Rats and roaches found inside South DeKalb mall restaurants

ATLANTA, Ga. (CBS46) - DeKalb County Health Department photographs show dirty conditions inside Piccadilly Cafeteria at South DeKalb Mall on Aug. 22.

The restaurant scored 26 points after an inspector found evidence of roaches and rodents in the kitchen.

Piccadilly temporarily shut down to clean up and remained closed on Monday.

When we tried to question a manager outside the eatery, several employees rushed in the side door of the restaurant.

Piccadilly sent a statement saying, “They have confidence in the safety and quality of their food and will work to ensure these violations do not occur again.”

Another restaurant at the mall with pest problems, the American Deli.

They received not one, but two failing scores of 44. The first one came on Aug. 17 and the second was just 8-days later. Roaches were found in the restaurant during both inspections.

It’s the same restaurant that shut down last year when rats were seen crawling on shelves.

So, we went to the corporate office for American Deli to ask them about the issues.

“So South DeKalb Mall is being owned by an individual franchise,” An American Deli Corporate employee said.

When asked if American Deli’s corporate office has talked with the franchisee about the problems and employee told us, “Of course.”

The DeKalb County Health Department said American Deli received an 82 on another reinspection on Monday and reopened.

And the manager of Fletcher’s Place at the mall said she’s working to eliminate a roach problem by increasing pest control treatments. After failing with a 50 on Aug. 12, Fletcher’s Place received a 74 on a reinspection on Aug. 24.

“I’m cleaning, organizing, checking temperatures, we’re doing everything that has to be done so when they come back and if they come back today, we’ll be ready for it,” Fletcher’s Place Manager Brigitte King said.

CBS46 reached out to mall management who we have been told is cooperating with the health department. A mall manager said they could not discuss the issues on camera, but they would respond to our inquiry which has not yet happened.

Statement from a Representative of Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty Group.

“The safety and health of our merchants, employees, and patrons is our number one priority. Unfortunately, it has come to our attention that not all of our food and beverage tenants passed their latest health inspections. While we were disappointed to hear this news, both of the the venues in question were closed and have since been working diligently with the DeKalb County Board of Health to ensure they meet the health and safety standards of DeKalb County, as well as those of our management and leasing teams at Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty Group. As a result of those efforts, we received word that one of the food offerings has since reopened, upon receiving clearance from the Health Department. We are hoping that the other restaurant will reopen very soon once it completes some renovations, and we look forward to updates from their team on that timeline.”Statement from a Representative of Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty Group.

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