Yum! Brands Inc. (Louisville, Ky.) has announced it will temporarily close several New York restaurants in the wake of video showing a Taco Bell location being overrun by rats.
Yum said the restaurants, all owned by franchisee ADF Cos. (Fairfield, N.J.), would remain closed until they underwent new inspections by the city’s health department.
“We will not compromise on our food and restaurant quality,” said Emil Brolick, a Yum Brands executive.
ADF owns more than 350 fast food restaurants in several states and is among the nation’s largest operators of Pizza Huts, another Yum division.
An ADF-owned KFC/Taco Bell was closed by New York health inspectors last week after TV news crews peering through the windows recorded about a dozen rats skittering across the floors and climbing on tables and countertops. The restaurant wasn’t open at the time, and officials later said construction in the basement might have stirred up the rodents. A city health inspector had given the restaurant a passing grade a day earlier. He has been temporarily removed from field duty.
“We are embarrassed by the situation and stress that certain restaurants did not meet the very high standards that we set for ourselves,” said ADF president Don Harty.
ADF spokeswoman Marissa Smith said she didn’t know exactly how many of the company’s 20 restaurants in New York had closed but described it as “a handful.” The closures did not extend to other states, she said.
It was unclear how quickly the restaurants might reopen. Smith said each was getting a rigorous new inspection.
“We are absolutely committed to our customers and have worked with ADF to close their uninspected restaurants in New York until they are fully inspected by the health department and given a clean bill of health,” said Emil Brolick, Yum's president of U.S. brands. “We will not compromise on our food and restaurant quality.” Yum has said it believes the incident was isolated.