RiskyEats

METRO BRIEFING

Tampa restaurant inspections: 94 emergency orders and 126 near misses — August 1

Published · Tampa · Florida DBPR public records

Emergency Orders94Near Miss126Chronic Violation Record169Closed/Delinquent394Most Improved38Openings158Clean Plates0

What stands out

How to read this briefing

HP means high-priority, INT intermediate, and BAS basic violations. Pest identifies a pest-related inspection signal. The RiskyEats score is a derived comparison index—not an official DBPR grade. Counts use the timeframe stated in each section and may differ from lifetime ledger totals. Full definitions and methodology.

Macho Marv’s take

In the Florida picture: the Tampa Bay area's chronic density is 39% below the Florida average. the Tampa Bay area shows 126 recent high-priority hits. Mix: 2 American spots, 1 Bagels, 1 Hotel, and 1 Japanese. PROMO TRANSLATION, BROTHER: a 90-day window means the recent inspection stretch, not a verdict on every kitchen in the county.

🔥 Alerts

Emergency Orders

94 records this window

Restaurants closed by DBPR emergency order in the last 90 days.

Correspondent’s take

FARANDULERO PIZZERIA in Tampa, DENNY'S in St. Petersburg and DUNKIN DONUTS/BASKIN ROBBINS in Tampa led the board in the Tampa Bay area. 94 emergency-order shutdowns in the 90-day window — DBPR ordered the kitchen closed on the spot. These are the most actionable signals: faster than admin actions, faster than license cancellation, faster than corporate dissolution. Across the Red Alert cohort: 2 diners, and 1 Cafe. Trend line: emergency-order volume is steady against the last public cut. PROMO TRANSLATION, BROTHER: an emergency order means DBPR ordered service stopped until a callback inspection clears it.

View all 94 records (91 more) on the metro report

Closed/Delinquent

394 records this window

Two tiers: confirmed closures (owner-validated posts, news, and external places data that say service has stopped) and DBPR delinquent/inactive licenses (Primary Status Code 45/46) — a regulatory state, not by itself a confirmed closure.

Correspondent’s take

PRIME PLATES in Pinellas Park, KUNG FU TEA in Pinellas Park and SANDWISHY in Dade City owned the top of the the Tampa Bay area board. 19 closures confirmed via news, state action, or multiple agreeing social signals. Another 61 surfaced from single-source social signals and remain under review — reported, not confirmed. Main evidence reasons: 381 DBPR inactive/cancelled status (45/46) and 340 social or silence signal. Confidence mix: 376 suspected and 351 confirmed. Velocity check: 80 closure-evidence records in the last 90 days, 65 in the last 30. Dated closure signals run from 2009-11-19 to 2027-02-01. PROMO TRANSLATION, BROTHER: a closure signal is evidence a place may have gone dark; only verified tier-4 records are confirmed permanent closures.

View all 394 records (391 more) on the metro report

⚠️ Caution

Near Miss

126 records this window

A RiskyEats category for open venues whose inspections crossed the severe-violation threshold in the latest 60-day window without receiving an emergency closure order; not an official DBPR designation.

Correspondent’s take

AJISAI SUSHI in Tampa, DOC FORD'S RUM BAR & GRILLE in St. Petersburg and JIMMYS TACOS STP in St. Petersburg sat at the head of the the Tampa Bay area list. 126 high-priority citations posted in the 30-day window — none of these resulted in an emergency-order closure (those are in Red Alert). They are the near-miss watch list: restaurants that drew inspector attention but stayed open. Any of them could receive a follow-up inspection. The recurring violation labels were HP and BAS. PROMO TRANSLATION, BROTHER: a high-priority violation is the state saying the risk can touch food safety right now.

View all 126 records (123 more) on the metro report

Chronic Violation Record

169 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.

Correspondent’s take

169 restaurants with chronic violation records surface in the Tampa Bay area on the 11-year pattern view, led by WINGHOUSE BAR + GRILL, PIEROGI GRILL & STEAKHOUSE. The full repeat-offender record sits below. PROMO TRANSLATION, BROTHER: chronic violation record is our shorthand for an 11-year repeat-offender pattern, not a verdict on the operator.

  • WINGHOUSE BAR + GRILLClearwater7 HP3 INT10 BASScore 740Current repeated high-risk patternlast visit 05/06/2026
  • PIEROGI GRILL & STEAKHOUSEClearwater12 HP7 INT29 BASScore 1299Current repeated high-risk patternCurrently Activelast visit 06/30/2026
  • FIVE BUCKS DRINKERYSt. Petersburg10 HP5 INT18 BASScore 1068Current repeated high-risk patternlast visit 03/16/2026

View all 169 records (166 more) on the metro report

✨ Trusted

Most Improved

38 records this window

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

Correspondent’s take

LA GUANTANAMERA RESTAURANT in Seffner, LICENSED TO CHILL in Brooksville and MARGARITAS AUTHENTIC MEXICAN RESTAURANT in Clearwater sat at the head of the the Tampa Bay area list. 38 restaurants met the sustained-improvement test: at least four inspections in each 12-month window, recent HP+Critical counts cut by 50% or more, and an active license. LA GUANTANAMERA RESTAURANT in Seffner dropped HP+Critical counts from 12 to 2 across the two 12-month windows (83.3% better). PROMO TRANSLATION, BROTHER: most improved means the recent record got materially cleaner than the prior-year pattern.

View all 38 records (35 more) on the metro report

Clean Plates

136 records this window

Restaurants with multiple inspections in the current quarter and zero high-priority or intermediate violations.

Correspondent’s take

136 the Tampa Bay area licensees ran a clean Q3 2026 ledger across multiple inspections — EL GLACIAR, HOT BOX PIZZA TRUCK INC, CHECKER'S #5233 among them. These are repeat visits with zero high-priority or intermediate violations — the operators rewarded for consistency, not one lucky inspection. EL GLACIAR stretched a high-priority-free run to 11 inspections covering roughly 2.8 years. PROMO TRANSLATION, BROTHER: a clean plate means the recent inspection record stayed quiet where the state was looking.

View all 136 records (133 more) on the metro report

🆕 New

New Owners

13 records this window

DBPR ownership-change records in the last 30 days — "Approve Change Owner Request" actions.

Correspondent’s take

I GOT NEWS FOR YOU, BROTHER! The ownership-change feed topped the Tampa Bay area ledger this round, yeah! We saw 13 ownership-change filings posted in the 30-day window. DIG IT! These are operator turnovers where a new owner-of-record takes over an existing license, but it's NOT a closure or a revocation, brother. The volume is even with the last public cut, and the madness is running wild, YEAH!

View all 13 records (13 more) on the metro report

Openings

158 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.

Correspondent’s take

the Tampa Bay area count: 158 opening signals. 1 announced via FB/news/operator signal. Current names include JOHNNY'S TABLE in Trinity, CHEESECAKES CHICKS in Trinity and PIZZA WORLD ODESSA in Odessa. Dated opening signals run from 2026-07-28 to 2026-07-29. RiskyEats treats these as opening signals: license issue, announcement, or operational evidence can precede the first routine inspection, so the paragraph does not imply a clean inspection history. PROMO TRANSLATION, BROTHER: an opening signal starts with licensing or source-confirmed evidence, not wishful ribbon-cutting.

View all 158 records (155 more) on the metro report

Sources, definitions, and corrections

Inspection and license facts come from Florida DBPR public records. Social, news, and places signals are supporting evidence and are labeled separately from regulatory findings.

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