Clearwater was where we used to go in the summer as a kid.

It was hot, but there was water (and stingrays).

Joe’s Crab Shack advertises 100% Shore fresh seafood with a Southern flare. The national chain has over 1,135 locations across the United States including one on Gulf to Bay Boulevard in Clearwater.

“The service is great and the food is awesome,” said one longtime customer on their way in for dinner.

But state health inspectors reports are finding health code violations that weren’t so awesome on the Clearwater location’s January 8th inspection. The restaurant was shut down as an emergency closure with 18 violations including the floor areas covered in standing water, a black or green mold-like substance inside the soda dispensing nozzles, even one live cockroach inside a soda nozzle at the bar.

“Oh that’s disgusting… Oh my God,” exclaimed a horrified former customer Paul Kumatsky after learning about the restaurant’s inspection.

The state inspector documented more than 15 additional cockroaches on shelving under the expo line where the clean plates and utensils are stored.