Dillinger’s in October, a Norbert’s Pizza in November, and Supercrown Coffee Roasters yesterday — it’s getting hard to keep up with all the places shutting down in Bushwick.
Bushwick Bagel House, at 299 Wyckoff Ave., is the most-recent casualty after the Department of Health ordered it closed on Dec. 1 for egregious sanitary violations.
Health inspectors found contaminated and cross-contaminated food that hadn’t been thrown away, evidence of mice in food areas, and filth flies — those little buzzers associated with trash, old fruit, and stagnant water.
As you must know by now, a violation point system determines the letter grades of restaurants. Scores between zero and 13 earn an A, scores between 14 and 27 earn a B, and scores above 28 give eateries a C and all the joys of the health department’s scrutiny.
During its Friday inspection, the bagel house scored 43 points — 30 points more than it had earned during an inspection in April. That would probably be a D, if such a grade existed.
But here’s the twist. Bushwick Bagel House had already been gone for several months prior to the inspection after having been swallowed up by Bushwick Social, which in its turn became Bushwick Diner, which recently opened for business.
All the “Bushwick Somethings” have the same address at 299 Wyckoff Ave. Some even have the same phone number. In fact, Bushwick Diner is called Bushwick Bagel Diner on its website, which itself is technically still named Bushwick Bagel House in the actual website address.
“They [Bushwick Bagel House] closed during renovations,” an employee of Bushwick Diner told Bushwick Daily. “We’re under new management.”
Mysteriously absent in the window of the the diner is any restaurant grade. Searching the city’s database of restaurant rating info, there is no evidence of Bushwick Diner — or any variation of that name, except for Bushwick Bagel House — found in rated, pending, or closed cases.
We’re still looking into it, but we will withhold our recommendations of Bushwick Diner until all of the facts are in about the restaurant’s rating.
Cover image from the Bushwick Daily archives