San Antonio guides · Updated November 4, 2026

Restaurant rodent violations in San Antonio: Texas food rules and inspections

Texas restaurants follow the Texas Food Establishment Rules, which adopt the FDA Food Code. Inspectors expect pests to be kept to a minimum, dead or trapped pests removed, outer openings protected and rodent bait kept in covered, tamper-resistant stations.

Food businesses in Texas operate under the Texas Food Establishment Rules, Chapter 228 of Title 25 of the Texas Administrative Code. The current version took effect August 8, 2021, and it adopts the 2017 FDA Food Code by reference. In San Antonio, Metro Health inspects restaurants, scores them on a 100-point demerit system, and posts inspection reports online. Rodent droppings, live rodents and gaps that let them in all show up as violations.

This guide covers what the rules expect, how San Antonio scores work, and what an owner can do before the inspector comes.

The rules behind a rodent write-up

Because the Texas rules adopt the Food Code, the pest provisions inspectors use come from the Food Code itself. These are the sections that matter most for rodents:

• Food Code 6-501.111, controlling pests: the premises must be controlled to minimize the presence of insects, rodents and other pests, including routinely inspecting incoming shipments and the premises, using control methods when pests are found, and eliminating harborage
• Food Code 6-501.112: dead or trapped birds, insects, rodents and other pests must be removed from control devices and the premises often enough to prevent accumulation, decomposition or attracting more pests
• Food Code 6-202.15: outer openings must be protected against the entry of insects and rodents
• Food Code 7-206.12: rodent bait must be contained in a covered, tamper-resistant bait station

How the Food Code classifies violations

The 2021 Texas rules sort violations into three tiers taken from the Food Code. Priority and priority foundation items are the serious ones, and a third tier covers general sanitation and upkeep. Section 228.244 lists past performance on priority and priority foundation items, and many or repeated violations in the third tier, as factors in how often an establishment should be inspected. In plain terms, a restaurant that keeps getting written up gets inspected more.

Rodent evidence can also lead to a closure. The Food Code has a business stop operating when an imminent health hazard exists, such as a gross insanitary condition, and a serious rodent infestation in a kitchen can fall into that. Local TV coverage of San Antonio inspections regularly includes closures where inspectors found droppings or live pests.

How San Antonio scores inspections

Metro Health uses a demerit system. A perfect score is 100, and points come off for each violation. KSAT, reporting on how the system works, said that a score of 69 or lower is considered failing. The same report said restaurants are required to post all pages of their most recent inspection report where customers can see it.

Metro Health's food permits page links to a list of food establishment inspection reports and health scores, which anyone can look up. Before you sign a lease on a restaurant space, look up the inspection history of the businesses that were there before you. A string of pest violations at the same address tells you something about the building.

What inspectors notice first

Inspectors look where rodents leave evidence. Expect them to check:

• Droppings along walls, under shelving and behind equipment
• Gnawed bags of flour, rice, masa or sugar in dry storage
• Gaps under back doors and around pipes, conduits and gas lines
• Dead rodents in traps or on the floor
• Bait placed loose or in open containers instead of locked stations
• Food stored on the floor or against walls
• Grease and food debris under the cook line

Building a program that holds up

A rodent program for a restaurant runs all year. A provider sets locked, anchored bait stations outside the building, traps or monitoring devices inside away from food, and keeps a service log on site. The provider should note sanitation and repair problems at each visit, and someone on your team should act on them.

Repairs matter as much as traps. Door sweeps on back doors, tight self-closers, sealed gaps around plumbing and conduit, screened vents and a clean dumpster pad stop rodents from coming back. Our restaurant rodent control page goes through what a program looks like, and commercial rodent control covers warehouses and multi-tenant buildings.

Why San Antonio kitchens deal with this

Many San Antonio restaurants are in older buildings downtown, in Southtown and along strips like Fredericksburg Road and Broadway, with shared walls and alleys. Rats move between businesses, and a clean kitchen next to a careless neighbor still gets visitors. Patio dining, which runs most of the year here, puts food on the ground and props doors open. Grease bins and dumpster pads feed Norway rats, while roof rats come across from trees and neighboring roofs.

If the problem comes from outside your space, document it and talk to your landlord. Trash and dumpster conditions on neighboring property can be reported through 311. See the city reporting guide.

Fiesta booths and other temporary food stands

San Antonio runs a lot of outdoor food events, from Fiesta to neighborhood festivals and markets. The Texas rules have a separate section for temporary food establishments. Section 228.222(k)(2) says the outer openings of a temporary food establishment must be protected against the entry of insects and rodents with 16-mesh screens, properly designed and installed air curtains, or other effective means. Under 228.222(k)(3), that screening requirement doesn't apply if flying insects and other pests are absent because of the location or other limiting conditions.

For temporary establishments, section 228.245(b) says priority and priority foundation violations have to be corrected immediately and other violations within 24 hours or sooner if required, and that a booth that doesn't correct violations must stop food operations once an emergency suspension or closing order is issued. If you run a booth, keep food off the ground, store supplies in sealed bins, and break down boxes and trash at the end of each night.

If you get written up

Fix what the inspector found as quickly as you can, starting with anything marked priority. Clean droppings with a wet method, throw out food that was exposed, and seal the gap or door the inspector pointed to. Call your provider for an extra visit and ask them to note the findings and the fixes in the service log. When the inspector comes back, the log and the repairs show the problem was handled, not hidden.

Before your next inspection

Walk the kitchen with a flashlight the way an inspector would. Clean up droppings using a wet method, throw out any food with gnaw marks, and get stored food off the floor. Fix door gaps and check that every bait station outside is locked and anchored. Have your current service log ready. If you're seeing fresh activity, call a provider now rather than the week of the inspection.

Related reading

• How to report rats and mice in San Antonio, and what happens next
• San Antonio trash, yard and property rules that affect rodents
• How to verify a licensed pest control company in Texas

Related services: Restaurant Rodent Control, Commercial Rodent Control, Norway Rat Control