The Obama effect is something we’ve been seeing a lot of lately. Everyone is paying attention to what the Obama’s are wearing, doing and where they are eating. Unfortunatley the bastion of journalism that is INSIDE EDITION decided to take it one step further, checking out those places with their “Rat Patrol.”
Surprise! Fast food places in DC have rats. And just like that 5 Guys in Georgetown and Dupont shut down temporarily.
From Politico:
Michelle Obama has said that she and her staff recently snuck out to lunch to a popular burger joint called Five Guys on Connecticut Ave. in Dupont Circle not far from the White House. But INSIDE EDITION’s Rat Patrol found a pack of rats right outside the back door of the restaurant two nights in a row.
At another Five Guy’s location on Wisconsin Ave. in Georgetown, INSIDE EDITION’s Rat Patrol spotted an unwelcome visitor inside the restaurant crawling through sacks of potatoes kept right inside the front window. Rodents were spotted two nights in a row at the location, and are something that the Obamas and any other parent would want to be aware of. One employee told INSIDE EDITION that Sasha and Malia Obama visited, along with their grandmother, in March.
When INSIDE EDITION told the Five Guys corporate heads what was found, they promptly closed both locations and say they will not reopen until they are certain they are rodent free.
A call to the Dupont location confirmed that they are working, but not open yet. There was no answer in Georgetown.
P.S. I seriously hate rats and will never do an image search for them again.
But do you have rats climbing on your potatoes?
Seriously, I hate rats. This is hard for me.
May 15, 2009 at 12:35 pmremember the Johhny Rockets RatGate from a couple of years a go? (i apparently do)
http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/food/dont-byte-me-the-rat-rocket-race/
May 15, 2009 at 12:36 pmalso-willard. a really, really creepy movie. you should have gone at least with a ratatouille video
May 15, 2009 at 12:37 pmThe Rat Patrol found loads of rats in the 14th Street Popeyes back in 2007. I love Popeyes, but that one has always seemed dirty.
And yes, Willard is a creepy movie. Because rats are terrible creepy things. Even in Ratatouille, he is little rat hands touching all that food freaked me out.
May 15, 2009 at 12:40 pmI would prefer a rat crawl over a potato and then the potato be turned into a french fry than have a cook handle his wiener then put a tomato on your burger, or pick her nose and then handle your silverware.
Oh, anyone who eats at a place because someone else ate there deserves their head bashed in with a 10lb sledge.
May 15, 2009 at 12:42 pmAn acquaintance has a hamster. I have a guinea pig. Considered cute by many. Rats, on the other hand, are universally regarded with hatred and disgust. Does anyone else think double standard?
May 15, 2009 at 1:05 pmRats really are everywhere. Even heard two of them fighting last night a block from my apartment, on Fuller Street. And one got run over by a car on Columbia and Ontario…about a week ago. Last I saw it was still there.
Anyways. I used to work right next door to the Five Guys in Dupont and let me tell you, the rats there and in Dupont in general are out of control. A rat once ran into the wine store and everyone was too terrified to do something so my coworker put a wine box over it to disguise it from customers (didn’t work because a wine box moving on its own tends to freak people out).
And according to the nice Ecolab pest control man I used to work with, the Safeway on Columbia has the worst rat infestation in the entire city. Food for thought.
May 15, 2009 at 2:52 pmDanielle – true.
Also true is that it is the populace’s fault there are so many rats because we don’t ensure our garbage cans are closed tightly, that our trash is put away in closed containers, and that our alleys are cleaned.
Always looking for “the government” to do all that for us of course.
May 15, 2009 at 2:59 pmI had a rat run by my foot at the Cinema Draft House is Arlington when I was watching Anchorman.
May 15, 2009 at 3:04 pmOh, and rats will fucking chew the wires and upholstery in your car, the little assholes. I hate rats and see no reason for their existence.
And is that Nellie Yuki eating a hamburger in the icon?
May 15, 2009 at 3:28 pmI can vividly imagine the cocktail columnist screeching at the top of her lungs during the scene in the wine store: “Please stop right there, you vile, disgusting and unsanitary rodent! Please leave at once, or I’ll call the cops!..”
Somethingh to that effect.
May 15, 2009 at 3:28 pmWait a minute, Alex…while you were watching Anchorman? As in you’re in the theatre and it ran by your foot in the theatre?
Jesus Christ I hope that’s not the case…
May 15, 2009 at 3:29 pmYes – I was sitting in my chair, in the theater, watching a movie, drinking beer. And a rat ran by my foot, and I felt it before I saw it. Then it ran over by a wall, turned around and just stared at me. Big rat. No fear.
May 15, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Uh, rats outside the door but not inside?
There are rats outside EVERYONE’S door in DC.
May 15, 2009 at 12:31 pm