Jaxon Social to remain closed after more live roaches found

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Jaxon Social will not reopen Friday night as planned after inspectors decided to keep it closed.

They found more live roaches, inspectors said.

The Jacksonville Beach restaurant has been shut down because of a roach infestation since July 18.

Jaxon Social's owner told Action News Jax's Jenna Bourne on Thursday that they planned to reopen Friday night.

Exterminators were on the property on Wednesday to address the roach infestation.

The restaurant's owner said they plan to re-brand after opening up again.

The story of the roach-plagued restaurant has made national news, with Fox News and the New York Post picking up the story.

Jaxon Social tried to cover up a health inspector’s yellow sign temporarily shutting the restaurant down, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation said earlier this week.

"The restaurant establishment is not allowed to cover up or remove the sign. During a recent follow-up inspection at the below establishment, a division inspector discovered the sign had been covered.

The handwritten sign said “Closed for technical difficulties.”

"The inspector applied a new sign to the door and explained the potential consequences of removing the sign to the operator. Since that time, the sign has been visible at each follow-up visit,”

DBPR Deputy Director of Communications Kathleen Keenan said in a statement.

Inspectors forced the restaurant to close on July 18 when they found 23 live roaches and 35 dead roaches in the kitchen.

A former cook, Brian Lee, said the kitchen was full of roaches, saying, "If you open one of the refrigerator doors and pop open the seal, they fall out like, it’s like you’ve torn the corner off a bag of Skittles. It’s disgusting."

Cox Media Group