Update at 6 p.m. — The store reopened after another health inspection this afternoon, employees said. Inspectors found mice droppings there earlier today, according to NBC Washington.
Read our original story below:
A national grocery chain in Adams Morgan is closed for now after a food safety and hygiene inspector reported finding evidence of pests there yesterday, according to the D.C. Department of Health.
The Safeway at 1747 Columbia Road NW currently can’t serve customers for “failing to minimize the presence of insects, rodents and other pests on the premises,” the DOH said in a notice yesterday.
Security guards turned people away at the store’s front doors last night, according to one person who tried to shop there.
Workers were seen cleaning inside the Safeway when a Borderstan reporter visited earlier this morning. One employee said they hope to reopen the supermarket later today but declined to comment further.
This isn’t the first Adams Morgan business closed by health inspectors in recent months. The health department shuttered neighborhood deli So’s Your Mom (1831 Columbia Road NW) in October and Pop’s SeaBar (1817 Columbia Rd. NW) in September. Both restaurants reopened soon after the closures.
The DOH didn’t immediately provide any further details about the closure. The agency typically releases full reports on closures within a week or two of its inspections.
Photos and additional reporting by Andrew Ramonas
A District food safety and hygiene inspector found a vermin problem at a French eatery in Adams Morgan, the D.C. Department of Health announced last night.
L’Enfant Cafe & Bar at 2000 18th St. NW had a “gross insanitary occurrence or condition that may endanger public health . . . including but not limited to heavy infestation of vermin,” according to DOH.
It wasn’t immediately clear when the DOH official visited the restaurant and if, or for how long, the inspector required it to shut down. Typically, inspectors put up closure notices on the doors of restaurants when they uncover major vermin issues, which the agency will detail in public reports in the days after the discoveries are made.
But the full public report isn’t out yet and nothing from the agency was on display outside L’Enfant Cafe & Bar today. Only a restaurant printout saying it was “Closed for Maintenance” was attached to the door. The sign added, “Join us for Dinner at Our Sister Restaurant Red White and Basil,” which is at 1781 Florida Ave. NW.
Representatives of DOH and L’Enfant Cafe & Bar didn’t immediately return requests for comment.
A deli in Adams Morgan is closed for now after a food safety and hygiene inspector reported finding evidence of pests there, according to the D.C. Department of Health.
So’s Your Mom (1831 Columbia Rd NW) can’t serve customers until further notice for “failing to minimize the presence of insects, rodents and other pests on the premises,” the DOH said in a notice yesterday.
Owner Yiduk Kim said an inspector visited the eatery yesterday and “found evidence of mice.”
“We’ve never been closed,” he told Borderstan. “The exterminator has stopped by. He’s done everything.”
Kim said he hopes to reopen as soon as the health department gives his restaurant the go-ahead.
“I’m just waiting for the inspector to call me,” Kim said. “I don’t know. The D.C. government is very strict.”
This isn’t the first restaurant on that block recently closed by the DOH. Pop’s SeaBar (1817 Columbia Rd. NW) was shuttered last month after health inspectors found evidence of rodents there. The bar reopened soon after its closure, however.
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 by Andrew Ramonas
(Updated 4:50 p.m.) A video of a large rodent scurrying around inside a Dupont burger restaurant is making the rounds online.
The video, posted above, shows a rat running across a table inside the Dupont Z-Burger (2157 P St. NW) while a crowd of off-camera onlookers shouts and shrieks.
“This is f—–g disgusting,” says one person.
“We need the health inspector!” and “are you serious?” two other people shout.
Watch out, rats. The D.C. Department of Health and the National Park Service are gunning for you.
The District and federal agencies plan to launch a citywide offensive against rodents occupying NPS territory this Saturday.
“The National Park Service is committed to ensuring safe, positive experiences for visitors in all of our parks, and this agreement with the D.C. Department of Health provides us better tools to control the rodent population,” NPS National Capital regional director Robert Vogel said in a statement.
The partnership will help ensure parks see rat-abatement crews more often, according to the National Park Service. DOH will come up with recommendations to make parkland less welcoming to the vermin, too.
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
A Papa John’s in Columbia Heights is now open after a food safety and hygiene inspector reported a “heavy infestation of vermin,” according to the D.C. Department of Health.
The pizza shop at 1417 Otis Place NW reopened Saturday after the DOH official closed it Thursday. The Papa John’s passed a follow-up DOH inspection, allowing it to resume business.
The DOH inspector on Thursday found a “gross insanitary occurrence or condition that may endanger public health including but not limited to heavy infestation of vermin,” according to the agency. But DOH has yet to elaborate.
“Papa John’s takes food safety and sanitation very seriously,” Papa John’s spokesman Pete Collins said in an email. “After investigating this issue with the franchise location involved, it is our understanding that the franchisee quickly addressed the violations and took immediate action to resolve any issues.”
(Updated at 11 a.m. Aug. 30) A D.C. food safety and hygiene inspector temporarily closed a Papa John’s in Columbia Heights yesterday after finding that the pizzeria had a “heavy infestation of vermin.”
The Papa John’s at 1417 Otis Place 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 D.C. Department of Health said in a notice yesterday afternoon. The pizzeria also didn’t have a “certified food manager” when an inspector visited.
The agency didn’t immediately provide any further details about the closure. The DOH typically releases full reports on restaurant closures within a week of its inspections.
