And By “Low-Hanging Fruit” We Mean Low-Hanging Fruit Stored At Unsafe Temperatures Too Close To Chemicals

Student journalists (and some professional ones) can’t resist the low-hanging fruit:

NYU students know BBQ, on the corner of University Place and Eighth Street, for its frozen margaritas and one of the best happy hours near campus. But the noisy watering hole is also popular with flying insects and roaches, according to a city health inspection report available online.

During an inspection BBQ failed on Oct. 17, a Department of Health and Mental Hygiene inspector noted “evidence of roaches or live roaches” and flying insects. The DOHMH also cited BBQ for several food temperature violations.

BBQ is one of at least six Washington Square-area restaurants that have failed one or more city health inspections this year, WSN reported yesterday. DOHMH keeps online records of its inspections, citing restaurants for violations including evidence of rodents and cockroaches and failing to keep food at safe temperatures. Violations are assigned point values that accumulate to form a restaurant’s score — zero is the best possible score and 28 points equals a failure of an inspection.

Of the restaurants with failed inspections, only Dojo East on St. Marks Place was closed; the other five restaurants passed subsequent inspections. Of those — BBQ, Campus Eatery, Dean & Deluca, Le Basket and Peanut Butter & Co. — BBQ had the highest score, according DOHMH reports. BBQ failed a follow-up inspection on Nov. 8, scoring 41 points. Inspectors again found evidence of flying insects and roaches, as well as several food temperature violations.

Seriously, though, the Washington Square News deserves many props for getting not one but two managers to serve up statements along the lines of “The bottom line is that we passed, and if we’re not good, we’d be closed.” Which is why you’ve got to feel for Dojo, which took care of one problem only to see another rearing its ugly head:

Dojo Restaurant on St. Marks Place has failed three of its past four inspections since September 2005 and earned over 60 points on its last two, according to inspection reports. In a Sept. 6 inspection, the inspector saw evidence of mice and flying insects. In a re-inspection only a few weeks later, an inspector found evidence of rats instead.

Then there’s the unsettling concept of the Incontinent Mouse (incidentally, a great name for a coffee shop):

And vermin infestations can do more than cause customers to shriek in horror.

“They carry all kinds of disease,” [Pest Away Exterminating owner Jeffrey] Eisenberg said. “Mice urinate every 15 seconds. They urinate literally thousands of times a day.

“If they’re on the countertop, if they’re on the food, they’ve urinated,” said Eisenberg. He explained that while customers might not understand it as “food poisoning,” they can feel the effects.