A NYC Restaurant That Was Sued Over Rat Soup

While rodents have always been a problem in the food industry, many more restaurants are dealing with rats now than ever before. BBC reported in 2021 that NYC's rodent-related complaints had increased by at least 15%, and countless businesses came under fire for infestations.

Last January, for instance, Canada's Bistak Enterprises was forced to issue a massive food recall after a rat infestation in one of its facilities exposed products to salmonella. Mere months later, a woman took to social media to accuse Popeyes of serving her fried rat instead of chicken, with a pretty convincing video. Seriously, Popeyes, if that was indeed a piece of chicken, how do you explain the tail?

Yet another restaurant recently faced a devastating blow, with a married couple alleging they had found a dead rodent -– albeit a small one -– in their soup. Though the restaurant argued against the possibility of an infestation, a health inspection suggested otherwise.

One NYC couple recently had their appetites ruined by "rat soup." According to their Instagram post, they had been proud regulars at Gammeeok in Midtown Manhattan for more than a decade when they found what looked like a dead mouse in their soup. In an interview with Eater, the restaurant insisted that they had reviewed security footage from that day and did not see a rat being ladled into anyone's soup, let alone see rats scurrying about in the kitchen. Gammeeok allegedly offered the couple a $100 coupon to be used for future orders of Korean dishes, which they declined in favor of filing a lawsuit.

However, The Daily Mail noted that the restaurant received 15 health violations in January for conditions including rat droppings and "sanitary concern of flies." Seeing as Gammeeok doesn't seem to have made many changes since its last health inspection, the restaurant is closed for the foreseeable future.