I worked on a farm once and the milk inspector came for a little visit. I happened to be in the milk house and the inspector says, "by the way there is a mouse in the refrigerator." (Drugs are normally kept in the fridge.) I told him not to worry, he doesn't eat much. Needless to say we got an "Intent to Suspend License" notice that day.

Rats don't bother me, but I wouldn't go back to that restaurant. A dying, blind rat wandering around with blood oozing from it's eyes as a result of poisoning might be a little gross. In fact that may have been why the rat was visible in the first place.

A cockroach would immediately send me on to the tabletop shrieking at the top of my lungs, however.

Dmnkly wrote:Case in point:



NOTE: THIS IS A PHOTOSHOPPED IMAGE FOR DEMONSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY!

(Quick and dirty five minute job by a rank amateur, BTW)

HAH! It looks like he's feeding the rat!

Personally, I think it is time to take down the "sample" picture. All you need to do is to have that picture circulating on the internet ...

jlawrence01 wrote:Personally, I think it is time to take down the "sample" picture. All you need to do is to have that picture circulating on the internet ...

Good point. I'll kill it.

Back to the original question, I'd say that if you've got time and presence of mind enough to THINK about what to say upon seeing a rat, then he's too far away to hurt you!

I saw a few rats the other night running around some restaurant dumpsters on Grand (let's just say somewhere east of Ogden, west of Halsted).

I walked past of few that were scurrying, but one of them stopped and looked at me, I stopped, thinking I could get a portrait of him, but considered the light and went to move on. But he kept looking at me, not afraid in the least.

So I said, out loud, "what are looking at?".

Had he been inside a restaurant, I would have had a much different conversation with him.

kiplog wrote:I saw a few rats the other night running around some restaurant dumpsters on Grand (let's just say somewhere east of Ogden, west of Halsted).

Oh great, my neighborhood. No shortage of rats here!

Only time I ever saw a rat in an eating establishment was in the bathroom of a by-the-sea place in southern Chile. I didn't say anything, except to the one other American in my group. I guess at the time I figured the locals would be more used to that. Not true, at least in Santiago, I eventually learned.

But the rat in the bathroom in Puerto Montt didn't freak me out as much as the cockroach on the barstool next to me in the unnamed sushi place of Rte 53. Maybe it's just a matter of expectations.

Either way, I didn't eat much more at either place.

. . . or the roach crawling across the counter at a well known place on Michigan Ave. one morning.

You see a lot of things if you look.

Often, I would prefer not to know.

Rats.....eck. I would be out of there fast. I know my wife would totally freak. I do not see how any restaurant would find this acceptable. There is an easy solution to the problem. Just bring some ferrets after hours and let them have the run of the place. They can get anywhere a rat/mice can and they are natural enemies. The ferrets will go in the corners and holes where the rats/mice are and do their business. The scent creates a natural fear reaction in rats/mice which will cause them to vacate the premise. Plus the ferrets will snack on any youngsters they find. Yes I can attest to this and have seen it work. In the good ole days they would bring ferrets to the farm and let them loose where the grain was. Everyone would circle the barn and wait with shovels and bats. All the rates would scurry out and we would bash em. Good ole fun. hehe

davecamaro1994 wrote:Rats.....eck. I would be out of there fast. I know my wife would totally freak. I do not see how any restaurant would find this acceptable. There is an easy solution to the problem. Just bring some ferrets after hours and let them have the run of the place. They can get anywhere a rat/mice can and they are natural enemies. The ferrets will go in the corners and holes where the rats/mice are and do their business. The scent creates a natural fear reaction in rats/mice which will cause them to vacate the premise. Plus the ferrets will snack on any youngsters they find. Yes I can attest to this and have seen it work. In the good ole days they would bring ferrets to the farm and let them loose where the grain was. Everyone would circle the barn and wait with shovels and bats. All the rates would scurry out and we would bash em. Good ole fun. hehe

And to get rid of the ferrets, you could release wolves into the restaurant, and to get rid of the wolves, you could release bears, and to get rid of the bears...

davecamaro1994 wrote: Everyone would circle the barn and wait with shovels and bats. All the rates would scurry out and we would bash em. Good ole fun. hehe

I can already see this.

