Viral Popeyes TikTok gets rat-infested restaurant shut down
TikTok / PixabayA TikToker went viral after he exposed a Popeyes restaurant for having a rat infestation. The clip led local health department officials to shut the “hazardous” location down.
TikTok user ‘blaqazzrick01′, who claims he delivers raw chicken to local Popeyes’ in the area, uploaded his video of the Washington, DC restaurant in question on October 11, 2021.
But it wasn’t until October 29 when it was posted to Twitter that it went viral, leading to the fast food location swiftly being closed down.
TikToker exposes rat-infested Popeyes
“Y’all wanna see something?” the man began in his two-minute long TikTok as he stood outside the building. “I deliver all raw chicken to all the Popeyes in the DC area. It’s this joint right here, got some wild s**t.”
He then unlocked the door and walked through the restaurant to the kitchen in the back. As soon as he turned the lights on, multiple rats could be seen scurrying past unopened sacks and boxes of ingredients and up the wall into a ventilation shaft.
“Look at ’em! Look at them motherf**kers!” he exclaimed before flipping the camera around to face himself. “Do you still love that chicken from Popeyes?”
DC rats are wild! 😳🤭😷 pic.twitter.com/LbnKmgk5jD
— Washingtonian Problems (@WashProbs) October 29, 2021
The same day the clip went viral on Twitter, DC Councilmember Charles Allen revealed that the Popeyes location in question had been shut down.
“[The DC Department of Health] inspected and closed this site yesterday,” he tweeted in response to a concerned local resident.
Absolutely not is right! @_DCHealth inspected and closed this site yesterday.
— Charles Allen (@charlesallen) October 30, 2021
According to Fox News, a notice is now stuck to the front of the restaurant, informing the public of the closure.
“This establishment is ordered CLOSED until further notice for a violation of the District of Colombia food code regulations, which presents an imminent health hazard to the public,” it reads.
At the time of writing, it is unknown whether the Popeyes location will be closed permanently or not.