...make sure you chose somewhere that looks as though they take pride in cleanliness.
After a campaign against dodgy establishments deemed a risk to public health, Moon Pizza - a Walthamstow restaurant popular with local schoolkids - was just closed down by Environmental Health after people working nearby saw "rats jumping from a window".
Inspections revealed poor hygiene with grime and rodent droppings all over the shop, and covering containers intended for takeaway food. Black rubbish bags behind Moon Pizza had been clawed at, presumably by the self-same rats that had been busily throwing themselves off the windowsill (although, to be fair, the media reports don't indicate if they were clawing their way into the bags, or out of them).
The last time a restaurant was shut down like this was somewhere with no hot running water, with no washing facilities and that didn't refrigerate food properly. It's not particularly reassuring to know it was an exception - 95% of forced closures are due to mice, rats or cockroaches.
Nice.
We care about our readers. Tonight when you're thinking of scoffing a Jumbo Battered Sausage and Chips after falling out of a pub, do keep an eye out for kamikaze rats jumping from windowsills. If they don't want the food, then maybe you shouldn't, either.
Image of rat ("zipper") noshing on a pizza crust courtesy of phatman's Flickrstream