"No, Mr. Health Inspector, I do not have a rat or mouse problem."

"Well, I saw two or three animals scamper through the restaurant."

"Oh those. Those are the ferrets ..."


Good idea though.

ksbeck wrote:

davecamaro1994 wrote:Rats.....eck. I would be out of there fast. I know my wife would totally freak. I do not see how any restaurant would find this acceptable. There is an easy solution to the problem. Just bring some ferrets after hours and let them have the run of the place. They can get anywhere a rat/mice can and they are natural enemies. The ferrets will go in the corners and holes where the rats/mice are and do their business. The scent creates a natural fear reaction in rats/mice which will cause them to vacate the premise. Plus the ferrets will snack on any youngsters they find. Yes I can attest to this and have seen it work. In the good ole days they would bring ferrets to the farm and let them loose where the grain was. Everyone would circle the barn and wait with shovels and bats. All the rates would scurry out and we would bash em. Good ole fun. hehe

And to get rid of the ferrets, you could release wolves into the restaurant, and to get rid of the wolves, you could release bears, and to get rid of the bears...

I hate bears.
Something that may be of interest only to me (and way off the food topic): As a hobby, I work with German Shepherds. I carry around a type of pepper stray in case another dog attacks mine (never had to use it so far). On the side of the can, with other warnings, is "Will Not Work on Bears."
Never trust a species that will be pepper-sprayed and keep coming.

Are there rats running about in the streets of Chicago? Ask these guys:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/ ... 481.column

Mhays wrote:I have a story on the flip side of this problem, which I've been meaning to post as support of LTH's policy. I found a restaurant I wanted to try that isn't mentioned here, so I did some websurfing. My next several hits come up with a blog that I know and don't trust - they "documented" takeout with a rusty nail in it. Now I am stuck on the proverbial horns of a dilemma: I don't trust this blog, I don't like these bloggers - but much as I doubt the veracity of this story, I don't want delivery from a place so accused without at least seeing said kitchen. Restaurant loses (though I plan to go eat in at some point in the near future, just to clear my conscience.)

Just in case you had all baited your breath, I had a thoroughly enjoyable lunch today at the place I mentioned above, which I hadn't realized I'd eaten at several times before. The place was neat as a pin, the food was fine - obviously the abovementioned blogger either had terrible luck or was just plain lying.

That being said, when we went out to eat recently at a restaurant of which we had high expectations, I observed a mouse scuttle under our table as I was being seated. The hostess and I exchanged a look (she was obviously mortified) and, as she clearly saw it herself, I did nothing else. We had an enjoyable meal. I am certain from the look of shock on her face that she addressed it as soon as possible. Shit happens.

Mhays wrote:That being said, when we went out to eat recently at a restaurant of which we had high expectations, I observed a mouse scuttle under our table as I was being seated. The hostess and I exchanged a look (she was obviously mortified) and, as she clearly saw it herself, I did nothing else. We had an enjoyable meal. I am certain from the look of shock on her face that she addressed it as soon as possible. Shit happens.

I worked in a to remain unnamed hospital that was built on the site of an 18th century city dump. Brand new hospital. The place was completely rat and mouse infested. Seeing multiple critters was a daily occurrence. And for every ONE you saw, you could hear and see evidence of others.

If I walk into a place and see a critter, it is extremely unlikely IMHO that it is the "lone wolf". Rather, you have a litters worth floating around. I am out the door. I just don't wish to eat in a place that is infested. It is to scary because you do not know what the animals have gotten into.

respectfully, jlawrence01, I disagree - not about the "lone wolf" thing, which may or may not be the case, but that it's a done deal that they've gotten into the food. Health code, for this reason, is very specific on how food items are to be stored: on shelving elevated a specific number of inches off the floor (so it can't be climbed to) or in closed storage e.g. a fridge. Yes, rodents can get on your counters and stoves at night - but if you're doing your job, all those surfaces get sanitized before use.

