Inspectors racked up 100 recent high-priority hits across Duval County. That is a heavy weight for the local food scene to carry. When you see a high-priority violation, it means the state found a serious risk to your health that needs fixing right now. The failures in Duval County show a chronic density that sits 18% above the Florida average. The mix of trouble includes 1 Asian, 1 Brunch, 1 Cafe, and 1 College spot. You can taste the lack of discipline when a kitchen stops prioritizing the basics.
Emergency Orders
39 records this window
Restaurants closed by DBPR emergency order in the last 90 days.
DUNKIN DONUTS in Middleburg, ROYALE CAFE in Jacksonville and BEACHCOMBER RESTAURANT in Saint Augustine Beach drew the loudest scorecard in Duval County. These spots racked up enough violations to trigger an emergency order. That is a state-mandated shut down on the spot because the risk to the public became too great to ignore. Inspectors ordered 39 emergency-order shutdowns in the 90-day window across the metro area. An emergency order is basically a red alert for the public, meaning the kitchen was forced to stop serving immediately. Across this cohort of failures, regulators identified 2 cafes and 1 Seafood establishment. The volume of these immediate closures remains steady against the last public cut in Duval County.
- DUNKIN DONUTSMiddleburg1 HP1 BASScore 101last visit 2026-06-11
- ROYALE CAFEJacksonville3 HP2 INTPestScore 370last visit 2026-06-10
- BEACHCOMBER RESTAURANTSaint Augustine Beac5 HP2 INT7 BASPestScore 577last visit 2026-06-09
- PHILLY BOYZ FERNANDINAYulee2 HP1 INT3 BASPestScore 263last visit 2026-06-04
- THE HIDDEN CRABFernandina Beach3 HP1 BASPestScore 351last visit 2026-06-01
+34 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.
NOURA-CAFE in Jacksonville, FUSION SUSHI in Jacksonville and FINN’S BEACHSIDE PUB in Flagler Beach led the way for this Duval County file. These spots racked up 100 high-priority citations in the 30-day window. In my world, a high-priority citation is a scream from the kitchen that something is fundamentally broken, but none of these locations resulted in an emergency-order closure. They are what I call the near-miss watch list. These kitchens drew the inspector's eye but managed to stay open for now. Any one of them could be facing a follow-up inspection any day of the week. The recurring violation labels were HP and BAS.
- NOURA-CAFEJacksonville5 HP3 INT12 BASPestScore 592last visit 2026-06-12
- FUSION SUSHIJacksonville4 HP1 INT4 BASPestScore 464last visit 2026-06-12
- FINN’S BEACHSIDE PUBFlagler Beach5 HP3 INT5 BASPestScore 585last visit 2026-06-11
- PANDAN LEAVESJacksonville4 HP1 INT4 BASPestScore 464last visit 2026-06-10
- RINCON EL GUAJIROPalm Coast5 HP6 INT4 BASPestScore 614last visit 2026-06-09
+95 more in this section on the live site.
Worst Offenders
217 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.
The records show a heavy trail of repeat offenses in Duval County. When you look at the 11-year pattern view, 217 historical bad actors surface. These are not one-time slips; they are businesses that have repeatedly failed to keep the kitchen safe for the public. CASA DORA ITALIAN CAFE and GRILLED CHEESE GALLERY lead this list of habitual offenders. The line cook knows when a kitchen is falling apart, but these numbers prove the failure starts at the top. It takes more than an accident to build an 11-year track record of problems.
- 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
+212 more in this section on the live site.
Closures
45 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.
TEQUILA'S TOWN MEXICAN RESTAURANT in Jacksonville, JIM'S PLACE in St. Augustine and BELLWETHER in Jacksonville carried the front of this Duval County file. These establishments represent the high-water mark of scrutiny across the metro area recently. When you walk into a restaurant, you are trusting more than the menu, but these names are currently drawing the heaviest attention from regulators. Forty-five restaurants cleared Duval County's 90-day public-window closure bar. In this game, a closure signal is like a flickering light in a kitchen—it means the state has noticed things have gone quiet, whether it is through months of silence from inspectors or a license that simply stopped ticking. Each carries an Evidence Count 1–4, where a 4/4 is third-party verified and lower counts are suspected or administratively indicated records rather than confirmed permanent closures. These signals can be triggered by inspection silence, inactive or cancelled license status, corporate dissolution, or operator and news closure evidence. Additional internal records are held back from the public list.
