NYC Restaurants: Rat Poop, Listeria & Bagels Edition

NEW YORK CITY — Rat poop is never far away in New York City, especially around food.

That's one of many lessons in recent days from the city's restaurant, bar and grocery scenes.

The past two weeks of food news in New York City served up big stories that were alternately transformative and bizarre.

And Patch's small, but ever-hungry local newsroom was there to serve up all the food news fit to print, or at least as much as it could.

Check out our weekly roundup, and come back next week for seconds.

A Queens Dollar Tree had to temporarily close down because of some unwanted customers: rats.

Swarms of rats left shelves in the store littered with feces and chewed through bags of food that locals unknowingly brought home, said a local advocate who documented the store-wide infestation in a nauseating set of photos.

Dollar Tree voluntarily shut down the store and state inspectors descended on its aisles.

But those unhealthy conditions were just confined to one store.

A Brooklyn ice cream company walked a rocky road this week after a Listeria risk spurred a nationwide recall.

Two people were hospitalized in New York and Pennsylvania after eating Real Kosher Ice Cream's Soft Serve On The Go Cups, the Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday.

Not all recent food news was overtly bad.

Outdoor dining is permanently on the menu in New York City, assuming Mayor Eric Adams gives it his signature.

In case you missed it, City Council members passed a long-awaited bill nearly that preserved restaurants' pandemic-era ability to serve diners outdoors.

The milestone legislation came with the significant caveat that dining setups and sheds on the city's streets will only be allowed eight months a year. Advocates have vowed to push for a year-round roadway dining program.

But the permanent outdoor dining bill's passage arguably was overshadowed by a boy denied booze at a luxury Upper East Side hotel.

Patch recently broke the story of a lawsuit that accuses a would-be imbiber named Theodore Weintraub who, in revenge for not being served alcohol at the Mark Hotel, mounted a campaign of defamation, sending paid protesters to chant strange allegations that the five-star destination denies the Holocaust, supports Jeffrey Epstein and has mice

“The Mark has mice, The Mark supports Epstein, pedophiles, bald head," the protesters paid $25 an hour have chanted, one worker told Patch.

Not all recent beverage-related protests were as blatantly frivolous.

Starbucks workers and their supporters across the nation, including New York City, picketed to show support for a growing unionization campaign.

"Starbucks was always more than a cup of coffee," an elected official said, "they were also selling values, a culture. We're here to remind customers that they have not lived up to their values."

As a palate cleanser, New Yorkers interested in some NYU-area eats can check out a recent list of the best offerings.

• Rats Take Over Queens Dollar Tree Riddled With Poop, Advocates Say
• Listeria Risk Forces Brooklyn-Made Ice Cream Recall Nationwide
• Starbucks Workers Union Picket Midtown Shop In National Day Of Action
  
• Outdoor Dining Is Now Permanent In NYC
• Underage Drinker Pays Protesters To Bully Lux UES Hotel: Worker, Suit
• 6 West Village Spots Named As Best Around NYU: List

Brooklyn's legendary Di Fara Pizza is now in the sandwich business.

The new Midwood restaurant, called 1012 Kitchen, is owned by Maggie DeMarco-Mieles, the daughter of Di Fara's founder Domenico DeMarco, according to an Eater report.

And because New York City is as much of a bagel city as a pizza town, there were new circular doughy offerings opening.

Olde Brooklyn Bagel Shoppe soon will be the Upper East Side's third new bagel shop announced in recent weeks.

The shop, as can be gleaned from its name, is originally from Brooklyn. Not to be outdone, an Uptown bagel joint is slated to make a wider expansion.

H&H Bagels—the longtime Upper West Side favorite that gained broader fame when it appeared as Kramer's place of employment in a 1997 "Seinfeld" episode—is about to become a nationwide chain, according to a report.

And, finally, an urban farm restaurant chain is planting roots on the Upper West Side.

Westville plans to open its ninth location at 2290 Broadway, once home to Artie's Delicatessen.

• Iconic Brooklyn Eatery Di Fara Pizza Opens Sandwich Shop: Report
• Bagel Mania: Third New Bagel Place In UES Coming To Yorkville
• UWS Gem H&H Bagels To Expand Nationally: Report
• Westville To Open Upper West Side Outpost

Not all restaurants were able to look forward to glorious openings. Two eateries were closed by city health inspectors.

• NYC Restaurants Ordered Closed Aug. 4-11