Rats, other vermin spark notable restaurant closures by L.A. health department 56%
By Stephanie Breijo70%
5/12/2026, 10:00:00 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 24 faulty reasoning types, including Self-Serving Bias, Appeal to Authority, and Availability Heuristic, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 24.3% saturation with 227 hits. Analysis detected 1,489 faulty-reasoning hits from 935 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 53.5% and a BS Rank of 56% (9,672 of 21,886 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 55.80% of the article peer group.
Some of L.A.’s most famous restaurants, clubs and markets were temporarily closed in the last month because of citations of vermin infestation.
In April the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health cited Dan Tana’s in West Hollywood, an events kitchen at the San Vicente Bungalows, Jitlada in Thai Town and the rooftop restaurant at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, temporarily shuttering them and dozens of others until they rectified the infractions.
A review of L.A.
County records by The Times tallied more than 120 vermin citations issued to food facilities in the region in 2026, with 67 — the majority — of these occurring in April alone.
April’s closures also included multiple school cafeterias as well as supermarkets and corner stores, including Gardena Supermarket, which closed two separate times for the same citation.
Vermin citations are common in restaurants across the country, and the Dept. of Health’s citations are not limited to the presence of rodents; the infraction can also apply to cockroaches and flies.
The Department of Health did not respond to request for comment regarding trends or recent increases in vermin-infestation citations.
In the first few days of May, the county also cited notable operations including celebrity chef Rick Bayless’ Red O in Santa Monica on May 5 and the King Harbor Yacht Club in Redondo Beach on May 4.
Earlier in the year, vermin infestations temporarily closed a restaurant within the L.A.
Zoo, Genghis Cohen, Cole’s in early February (before its final closure on March 29), a food counter within a 99 Ranch, and multiple 7-Elevens.
If a restaurant, market, cafeteria or other food vendor’s public health permit is suspended for this citation, the business must close for a minimum of 48 hours.
During this time owners and chefs are often recommended to hold training for staff, as well as consult a pest-control service to “identify potential rodent entry locations, recommend effective prevention strategies, and monitor for rodent activity in and around the building,” according to a representative for the Department of Health.
Once owners or managers have addressed the citation, they can request another inspection and, upon passing, reopen.
According to two surveys, calls for pest control are on the rise in L.A.
In October pest-control company Orkin named Los Angeles the “rattiest city” in the country by tracking calls for rodent services “in owner-occupied residences.”
Then, in April, consumer review site Yelp released an index that named the top 20 cities searching for these services on the platform.
Los Angeles ranked No. 1, followed by San Francisco, just as it did in 2025.
Yelp also published that searches for pest control have increased 34% year over year.
“The Golden State’s mild winters and dense urban environments create year-round conditions for pests to thrive, while spring warmth can accelerate breeding cycles and demand for professional services,” the Yelp index stated.
Dan Tana’s, a red-sauce West Hollywood institution, closed April 15 to 18 due to vermin infestation, unclean surfaces, plumbing or drainage citations and improper build or maintenance of walls, floors or ceilings, according to the health department.
Representatives for the restaurant could not be reached for comment.
Celebrity-studded private members club the San Vicente Bungalows closed one of its West Hollywood kitchens on April 14 due to a health department citation of vermin infestation and unclean food contact surfaces.
A representative for the club, which also operates in Santa Monica and New York City, said via email that the closure only affected a “separate downstairs event kitchen that was already closed and under renovation at the time,” and that the club’s primary kitchen passed its inspection that same day and never closed.
The representative said that the club remedied the citations within 48 hours and passed its next inspection, though the downstairs kitchen remains closed due to renovations.
Page Six reported that San Vicente Clubs CEO Jess Wilner wrote an internal letter regarding a photo of “a dead rat inside a sealed bowl in the employee locker room,” which she reportedly wrote seemed like “a deliberate and malicious act.”
Page Six also reported that the club is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who “rats out” the person who placed the rat in the container.
The representative for San Vicente Bungalows declined to confirm the reward, nor its relation to the event kitchen’s health-department citations, citing an ongoing internal review and security matters.
Jitlada, a decades-old benchmark for Thai cuisine in L.A. and an L.A.
Times Hall of Fame restaurant, closed April 30 due to citations related to vermin, unclean surfaces and approved food-thawing methods.
The restaurant immediately resolved its citations and reopened May 2.
“We take health and safety extremely seriously and have already implemented additional preventative measures,” a representative wrote via direct message.
The last month’s closures also affected some of L.A.’s notable newer restaurants, including buzzy Lincoln Heights wine bar Zizou and Sawtelle Persian cafe Meymuni, the latter of which regularly hosts community events for the Persian and broader-Iranian diaspora.
Meymuni Cafe owner Shaheen Ferdowsi wrote in a direct message that he hopes to use the temporary closure as a fresh start.
“Honestly with everything happening in Iran this past year, holding space for our community has felt more important than ever,” Ferdowsi wrote.
“We're using this moment as a full reset — new equipment, an interior redesign, a refreshed menu — and we're putting everything into the grand reopening first week of July ready to be that place again."
An ongoing list of the Department of Health’s citations and closures can be found here.
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