This week our Dirty Dining crew finds a rodent infestation forcing one restaurant to remodel and a raw sewage mishap that leads to a grizzly day for one greasy spoon.
Deli Inn 1494 S. Military Trail, West Palm Beach
We start at the Deli Inn found at 1494 S. Military Trail in West Palm Beach. This tiny diner was temporarily closed for a rather unique reason.
No rodents, no roaches but state inspectors found standing sewage on the property. As we walked in, lucky for us, all we could smell was bacon and eggs.
Right after we walked in, Manager Dennis Kunin took us right back outside to show us a pump that failed located at the plaza next door.
"We called the owner of the plaza, the plaza guy came out, said it needs a new pump," said Kunin.
"This is a problem with their equipment, not with yours?" asked NewsChannel 5's Jared Werksma. "Yeah," responded Kunin. "It was a pump in the well."
Either way the net result was the same. Raw sewage backing up and pouring out of a manhole in the Deli Inn's parking lot.
"So how'd you first notice this was happening?" asked Werksma. "Well," said Kunin, "You could smell it."
It was an unpleasant couple of hours, but Kunin says the problem was quickly resolved and the state inspector cleared the restaurant to reopen.
"Not something you want to deal with on a daily basis?" asked Werksma. "Not everyday, no please," Kunin said with a chuckle.
The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Company 14451 S. Military Trail, Delray Beach
Next was a repeat trip to the Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Company in Delray Beach.
We visited this location just a few weeks ago when it was temporarily closed after state inspectors found more rodent poop than we've seen reported in a long time.
This time around, rodents are the culprit again. There's a list about two paragraphs long describing where inspectors found rodent poop this time around.
As we walked up to the bagel place, we quickly realized we'd find no answers here. We found a sign on the door that read:
"We will be closed to make improvements in our dining room and kitchen."
Luckily I still had the phone number for the corporate contact I got during our last visit. When I called, a rep told me the Delray Beach location of the Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Company and the plaza it's in are both under renovation to try and eliminate the rodent infestation.
We could hear what sounded like jack hammers and other heavy equipment inside the restaurant, but when we asked if we could get one of our cameras inside to see the action, we were shot down. The corporate rep says they hope to have the Delray Beach location back open by mid January.
If you'd like to see how your favorite restaurant faired this week you can check out our database provided by our news partners at TcPalm.com.