The Manhattan Project
Morning Roundup: Second Helpings Edition
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Sculpture Garden Ice-Skating Rink Remains Closed
Tom Lee
D.C. Department of Health spokesperson Dena Iverson said that the closure was not a city action; Inside Edition says it found a pack of rats right outside the back door of the restaurant two nights in a row, and that's apparently prompted Five Guys to decide to shut down for clean up as a preventive measure.
Another Five Guy’s location, on Wisconsin Ave. in Georgetown, was also a target of the show. Inside Edition say they observed an "unwelcome visitor inside the restaurant crawling through sacks of potatoes kept right inside the front window," two nights in a row. The Georgetown location is reportedly also closed today.
Five Guys employees milled around outside during the lunch hour today, turning away hopeful customers.
Were any other restaurants nabbed in this latest "Rat Patrol" sting? They say they didn't see any vermin at Ray’s Hell Burger in Arlington, where President Obama and Vice President Biden recently had lunch. They did, however, reportedly uncover inspection reports from the Virginia Department of Health that indicated "mouse droppings [in] the storage room" at Ray's. Hmm.
Set your TiVo to WUSA-9 tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m., when the segment is scheduled to air in the D.C. market. The "Rat Patrol" last visited D.C. in 2007, when it exposed rodent problems at Mixtec in Adams Morgan, Baja Fresh in Dupont Circle, and Popeye's in Logan Circle.
UPDATE: Just got off the phone with Five Guys spokesperson Molly Catalano. She said that the footage Inside Edition showed them involved evidence of rats in a dumpster outside the Dupont Circle location, and "a couple of mice" in the Georgetown location. She said Five Guys shut down the two stores as soon as they were informed of the issues by the TV program, and have retained two pest control companies to come in and take care of the situation.
"We will not reopen until the health department and our independent pest control companies provide us with clean inspection reports," Catalano said. Five Guys hopes to have the two stores reopened within a day or two.
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ooohhhh...rats crawling around the potatoes...oh i'm gonna hurl. i was so hungry a minute ago.
Oh boo freaking hoo. Baby can't handle a little plague with their Five Guys burger. You urban hitards make me sick. Where's that pluck and Yankee enginuity that's made us the laughing stock of the planet and the target of every terrorist organization from Al Quaeda to Up With People? Don't forget: we invented computers, leg warmers, bendy straws, peel-and-eat shrimp, the glory hole, AND the pudding cup. So when life gives you rats, YOU F**KING EAT THEM. Rat cake, rat sorbet, rat pudding, and strawberry tart. I know. "Strawberry tart?" It's got some rat in it. Three actually. Rather a lot, really.
Five Guys gots your chudlies!
I never quite questioned my food sources. 'Specially Mcdeez
cause they also remind you that you're eating 100% BEEF.
5 Dudes is gonna have to put up some signs that read:
100% CHUD and Rodent free before I gets me a Wimpy burger
hunger again...but still in my book...MEAT IS MEAT and CHUD Meat is delicious.
*still frequents Five Guys in Navy Yard* It's not like these places are OKAY with rats in their establishments. Love the attempt at journalism, IE.
Inside Edition just hasn't been the same since Bill O'Reilly left.
we'll do it live!
I wish the Five Guys in Dupont would be shut down forever. It's just downstairs from my dance studio, and there's nothing like trying to work on your dance technique in a room that always smells like bacon.
Way to make it all about you and tell everyone that you're a dancer.
Haha, you're kidding right?
But the little rat toes are the best topping! Right next to the caramelized onions... mmm....
Then go "dance" some where else you idiot.....
Then go "dance" somewhere else you idiot
If having rats nearby is a reason to close a restaurant, then they should close my entire street in Columbia Heights.
Long ago in Foggy Bottom off Pennsylvania Avenue, there used to be a sushi restaurant. Next door was a vacant lot surrounded by wooden fencing. On the fencing was spraypainted the phrase: THIS FENCE KEEPS RATS FROM JUMPING AT YOU.
They could put that up around most restaurants downtown and it would still be true.
