower than the prior window, with the most recent inspection clean.
STONER'S PIZZA JOINT PALM COAST in Palm Coast, CHICK-FIL-A MIDDLEBURG in Middleburg and KFC # L518069 in Jacksonville drew the loudest scorecard in Duval County. These names are on everyone's lips for all the wrong reasons. Four restaurants met the sustained-improvement test, showing they actually care about what happens behind the swinging doors. To make this list, a kitchen needs at least four inspections in each 12-month window, an active license, and must cut high-priority or critical violations by 50% or more. STONER'S PIZZA JOINT PALM COAST in Palm Coast dropped HP+Critical counts from 6 to 1 across the two 12-month windows, an 83.3% improvement. That is how you build a culture of clean.
- STONER'S PIZZA JOINT PALM COASTPalm Coast
- CHICK-FIL-A MIDDLEBURGMiddleburg1 INTScore 10
- KFC # L518069Jacksonville1 BASPestScore 51
- CHEF CE’TIAJacksonville3 BASScore 3
Openings
67 records this window
New DBPR licenses plus confirmed opening signals: the places that just joined the map and still need their first public-record track record.
Duval County is seeing 67 opening signals. One has been announced through news or social media, while 44 new license records from the DBPR are still waiting for outside confirmation to prove they are actually serving food. New names appearing on the radar include ATHENA RESTAURANT in St. Augustine, COL.MUSTARD’S PHABULOUS SMASH BURGERS in Atlantic Beach and OCEAN STREET TACOS / THE CIRCUIT in Jacksonville. You can taste the potential in a new kitchen before the first ticket even prints.
- ATHENA RESTAURANTST AUGUSTINEconfirmed open
- COL.MUSTARD’S PHABULOUS SMASH BURGERSATLANTIC BEACHconfirmed open
- OCEAN STREET TACOS / THE CIRCUITJACKSONVILLEconfirmed open
- JIM'S PLACESAINT AUGUSTINEconfirmed open
- PANDA HOUSEJACKSONVILLEconfirmed open
+62 more in this section on the live site.
Clean Plates
184 records this window
Restaurants with multiple inspections in the current quarter and zero high-priority or intermediate violations.
Somewhere behind the line, the facts got ugly. 184 Duval County licensees ran a clean Q2 2026 ledger across multiple inspections — BY DESIGN CATERING, SONAPA GRILLE, FOUR POINTS BY SHERATON JACKSONVILLE BEACHFRONT among them. These are repeat visits with zero high-priority or intermediate violations — the operators rewarded for consistency, not one lucky inspection. BY DESIGN CATERING stretched a high-priority-free run to 34 inspections covering roughly 8.5 years.
- BY DESIGN CATERINGSt. Augustine
- SONAPA GRILLEJacksonville Beach
- FOUR POINTS BY SHERATON JACKSONVILLE BEACHFRONTJacksonville Beach
- SONNY`S REAL PIT BAR B QPalm Coast
- THE LANDING STRIP TAVERNPalm Coast
+179 more in this section on the live site.