Michael Rosenblatt has been ordering from Gumby’s Pizza & Wings about twice a month since moving to Gainesville in 2008.
Rosenblatt, a pharmacy sophomore at UF, said he liked the Gumby’s employees and found its pizza to be better than that of any other restaurant in town.
But when he heard that Gumby’s, located at 2028 SW 34th St., temporarily closed last week after a health inspector found about 70 dead roaches and 18 live roaches in its kitchen, Rosenblatt decided to hold off on ordering from the restaurant until it is inspected again — and passes.
“Quite frankly, it’s kind of disgusting,” Rosenblatt said. “If it turns out they get the problems fixed during further health inspections, then I’ll definitely eat there again. But until then, I’m going to wait.”
In addition to roaches, the health inspector found a dirty microwave and a buildup of slime in the ice machine, among other critical violations.
Calls to the owner of the restaurant were not returned Monday.
Gumby’s, which closed Jan. 5 and reopened the next day, is not the only restaurant in Gainesville to host roaches in its kitchen.
In 2009, seven local restaurants temporarily closed, according to the Florida Department of Business Professional Regulation (DBPR) Web site.
In all seven cases, roaches or rodents were found in the kitchens.
One restaurant, Buffet City, located at 908 NW 69th Terrace, temporarily closed last February after inspectors found more than 200 dead roaches.
Buffet City reopened the next day, but when inspectors arrived at the restaurant in April, they again found roaches in the kitchen.
Restaurants in Florida are inspected twice a year by the DBPR and are forced to temporarily close if inspectors find a critical violation — that is, a violation that could jeopardize the health of a customer.
“Certainly the presence of live roaches is an immediate health risk to the public,” said Alexis Lambert, spokeswoman for the DBPR.
Lambert said most restaurants commit violations, but rarely do those violations pose a threat to consumers.
As was the case at Gumby’s, inspectors often return to a restaurant the day after critical violations were found, Lambert said. If those violations have been corrected, like they were at Gumby’s, the restaurant is allowed to reopen.
Correction: A headline in the Jan. 12 edition incorrectly reported that Buffet City was to close in February. As reported in the story, Buffet City closed temporarily in February 2009.
