A Chinese restaurant in Ocala was forced to temporarily close its doors last week after a health inspector found evidence of roach and rodent activity.
Wok ‘N Roll, which is located at Churchill Square (303 SE 17th Street, Unit 103 in Ocala), was shut down on Tuesday, August 8 after a failed inspection, according to a report filed by a health inspector with the Florida Department of Business and Profession Regulation.
The report states that roaches were observed in the restaurant, including two live roaches on the exterior wall of the walk-in cooler behind a sign, four live roaches under a handwashing sink, three live roaches near a wooden shelf, and four live roaches behind the water heater.
A dead roach was also spotted on the wall above the handwashing sink, 15 dead roaches were found under a microwave, and five dead roaches were on the floor underneath shelves.
In addition, the health inspector observed nearly 50 rodent droppings on the floor underneath storage shelves.
Other violations cited in the report include storing raw chicken above a case of cabbage, a male employee serving cooked vegetables and noodles with his bare hands, employees storing personal food above customers’ food, storing multiple cases of food on the floor under shelves in the walk-in cooler, and storing multiple employee drinks above the prep tables.
The restaurant remained closed, and the health inspector returned the next day. During the follow-up inspection on August 9, 16 live roaches were observed inside the reach-in cooler’s hinges, one live roach was inside the reach-in freezer’s hinge, and five live roaches were behind the water heater. One dead roach was also spotted above the reach-in cooler.
After failing the second inspection, the restaurant’s doors remained closed, and the health inspector returned on August 10. During that visit, 17 live roaches were observed on the premises, which prevented the eatery from reopening.
The health inspector returned to Wok ‘N Roll on August 11, and the restaurant was permitted to reopen the same day after no violations were found.
In April of 2022, Wok ‘N Roll was temporarily closed after a health inspector found a total of 17 health code violations.
Last week, an Italian restaurant located next to Wok ‘N Roll at Churchill Square had to temporarily shut its doors after failing a health inspection.
Publix also recently reopened its grocery store located in the same shopping center after months of renovations.