I hope it stays close forever. I live in the building next door to the 5 Guys in Dupont with my window looking into the alley and there are teams of rats, day and night. I've called the city a number of times but this is the first I've seen them do anything.
There are teams of rats (Entire brigades) all over DuPont. There are are rat traps behind every major building and in every alley. So closing Five Guys won't do much unless you evacuate the neighborhood simultaneously.
Did you know that a group of rats is called a mischief? Cause that's kind of an awesome collective noun.
Mmmm... rat droppings. Adds that extra crunch and certain je ne sais quoi to the fries...
Newsflash! There are a lot of rats in DC alleys, and streets, and cellars. MILLIONS
"If having rats nearby is a reason to close a restaurant, then they should close my entire street in Columbia Heights."
couldn't agree more. Maybe the entire east coast should close down. I can't wait until they reopen, i'm going to order a double with cheese. Maybe i'll convince them to make me some curly fries too.
Free-range rats. Cool.
"Whats for afters?"
"Rat cake, rat sorbet, rat pudding, or strawberry tart."
(eyes lighting up) "Strawberry tart?"
"Well, it's got *some* rat in it."
"How much?"
"Three. A lot, really."
"Well, I'll have a slice without so much rat in it."
Just to remind everyone-- the rat population in Dupont is well known, what with them jumping into baby strollers and all. It's not like Five Guys moved into the neighborhood and rats followed them in.
Have I ever told you the story of Flat Rat? Next to the old 930 Club, there was an alley that everybody used to take a leak in after the club let out. It was a writhing mass of rats. Then after one show, they all disappeared. All that was left was a rat that had been run over by trucks so many times that it was completely flat. It looked like a cardboard cutout rat, except soaked with pee. Anyway, shortly thereafter, the 930 moved to its present location, the neighborhood went upscale, and the end of civilization as we know it. Coincidence?
Moral of the story: DC needs more yuppies to push out the rats. And more urinals, too.
I would love to see one of those dumb people who run through the packed sidewalks of Georgetown trip over a rat. Muuuhhahahaha!
Rats+Cattle = Profits! (Now everybody sing!)
We had rats for breakfast.
Rats for lunch.
Rats on a half-shell.
Rats for brunch.
Rats for dinner.
Rats on a stick.
All those rats, they made me sick.
I find it funny that they targeted Five Guys when within feet of the Dupont location is a Potbelly and a Cosi but alas the first Lady did not dine at either of those places. If your thinking that they are rat free and the place in the middle isn't then I have some swamp land to sell you. As has been pointed out already areas with dense populations and many restaurants have rats. It is a symbiotic relationship.
A dirty little secret is that most restaurants have rodent issues but some are better at dealing with it than others.
Ok say you are eating food at the table...You go for a big scoop of the rice that you cooked... Then u take a bite of rice....
How will u feel right after enjoying the rice..and telling the peron next to you "ummmm thas good", you then see a roach crawling out the rice bowl on the table.
The person next to you can now choose to advertise to everyone in the room...saying uhhhh...out load...and start saying you...just ate
a spoon full of rice...and there is a roach in the rice bowl....just look at this everyone? ROACH EATER ROACH EATER......
Or they don't have to go that far. They can just be quite about it, and know that you probally are already imbarrased because
you were saying ummmm how good the rice was, right before the roach came out.
Inside edition aired a session tonight on how they have a team of investagators that go and look for dirty resturants
They go in there with hidden cameras. They went to a resturant in D.C. to investagate. It was called FIVE GUYS.
Five Guys was so flighty..rats and roaches everywhere..they caught them on the counter ..near the food pantry.
They filmed it to show how dirty the place was...like vermonators..on discover channel.
They show that part ..then they air a peace on the first lady(Michelle Obama)..the clips show her bragging about how she some times
sneaks out the white house with her staff and they go and eat at FIVE GUYS.
First thought I had was 1.) They are telling me..look this is your stupid (first lady)..we caught her eating with rats and roches...this is the filth that
you elected. Eating were rats and roaches ate. She is nothing but a rat and a roach.
Why do I think this:
Because why advertise it? Why not keep it to themselves? Why Flaunt it?
