St. Croix’s Wendy’s restaurant reopened Friday after paying a $400 fine and being forced to close Tuesday by the V.I. Health Department for a number of violations subsequent to a phone call that alerted officials to the presence of rats inside and outside the fast food restaurant.
According to Nykole Tyson, Health’s public information officer, an inspector was dispatched Tuesday after receiving the a call Monday and verified the presence of cockroaches and rat droppings in the smoothie machine, the storage area and in boxes storing ketchup, as well as other infractions.
After ordering the Sunny Isles restaurant to close its doors, the inspector issued citations indicating:
– the staff failed to clean rat droppings that were found on the kitchen floor and in ketchup boxes;
– the kitchen was unsanitary due to a grease buildup and mold behind the walkup freezer;
– and unsanitary conditions were created because employees disregarded trash on the floor.
On Thursday, Peter Kumpitch, president of the St. Croix Wendy’s, released a statement apologizing.
“We are cooperating fully with the Health Department and we are working with the pest control company to resolve this situation as quickly as possible. Wendy’s has great respect for our loyal and deserving Virgin Islands customers. We apologize and promise to be better because of this,” Kumpitch’s statement read.
Health inspectors toured Wendy’s on Friday, Tyson said, and determined the establishment to be fit to resume business.
In the future, the restaurant will be subject to random inspections, as are other food service establishments, Tyson said.
“The inspector went today and the violations had been rectified so they were authorized to reopen,” Tyson said.
