Rats, Odors Coming From Still-Shuttered Forest Hills Diner, Locals Say

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — Rats and odors are coming from a Forest Hills diner shuttered months ago by the health department, neighbors told Patch.

Last week, a neighbor walked by T-Bone Diner, which inspectors closed in February after finding flies and vermin in the restaurant, and saw more signs of filth.

"There were rats in the windows and a very foul odor," the neighbor told Patch in an email. "This is very bad for the people walking by, the people living on the block and the businesses on the block."

In the months since the Department of Health closed T-Bone Diner, neighbors have also reported rat sightings and graffiti at the diner (the latter of which is still there, Patch saw during a neighborhood stroll, despite police listing the 311 complaint as closed).

Several restaurants are shuttered by the city over public health hazards most weeks, but those eateries often resolve the issues and reopen quickly after passing another inspection.

T-Bone Diner, however, hasn't exhibited signs of reopening since inspectors closed it over a vermin infestation and missing safety certificate, among other issues.

On the contrary, a "reopening soon" sign that the restaurant reportedly hung in one of its now papered-over windows is no longer there, but a health department sign ordering the business closed is still hanging on its front door, Patch saw last week.

Representatives from T-Bone Diner couldn't be reached by the time of this article's publication.

The diner is a neighborhood institution that's stood on Queens Boulevard next to the 71-Avenue subway station since the 1930s.

Related Article: Decades-Old Diner Shutters After Health Department Finds Filth