Video of rat inside Long Beach Tommy's sparks concern, but health dept finds nothing after inspection
LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- An Original Tommy's Burgers in Long Beach is getting a lot of online attention after a video of a rat in the restaurant surfaced.
Every restaurant in the city is required to have a health department inspection summary report. The reports note any serious health issues found at the restaurant. One posted earlier this week at the Long Beach Tommy's showed a clean bill of health.
But earlier this week, video of the rat inside the restaurant right next to that cleared inspection report surfaced online. Rapper Estilo Juan Estrada posted the video on his Facebook page.
That video alerted inspectors to go investigate the incident.
"We sent a couple of people out there. We sent the supervisor out there and the district inspector," said Nelson Kerr, who works for the health department.
Inspectors checked the burger joint Thursday morning before it opened for business.
"We did not find an active rodent infestation at the time. There were no rodent droppings, no gnaw marks - essentially no evidence of rodents," Kerr said.
Eyewitness News reached out to Tommy's for comment on the situation. The staff at the East Anaheim Street location referred us to Tommy's corporate officers, but requests for an interview went unanswered.
But people on the street said they were unnerved by the video.
"It looked freaky, dude! Like right in front of the window, too, you know what I mean?" one man said.
The health department allowed the restaurant to open for business. Inspectors believe the rat sighting was a one-off and that it somehow snuck into the location.
"The rodent may have entered in through a delivery door, possibly. In the night, they get deliveries. It may have exited out that door. But at this point, we have no evidence that the rodent is still there," Kerr said.
The department will continue to inspect the Tommy's every day until they feel confident in saying there are no rats inside the building.