If you have this much power, the evidence to show that this place is filthy and everyone who goes there is filthy.
If you find something wrong in a place, and it is that filthy,
so filthy that anyone who associated in that place,
was also filthy, because they didnt know it was
filthy, and they ate, drink, worked there like nothing was wrong.....
If I was watching this at home...I'd feel relief ...Damn I'm glad I didn't eat at that place...it was so dirty.
then I'd think ...I feel bad for the people...who ate..there and have to work there and go there because they just don't know.
Then you air the first lady. bragging
and boisted about this place..
You then will associate her..our first lady (Michelle Obama)... with that place Five Guys (RATS AND ROACHES CRAWLING ALL OVER)
Is this what they were trying to do?
I'm not a huge fan of Five Guys, but to nab them because they had rats *behind* their store in a dumpster is ridiculous. The rats in the alleys in Dupont outnumber people by about 10 to 1.
When I saw the rats were outside in the dumpster, not on the inside, (unlike Georgetown, ew) just shrugged my shoulders. That's Dupont Circle. Didn't some documentary about rats get filmed on Willard St, in the alley, a mere five blocks away, a few years ago?
unless, like Good Stuff, the 5 Guys operation was stashing its meat and other products in the alley.
Personally, I would prefer seeing free-ranged cats to rats...
If having rats digging through trash in the back alley qualifies a restaurant for closure, 70% of DC residents shouldn't even be eating in their own homes.
If having a rat in the kitchen qualifies a restaurant for closure 70% of DC residents shouldn't be eating in their old homes :-)
Crowded city where many of the buildings are over 50 years old? Rats, outside or in, shouldn't be so much catastrophic discovery as a reminder to keep food stored properly and washed frequently. Which you probably have to have evidence of doing to pass health inspection in the first place.
/rambling.
I just want my Five Guys back!
once saw a rat in the front window of the manny and olga's next door to source theater (have i told that story before?)
I don't know if you've told it before, but I've definitely seen the exact same thing.
I used to live in West End and we had a terrible rat problem there. The little f***ers chewed through my engine wires.
Ben, the two of us need look no more
We both found what we were looking for
With a friend to call my own
I'll never be alone
And you, my friend, will see
You've got a friend in me
(you've got a friend in me)
I used to say, I and me. Now it's us. Now it's Weeeeeeeeee!
DC has a RAT PANDEMEIC. I live in Adams Morgan on 18th St. (near all the restaurants, bars, businesses by Columbia Rd.) and the dumpsters are all infested with rats. Same for the alleys. It's gross and poison should be put down or something to rid the rats from everywhere. FIVE GUYS is a great example but its closure should actually be the first of many for the Health Inspectors to investigate. They are disgusting vermin that carry diseases and can eat through almost anything --why not rid the city of them?! We must solve this problem and not risk our own health.
I couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, no poison have been invented yet (to my knowledge) that could take care of this issue. Rats are way too clever. Poisons that have a delayed effect do work to some extent, but the solution is more in how we store our trash. On one hand, the city should introduce a new line of garbage bins with lids that don't fell off and seal better. On the other hand, I believe it is our responsibility to make sure garbage bins are sealed. Other animals that are better in controlling them, like snakes or cats. But knowing the general attitude towards snakes, cats are the way to go. :)
sorry, I mean: We need other animals that are..
I'm 2 blocks from you on the Mt. P alley. When I unload my car at night I hear them scurrying around. If I look down, I see them.
If I'm lucky, they get flattened in the winter time.
Ok say you are eating food at the table...You go for a big scoop of the rice that you cooked... Then u take a bite of rice....
How will u feel right after enjoying the rice..and telling the peron next to you "ummmm thas good", you then see a roach crawling out the rice bowl on the table.
The person next to you can now choose to advertise to everyone in the room...saying uhhhh...out load...and start saying you...just ate
a spoon full of rice...and there is a roach in the rice bowl....just look at this everyone? ROACH EATER ROACH EATER......
Or they don't have to go that far. They can just be quite about it, and know that you probally are already imbarrased because
you were saying ummmm how good the rice was, right before the roach came out.
