A McDonald’s in Parkland, Washington has been closed since Sunday after a customer spotted rats running around inside.
It's not the first time the Pierce County restaurant has had a rodent problem, and now customers are wondering why this wasn't fixed sooner.
“People have to know about this,” said Nathaly Williams, who recorded videos of rats running around inside the McDonalds on Pacific Ave. S. in Parkland Saturday night.
Only the drive-through was open, and Williams and her husband were sitting in their car when they spotted the rodents.
“They look like they're having a party in there,” she said, watching the clips, which she posted on Facebook.
The videos grossed a lot of people out and got the attention of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
The McDonald’s voluntarily closed on Sunday and remained closed as of Tuesday so a pest control company and other contractors could work on the problem.
The health department says the restaurant won't re-open until they can demonstrate they've cleaned the place up and discarded any potentially contaminated food.
According to an inspection report, a health department employee noticed a large rat running across the kitchen floor in Nov. 2016.
The health department at the time recommended the business bring in additional pest control services.
When KING 5 inquired about this latest problem, local owner Joyce Oubre responded through the McDonald’s corporate office, saying they're working on the issue and look forward to continue serving people here.
“That’s not something that happens overnight, that's something that happens over time,” said Steven Hicks, who saw the videos and drove past the closed restaurant Tuesday.
The health department says restaurants get three unannounced inspections per year.
The most recent one at the Parkland McDonald’s was in May, and they had a couple of violations for hand washing and problems with raw food.
Inspectors can only write a citation if they see a problem in-person, and they encourage anyone with concerns about a business to notify the health department.
They say they investigate every complaint, and that's how they often find out about problems.
