ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — A popular bagel and sandwich restaurant in Rochester, Balsam Bagels, has been shut down for health violations. This is according to Monroe County’s Health Department, who said that the shutdown was due to a “mouse infestation.”
A health inspector reported finding “large quantities of mouse droppings throughout the entire facility,” including in prep kitchens, service areas, basement storage, on storage shelves, on a bagel rolling machine, on a bagel toaster, and on a bagel slicer. Three dead mice were found in a variety of traps inside the restaurant.
The inspector also reported finding dry ingredients left in the open, and employee cell phones on surfaces used for food preparation. The full report can be found below.
The bagel shop will be subject to reinspection after a licensed exterminator eliminates the mouse infestation and forwards invoices to the health department.
Balsam Bagels released a statement to News 8 Friday evening, saying:
“As a family business that has been in the North Winton Village neighborhood for nearly 20 years, we apologize sincerely to our loyal customers and community. We work hard year round to maintain operations in our older building and mitigate issues as they arise. Clearly today we fell short and we are diligently working towards re opening. Moving forward we are implementing new and more stringent measures to make sure that this situation never occurs again. We look forward to making this right.”
