Cockroaches in Restaurants

18 Feb 2025

If you have considered talking to an exterminator for roaches, you are aware of the level of risk associated with getting roaches in a restaurant as well as the impacts that they will have on the public’s perception of your establishment. Bad restaurant reviews are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to reasons to prevent cockroaches in restaurants.

The image depicts a cluster of dead cockroaches on a glue board, with a mix of brown and black bodies, some with wings and others without. A few eggs are also visible, adding to the unsanitary atmosphere. The scene suggests a pest control treatment was recently applied, leading to the demise of the insects.

Why Are Cockroaches Attracted to Restaurants?

The restaurant industry is especially attractive to roaches because food is the core focus of both restaurants and roaches. If roaches get fed, they will thrive. This means that both as a food provider and a food consumer, it is important to understand the relationship among roaches and restaurants. If food is around, there is a chance of roaches.

Factors Leading to Cockroach Infestations in Restaurants

There are several factors leading to cockroach infestations in restaurants including:

Introduction of roaches from food shipments
Transport of roaches into a facility from equipment carrying adults or eggs
Improper or incomplete restaurant sanitation
Roaches can invade from a neighboring establishment
Restaurant managers often ask, ” What do pest control companies use for roaches?” and apply those products with improper techniques, regularity, or quantities.

Health Risks of Cockroach Infestations in Restaurants

Some niche restaurants have roaches as parts of menu items, but roaches running free can contribute to allergies and respiratory issues in addition to transmitting disease by traipsing through unsanitary areas onto food or food preparation areas.

Do Cockroaches Cause Diseases?

Even though cockroaches are not considered disease vectors like mosquitoes or ticks, they indirectly cause more diseases than is comfortable for any food-focused facility. Even worse, it does not have to be a bad cockroach infestation for a roach’s presence to contaminate the food. The question has more answers than is comforting. Cockroach-caused diseases include:

Bacterial Diseases such as Salmonellosis, Dysentery, Escherichia (E. coli)
Viral Diseases including Polio and Hepatitis
Parasitic Diseases like Tapeworms

Proper restaurant sanitation will not only reduce diseases that roaches have introduced to surfaces and areas, but will also reduce roach populations directly. These efforts must include regular removal of food particles and grease from surfaces, cracks and crevices, mechanical parts, and ventilation systems.

The Impact of a Bad Cockroach Infestation on Restaurant Reviews

The image shows a close-up of a cockroach's head and thorax, with its antennae and mouthparts visible. The cockroach is light brown with darker brown spots and has a shiny exoskeleton. It is positioned on the right side of the image, facing left, with its antennae extending out of the frame. The background is a plain white surface.

Restaurant success is driven by reviews. Even a small cockroach passing through a customer’s line of site is going to be the impetus behind a scathing review. Sometimes solving a problem for a customer can lead to a positive review, but it is unlikely that stepping on a cockroach in front of someone biting into a crunchy chip is going to inspire positivity.

What Do Pest Control Companies Use for Roaches?

The question of how to get rid of cockroaches in a restaurant typically is aimed at finding out what product is best. The best product is a cleaner that removes the food for roaches even in hard-to-reach places. After that, it is a moving target that is a mix of baits, residual crack and crevice sprays, dust in voids, and insect growth regulators. The ticket to success is to adjust the treatment to match the trends and behavior of the roaches. Think of it like the right recipe for your signature dish. Just because someone has the list of ingredients doesn’t mean they can make the dish look sublime and develop the flavors that dance on someone’s tongue.

A close-up view of a cockroach near a pest control trap on a tiled floor

When treating for roaches, one helpful trick is to create bait stations out of straws. This allows for unique bait placements that can be removed when the bait gets old if not completely consumed already. A second trick of the trade is to avoid overlapping sprays and dusts with baits. Baits can be sensitive to chemical interference. You also want roaches that eat the bait to share it with their cohorts. The third helpful tip is to rotate through products with different modes of action. This keeps the progress moving in the right direction without opening the door to roaches developing a resistance. It is less about the right brand or chemical name and more about sequencing the treatments correctly in the right areas.

Contact Rove for Commercial Pest Control and More!

If you are trying to evict or prevent roaches from interfering with your restaurant experience, the best exterminators for roaches are ready to be dispatched from Rove Pest Control. Pest control for restaurants should include more than cockroach control. Rove will identify the unique elements of your business that make you susceptible to different kinds of pests. Then the ideal protection plan will keep you focused on finding the right recipe for tasty food and not pest eradication recipes.