Rodents in Restaurants (Not the Cartoon Kind)
Sure, Ratatouille was a great movie, but it didn’t convince me that rats, mice, or any other small, furry creatures belong in restaurants.
On that topic, Tom Sietsema, The Washington Post’s food critic, posted the following tale from a reader-diner last week:
“My husband and I ate dinner at Matchbox tonight and were disgusted to see mice running around right by our table…. We very discreetly informed the server and manager, who reacted as if this was no big deal. The manager even said, “Good thing you’re not scared of mice.”
“No apologies, no offers to re-seat us, no acknowledgment that mice do not belong where customers eat. What is the best way to handle this situation?”
Sietsema advised tracking down the restaurant’s owner, since the manager was so blasé.
While I’m disappointed to hear such an anecdote about a place I enjoy — Matchbox has great pizza and mini-burgers — I wonder how widespread the problem is, and how both restaurants and diners handle it.
Have you ever had a brunch, lunch, or dinner that was accompanied by a rodent sighting? Do tell.
Comments
By Alison L. McConnell
Alison L. McConnell is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and writer. A native of New Jersey and upstate New York, she attended Bowdoin College in Maine and the London School of Economics before settling in Washington, where she works as a financial reporter, food freelancer, and studies at L’Academie de Cuisine. Some of her favorite things to make are risottos, roast chickens, and cakes. She abides by a long-standing family motto: McConnells always finish their desserts.
About The Humble Gourmand
The Humble Gourmand is published the first Friday of each month, edited by Alison L. McConnell, a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and writer. It is designed to offer straightforward lessons and advice to aspiring cooks, oenophiles, and all other eaters and drinkers.
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Pedroiscool
March 25 10:06 a.m. 1How rude of that manager. The meal should have at least been on the house.
Speaking of rodents, my friend had an encounter with one last friday. At a certain restaurant (the restaurant and friend will remain unnamed) I have a friend who works as a waiter. On friday someone spilled some soup in the kitchen so he went out back to retrieve the mop from the utility room and as he opened the door a mouse ran inside the kitchen. Not only could they not catch it, but it escaped into the dining area and ran around all the guests making a scene. most of the patrons left without finishing their meals nor paying for them.
I feel bad for my friend because he was the one that accidently let it in, and the scene it caused is sure to affect business badly. But it was funny to hear him telling me about what happened.
Alison
March 25 1:37 p.m. 2That's a good one -- definitely amusing. Since he didn't know there was a mouse in the utility closet, I'd be hesistant to blame him too much if I were in charge ... but we all know how that goes.
chad
March 31 11:48 a.m. 3The sight of a mouse in a restaurant of good repute would not be likely to drive me out for a meal elsewhere, nor would news of a mouse in such a restaurant lead me to avoid the place entirely. That being noted, if I had the same unpleasant dining experience, and the staff did not respond to my discreet warning with an air of urgency, the metaphorical gloves would come off. I would have been standing on my chair crying “mouse” and shaking in fear, hoping that my fellow patrons – and perhaps even some staff members – might do the same. Regardless of the outcome, you can bet your ass I wouldn’t leave without my mini-burgers.
HalHail
April 1 4:25 p.m. 4I don't know that I've seen a furry friend in a restaurant, but once, while traveling in Inverness, Scotland, my family was seated at a table with paper place mats and some silverware left over from the diners who had just vacated the table. The server filled in the missing pieces of silverware, but did not change the place mats nor did she remove and then replace fresh silverware for the pieces that had been left behind by the last patrons.
My father asked the server if he could have a clean fork, to which she replied -- quiet seriously -- "Oh, is this one dirty?" We left before ordering.
I was surprised only because the Scots are a pretty antiseptic lot, but on the other hand, thrift would dictate not washing silverware that had not affirmatively been used. Oh well.
rebecca
April 3 9:43 a.m. 5I hope I'm there to witness Chad on a chair shrieking "mouse!". That would be funny. Then again, I might not see that because I'd be out the door so fast. I realize it's irrational, but I really hate mice. I always tell my husband, "I didn't get married so I could kill my own bugs (and rodents)!"