- TEQUILA'S TOWN MEXICAN RESTAURANTJacksonvilleclosure score 3
- JIM'S PLACESt. Augustineclosure score 3
- BELLWETHERJacksonvilleclosure score 2
- JJ'S CRAB SHACKJacksonvilleclosure score 2
- LILYJacksonvilleclosure score 2
+40 more in this section on the live site.
New Owners
22 records this window
DBPR ownership-change records in the last 30 days — "Approve Change Owner Request" actions.
EGGBRED in St. Augustine, HABANA TRADITIONS CUBAN BAKERY in Orange Park, and SISTA SMOKE BBQ in Jacksonville took the spotlight in the Duval County file. These spots are where the action sits right now. The records show 22 ownership-change filings posted in the 30-day window. This means a new owner of record stepped onto an existing license, not a shutdown or a cancellation. It is just a change in who holds the keys to the kitchen. Ownership-change volume remains even with the last public cut. The transition of power keeps moving, and these operators are simply turning over the reins.
- EGGBREDSt. Augustine
- HABANA TRADITIONS CUBAN BAKERYOrange Park
- SISTA SMOKE BBQJacksonville
- REDLINEKeystone Heights
- CHINA ONE RESTAURANTPalm Coast
+17 more in this section on the live site.
Chain Activity
61 records this window
Multi-location chain brands flagged via aggregated signals across all locations.
The kitchen tells on itself. 61 chain brands surface in Duval County’s rollup, covering 397 locations between them: 141 FSQ-confirmed closures, 4 lapsed licenses. Leading brands: Rrg Of Jacksonville, Llc, Taco Bell, Compassmsp. Kitchen-English translation: a chain rollup groups related brand locations so one sloppy operator cannot hide inside a familiar logo. The line deserved better.
- Rrg Of Jacksonville, LlcFlorida22 flagged locations
- Taco BellFlorida29 flagged locations
- CompassmspFlorida11 flagged locations
- Jimmy John'sFlorida10 flagged locations
- Hardee'sFlorida13 flagged locations
+56 more in this section on the live site.
Openings
80 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.
The energy in Duval County is shifting as new kitchens prepare to fire up their burners. There are 80 opening signals across the metro area right now, a mix of brand-new licenses and news that a spot is finally ready for service. These records show 250 new-license entries and 40 announcements from social media or news outlets, while 33 spots are just switching hands through ownership-transfer openings. You can see the names starting to pop up like staples on a prep table. SMALL BATCHES in Bunnell, ZAXBY'S in Jacksonville, and COVE RESTAURANT in Jacksonville are among those making waves. The current mix of venues includes 15 Fast Food spots and 182 locations where the specific cuisine remains unknown to the public record. The pace of new business is moving fast in this corner of Florida. There were 120 opening signals in the last 90 days, with 52 of those hitting the books in just the last 30 days. These dates stretch back from 2025-07-01 to 2026-06-14, showing a steady pulse of growth across 178 locations in JACKSONVILLE and 35 in SAINT AUGUSTINE. I know how it feels when you are waiting for that first day of service, but a new license does not mean the kitchen has been cleared by an inspector yet. These opening signals are just the start of the journey, representing the moment a business gets its permit or makes its public debut before the first real test of the line begins.
- SMALL BATCHESBunnell
- ZAXBY'SJacksonville
- COVE RESTAURANTJacksonville
- ALE PIE HOUSEOrange Park
- FROSTIBunnell
+75 more in this section on the live site.
Clean Plates
167 records this window
Restaurants with multiple inspections in the current quarter and zero high-priority or intermediate violations.
A good kitchen is a creature of obsessive habit. In Duval County, 167 licensees ran a clean Q2 2026 ledger across multiple inspections. These are the lifers who refuse to let the standard slip. BY DESIGN CATERING, SONAPA GRILLE, and FOUR POINTS BY SHERATON JACKSONVILLE BEACHFRONT are among those who kept their stations tight. These operators earned their stripes through consistency, not one lucky inspection. They avoided high-priority or intermediate violations across repeat visits. BY DESIGN CATERING took that discipline to the extreme, stretching a high-priority-free run to 34 inspections covering roughly 8.5 years. That is how you build a culture of respect for the craft.
- 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
+162 more in this section on the live site.