Westborough Tavolino Undergoes Intensive Repairs To Eliminate Mice

WESTBOROUGH, MA — An owner of the longstanding Westborough restaurant Tavolino says the restaurant's recent unexpected closure was done to conduct an exhaustive renovation of the building to fix a recurrent problem with mice.

The restaurant notified customers on Friday that it would close until early March for "restorations." Co-owner Graham Silliman said a pest control specialist will be working in the restaurant during that time to find — and seal — places where mice are getting in, and eliminate any already inside.

The closure was a last resort, Silliman said, after months of relying on standard pest control methods that weren't working.

"We're leaving no stone unturned, we're going to get on top of this," he said.

The closure was done voluntarily, not by order of the Westborough Board of Health. Restaurant inspections dating back to 2018 provided by the town to Patch show that Tavolino hasn't had any major code violations over the years — typically items like outdated safety posters, food spatter on the ceiling, boxes of food stored on a shelf too close to the floor.

A Westborough health inspector visited the restaurant in November after a customer complained about seeing mice. The inspector didn't find any signs of mice in the restaurant, and noted the presence of traps, according to the report. The inspector noted the restaurant undergoes "extensive cleaning by staff" nightly, and found that a pest control company was visiting weekly.

Employees went so far as to take apart the ovens to see if the warmth was helping mice live in the walls. A nationally known pest control company had affixed bar codes across the kitchen to mark places that had been checked for mice. But Silliman said none of those efforts were truly working.

The problem, Silliman says, might be due to a mild winter last year, and possibly Tavolino's location. The restaurant abuts train tracks and wetlands that likely serve as a habitat for the critters. Tavolina's building, which is shared with medical offices, was constructed in 2008, but is connected to the Henry Hobson Richardson-style former train station built in 1898.

During the renovation, the pest control expert will search for any spot where mice might be able to enter, and then fill gaps with steel wool. Silliman said customers won't be able to see any of the work once it's complete because it involves things like cleaning and repairing ceilings in the kitchen and adding new baseboards along walls covered by banquettes. Meanwhile, the exterminator will be laying traps for the mice. The closure is also timed to line up with the mouse life cycle to capture and kill any mice that have bred. Female mice can give birth to a litter in as little as three weeks, according to Orkin.

Mice are a common sight indoors during winter, when they seek warmth and food indoors. They are excellent at fitting in small spaces, or gnawing their way indoors.

"They can squeeze through a hole the width of a standard wooden pencil, gnaw through wood and plaster, and they are able to climb and jump like little acrobats. They enter rooms because they can, and often because they detect the odors of food and other mice," a Harvard University report on mice on campus described.

The decision to close wasn't an easy one, Silliman said. It'll likely cost $100,000 or more in lost business — including the loss of more than 100 Valentine's Day reservations — plus the renovation and extermination costs. The closure also hurts Tavolino staff, some who are using temporary unemployment.

He compared the closure to the uncertainty during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Silliman said he's determined to bounce back after the closure, for customers and the staff. The restaurant has been open along East Main Street for about 15 years.

"We're determined to be cleaner than anyone else around us," he said.