Health Inspectors Keep Closing Crown Heights Fried Chicken Joint

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — Health inspectors keep shutting down a Crown Heights fried chicken joint they say is riddled with roaches, filth flies and contaminants.

Crown Fried Chicken on Franklin Avenue and President Street was shut down twice in two weeks — first on July 18 and again on July 30 — for stacking up 60 or more health code violations, Health Department records show.

Inspectors found roaches, filth flies, personal cleanliness problems among the staff and open bait stations packed with pesticides when they first shut down the fried chicken place on a 60-point violation write-up.

The violation count only increased when inspectors returned Tuesday and doled out 65 points for foods being held at unsafe temperatures, vermin-proofing and plumbing problems.

A manager told Patch the restaurant had reopened on Friday.

Crown Fried Chickens are fast food fried chicken and pizza eateries that can be found across Brooklyn and Queens as well as in New Jersey, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Tennessee, according CrownFriedChicken.com, which describes itself as a directory for more than 145 independent Crown Fried Chicken restaurants.

Two Yelp reviewers noted in their reviews of the 850 Franklin Ave. location in March, "this is the worst place ever."