I worked in the commercial kitchen in my college and never forgot the night I ran the snack bar for an event after dark - it was like Ratatoullie - yet the food was never compromised. The critters were going after the grease that gets into the cracks in the stove, etc. but they weren't able to get into the food. I also ate there daily, and never once got sick. Face it, I have mice in my own home that we've had real difficulty getting rid of.

Whoa.

Been there, with the mice infestation. I have lived at an apartment where the problem was really severe, I mean to the point where I could hear them gnawing their way through the wall at night. I would set out glue traps & in the morning I would find 3 - 5 mice stuck on each one. Finally, after the landlord refused to do anything about it (his response:"I wonder where they are coming from??" ) I stopped paying rent & got the hell out of there.

Here are some facts about mice:

Some Facts About Mouse Reproduction
- Scientific name: Mus musculus
- Weight: 20-60 g (varies according to type)
- Life expectancy: 1-3 years (varies according to background, "strain")
- Sexually mature: 4-7 weeks (both males and females)
- Cycle of heats: 4-5 days, continuing all year round
- Gestation period: 19-21 days
- Weight at birth: 1-1,5 g
- Size of litter: 4-14 (even more), average 12 babies
- Pigment starts to show: from 3rd day forward
- First coat has developed: at 10 days
- Eyes open: 12-13 days
- "Flea age": 10 days to 3,5 weeks, can be less.
- Nursing period: approximately 3-3,5 weeks
- Weaning age: males 3,5 weeks, females may be weaned at 4 weeks
- Separate to single sex groups: 3,5 weeks
- Ready to leave for new homes: 1 month of age
- Proper age for first mating of female: 3-4 months
- Proper maximum age for first mating of female: 5 months
- Resting period between matings: At least 2 weeks, preferably over 1 month between weaning of one litter and mating for another.
- Litters for one female: 3 is generally enough!
- Leave the female out of breeding: at 1 year of age.

http://www.hiiret.fi/eng/breeding/essentials1.html

So, if you see one mouse, in all likelihood, you are not seeing a dozen or so more. If it continues beyond a month, you are now dealing with a severe infestation.

Mice carry the Hantavirus. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hant ... ansmit.htm

If I saw a mouse in a restaurant, I'd be out of there faster than lightning.

If I saw a mouse in my house, and it was my house, not a rental, I'd move heaven & earth to eradicate the vermin before it became an infestation.

I recently read a review of a restaurant I go to from time to time and one review reported seeing a cockroach there. I have never seen one, and the place seems very clean but of course its in a very old building. I know that I had never seen a cockroach until I moved to the city in the old hoods, and seemed like every apartment had a cockroach here and there to my horror. Even with spraying they were never eliminated completely. I think if I saw one crawling on the table or in my food I would be really upset but if I saw one in the bathroom running on the floor I would not be as upset but I would still think, if there is one, there are probably more. What is your take on cockroaches in restaurants? Do most inner city places that are old have them, or can they be eradicated completely with spraying and good hygiene. Spraying is a double edge sword as it loads your house or establishment with pesticides. Of course the reviews could have been lying to just to give a place a bad name.

I had a cockroach crawl along the wall in my booth once at one of my favorite pizza restaurants. I complained to the manager and he said they had sprayed that day, so it drives them out. I never returned.

Another time I went with friends to one of their favorite pizza joints in Evanston. The sugar packets on the table had evidence of mouse nibbles. Never went back.

A former pastry instructor of mine had worked in a famous meat restaurant downtown. It was located in an old building. He told us stories of rats peering down at the kitchen staff from the ceiling. Never went back.

The latest in vermin sightings.....Cronut king gets shut down......

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/e ... -1.1746093


And Dunkin Donuts too...............

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/rat ... -1.1744275

These are in NY but I would not be a bit surprised if it happened here too.

I could care less about cronuts. Rats, I like slightly better. Shortly upon moving to the city, I and a psychopharmacologist friend enjoyed a pint at one of the remaining Inwood Irish pubs. The bartender left her station to peer out the door. Screamed and ran back. A rat, a big rat supposedly, the same rat that terrorized her that morning when she opened shop. The men on the stoop took care of it. The idea being; vermin, especially in New York are something to be ameliorated, never necessarily eradicated.