When reached by phone yesterday, an employee at the pizzeria said the store had an “emergency closure” after its ovens stopped working but did not elaborate. A corporate representative for Papa John’s was not immediately available to comment.
The Papa John’s reopened on Saturday, Aug. 27.
District residents worried about Zika can learn about the virus during free preparedness events in Columbia Heights, Dupont and elsewhere this weekend.
The D.C. Department of Health (DOH) will hand out educational materials and “Zika preparedness kits” to residents at recreation centers in all eight wards this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Officials will pass out insect repellent, mosquito-killing disks and condoms at the Columbia Heights Community Center (1480 Girard St. NW) in Ward 1 and the Stead Recreation Center (1625 P St. NW) in Ward 2.
The purpose of the event is to help teach locals “how to prevent Zika and how to protect your property from mosquitos,” according to a DOH Facebook post. The first 50 attendees get free emergency preparedness kits, the department said in a flyer handout.
Could Zika really affect the District? It’s technically possible, but not likely, officials say. DOH spokesman Ronald King told The Washington Post in May that “there’s no reason for people to panic.”
City officials will also hold meetings at the following locations:
- Ward 3: Palisades Recreation Center at 5200 Sherier Pl. NW)
- Ward 4: Petworth Recreation Center at 801 Taylor St. NW
- Ward 5: Turkey Thicket Recreation Center at 1100 Michigan Ave. NE
- Ward 6: King Greenleaf Recreation Center at 201 N St. SW
- Ward 7: Fort Davis Recreation Center at 1400 41st St. SE
- Ward 8: Barry Farm Recreation Center at 1230 Sumner Road SE
Image via DOH flyer
(Update: The bar reopened Thursday afternoon. View the full inspection report here.)
A D.C. food safety and hygiene inspector closed a bar and eatery in Dupont Circle Tuesday afternoon after finding that the business was “operating a food establishment with gross insanitary occurrence or condition that may endanger public health including but not limited to heavy infestation of vermin.”
Some Place Else, the bar located in the former Townhouse Tavern space at 1637 R St. NW, can’t serve locals “until further notice” because it “presents an imminent health hazard(s) to the public,” according to a notice from the D.C. Department of Health.
The agency didn’t immediately provide any further details about the closure.
“There were no pests,” said Some Place Else manager John Hall when reached for comment last night. Hall added that he thought the closure may have stemmed from an alleged dispute between some of the bar’s employees and neighboring business Body Rays Tanning.
But Michael Facciolo, the owner of Body Rays, said he had “no idea where this came from” in an email to Borderstan earlier today.
Full DOH reports on restaurant closures are typically released within a few days to a week of an inspection.
A Chinese carryout in Columbia Heights is closed for now after a District food safety and hygiene inspector discovered that it had a pest problem, the D.C. Department of Health announced last night.
Grand China at 3306 11th St. NW was “failing to minimize the presence of insects, rodents and other pests” on its premises, prompting the inspector to shut it down Thursday, according to DOH.
The agency didn’t immediately provide any further details about the inspection. DOH typically releases full reports on restaurant closures within days of inspections.
A Mexican eatery in Adams Morgan has closed to complete “renovations” after a D.C. food safety and hygiene official reported seeing cockroaches in its kitchen.
El Tamarindo at 1785 Florida Ave. NW suspended operations yesterday to create a “fresh new look” for April, according to a post on its Facebook page.
The restaurant temporarily shut down last week after a D.C. Department of Health inspection revealed that the eatery had “alive and dead cockroaches . . . in the kitchen at several places, mainly at the utility room,” according to a DOH report. El Tamarindo passed a follow-up inspection Thursday, allowing it to reopen.
— El Tamarindo (@ElTamarindoDC) March 14, 2016
A Mexican restaurant in Adams Morgan has reopened following a D.C. food safety and hygiene inspection that uncovered a pest problem at the eatery and led to its temporary closure, according to the D.C. Department of Health.
El Tamarindo at 1785 Florida Ave. NW passed a DOH follow-up inspection yesterday after an agency inspector closed it Tuesday, allowing it to open again.
The inspector on Tuesday determined the restaurant was “failing to minimize the presence of insects, rodents and other pests” on its premises, according to the D.C. health agency. A DOH food establishment closure notice posted on the El Tamarindo’s door that day said the eatery couldn’t serve customers “until further notice” for presenting “an imminent health hazard(s) to the public.”
A Mexican restaurant in Adams Morgan is closed for now after a D.C. food safety and hygiene inspector found that the eatery was “failing to minimize the presence of insects, rodents and other pests” on its premises, the D.C. Department of Health announced last night.
El Tamarindo at 1785 Florida Ave. NW can’t serve customers “until further notice” for presenting “an imminent health hazard(s) to the public,” according to a DOH food establishment closure notice posted on the restaurant’s door yesterday.
The agency didn’t immediately provide any further details about the closure. DOH typically releases full reports on restaurant closures within days of its inspections.
When the D.C. Department of Health ordered the Post Pub closed earlier this month, it noted that the dive bar at 1422 L St. NW had an “infestation of vermin.” But newly released DOH inspection reports shed light on exactly what the agency found.
In the initial routine inspection that closed the well-known bar and grill on Feb. 4, the agency says an official discovered rat droppings in the basement and two roaches stuck to traps in the kitchen. The DOH inspector also noted that some of the pub’s food was stored at “improper” temperatures and that there were “unclean” conditions, among other problems, throughout several food preparation and serving areas. (more…)
