INDIANAPOLIS – A Little Caesars restaurant near downtown Indianapolis is back open, after health inspectors shut it down Tuesday after receiving a couple's complaint of rat or mice droppings baked into their pizza, according to WXIN.
Johnathan McNeil said he and his girlfriend bought a pizza at the establishment near the intersection of 22nd St. and Meridian St., but on the way home she noticed something was amiss.
“She looked at the pizza and realized there was, like, doo-doo looking stuff on the pizza,” said McNeil.
McNeil said he returned to the restaurant to demand an explanation.
“All of them were looking at my pizza dumbfounded as if they didn’t know what’s going on,” said McNeil. “I said ‘That’s mouse doo-doo on the bottom of my pizza.’”
McNeil said he called police who arrived on the scene and suggested he contact the Marion County Health Department. An inspector initiated an emergency inspection, which resulted in the business license being suspended.
“We did find that there were rodent droppings and violations that warranted us doing a license suspension,” said Janelle Kaufman with the Marion County Health Department.
Upon a follow-up inspection the next morning, Kaufman said the problems had been corrected.
“They cooperated with us, they worked with us … they cleaned everything they needed to do,” said Kaufman.
Inspection reports show the restaurant has been doing battle with mice since at least last August. The store was cited four times since then, before being given the all-clear on October 3, 2017. However, the store was never closed.
Health officials said with only seventeen inspectors to cover about 4600 county restaurants, they rely on diners to be their eyes and ears.
“When they call and let us know what they see, it’s so helpful to us,” said Kaufman, “any restaurant can benefit from another inspection.”
McNeil hopes other diners will learn from his experience.
“I just want people to check their food and be very cautious about what they’re eating,” said McNeil.
Managers at the store declined to comment. WXIN reached out for comment from the restaurant's corporate franchise owner, but did not immediately heard back.
Restaurant inspection reports are not posted until 10 days after they are conducted, however a restaurant’s cumulative inspection history can be found online.