Inside edition aired a session tonight on how they have a team of investagators that go and look for dirty resturants
They go in there with hidden cameras. They went to a resturant in D.C. to investagate. It was called FIVE GUYS.
Five Guys was so flighty..rats and roaches everywhere..they caught them on the counter ..near the food pantry.
They filmed it to show how dirty the place was...like vermonators..on discover channel.
They show that part ..then they air a peace on the first lady(Michelle Obama)..the clips show her bragging about how she some times
sneaks out the white house with her staff and they go and eat at FIVE GUYS.
First thought I had was 1.) They are telling me..look this is your stupid (first lady)..we caught her eating with rats and roches...this is the filth that
you elected. Eating were rats and roaches ate. She is nothing but a rat and a roach.
Why do I think this:
Because why advertise it? Why not keep it to themselves? Why Flaunt it?
If you have this much power, the evidence to show that this place is filthy and everyone who goes there is filthy.
If you find something wrong in a place, and it is that filthy,
so filthy that anyone who associated in that place,
was also filthy, because they didnt know it was
filthy, and they ate, drink, worked there like nothing was wrong.....
If I was watching this at home...I'd feel relief ...Damn I'm glad I didn't eat at that place...it was so dirty.
then I'd think ...I feel bad for the people...who ate..there and have to work there and go there because they just don't know.
Then you air the first lady. bragging
and boisted about this place..
You then will associate her..our first lady (Michelle Obama)... with that place Five Guys (RATS AND ROACHES CRAWLING ALL OVER)
Is this what they were trying to do?
BUT WHO WAS PHONE
It is unfortunate that Five Guys is being tagged with this issue. Like someone else pointed out, there are many restaurants all in a row along that street. Do you think the rats bypassed those dumpsters and targeted Five Guys specifically or was it Inside Edition that was targeting Five Guys? Has anyone who lived in DC NOT seen a rat at some point beside a dumpster, in an alley, trying to get into your own trash can? They are everywhere in the city. The fact of the matter is DC is full of rats and if a tv show wants to really uncover something we care about, they should focus on the infestation that clearly needs attention and not on a local business trying to do well in a tough economy.
Yet another reason why NYC is sooo much better than DC. Not only are NY slices the best pizza in the universe, their rats are bigger, tougher, and smell worse than DC's. Way to go, DC. You will always suck compared to New York. Go Mets!
5 guys = overrated
5 guys = overrated
You will NOT find rats at some of the other establishments in that same block, because some of the establishments are responsible about their trash, using compactors, enclosed grease cans, constant cleaning, and other strategies. So, I'm calling BULL on Foodcritic who feels, oh poor baby, that a restaurant is getting attention for their trashy and irresponsible handling of garbage and grease. Walk in that alley at night just once before you exercise your mouth, because some places like Circa are squeaky clean and rat free, while others are complete rat magnets. Too bad so sad if one of them got busted by TV cameras.
Those rats are inside to. I used to work there. One afternoon I was getting off. I went down stairs, and a rat was sitting there in a packed store in the middle of the day eating a pack of hamburger buns. It saw me coming and walked away, not ran walked. It looked to be 3-5lbs. This was last summer, all corprate did was send the maintence man Lew over to shoot some foam in some cracks and holes, but there were still droppings found everywhere. Their corprate office in VA was notified then and has always been aware, even while feeding the 1st lady, and accepting accolades.
Those rats are inside to. I used to work there. One afternoon I was getting off. I went down stairs, and a rat was sitting there in a packed store in the middle of the day eating a pack of hamburger buns. It saw me coming and walked away, not ran walked. It looked to be 3-5lbs. This was last summer, all corprate did was send the maintence man Lew over to shoot some foam in some cracks and holes, but there were still droppings found everywhere. Their corprate office in VA was notified then and has always been aware, even while feeding the 1st lady, and accepting accolades.
So, they've got rats. It's not like they ever even pretended that their food was healthy. Why complain if you get a little plague with your heaping helping of heart disease?
If you cared about your health, you'd never set foot inside a restaurant, let alone a fried beef emporium.