DOH Closure Prompts ‘Emergency Maintenance’ at Pop’s SeaBar in Adams Morgan

Update at 5:39 p.m. – Pop’s SeaBar has reopened, management tells us. Read our original story below:

A seafood restaurant and bar in Adams Morgan is closed for now after a food safety and hygiene inspector reported finding a “heavy infestation of vermin” there, according to the D.C. Department of Health.

Pop’s SeaBar (1817 Columbia Rd. NW) can’t serve customers until further notice for “operating a food establishment with gross insanitary occurrence or condition that may endanger public health but not limited to heavy infestation of vermin,” the DOH said in a notice yesterday.

A sign posted to the front door of the business says the seafood bar is closed for an “emergency maintenance issue.” Pop’s also tweeted about the closure yesterday:

We will be closed this evening for emergency maintenance. We apologize for the late notice.

— Pop's SeaBar (@PopsSeaBar) September 15, 2016

“We noticed a couple weeks ago that holes had opened up in the wall we share with the vacant property next door,” a representative for the bar’s management said. “We did exercise bad judgement in not getting them fixed right away.”

The representative said health inspectors found rat droppings near the holes, which led the shutdown.

“No rats or roaches were noticed by the inspector,” the rep added. “We had our pest control company out and … no dead rats or live rats could be seen.”

Employees fixed the holes last night and the restaurant could reopen later today, the representative said.

The DOH didn’t immediately provide any further details about the closure. The agency typically releases full reports on restaurant closures within a week or two of its inspections.

Photos and additional reporting by Andrew Ramonas