‘Sick to my stomach.’ Video of rat at Dave’s Hot Chicken in Pines goes viral
A longtime Pembroke Pines resident says a rat sighting inside a popular chicken restaurant has him questioning food safety and prompted a TikTok video that quickly spread across social media.
Sebastian Mendoza, 30, who has lived in the city for 25 years, said he was eating at Dave’s Hot Chicken, 15855 Pines Blvd., on Tuesday, Jan. 6, around 7:15 p.m., when his uncle spotted the rodent.
“I walked in there with my son and my uncle, and we already finished ordering,” Mendoza told the Pembroke Pines News on Jan. 8. “We got our food, we’re sitting at the table, and my uncle said, ‘Do you see that? It’s a rat.’”
Mendoza said the rat appeared to come from the kitchen and scampered throughout the dining room and attempted to jump on chairs. At the time, he said only a handful of customers were inside the restaurant.
“When I saw that, I just screamed,” Mendoza said.
See the video below. Warning: It contains language some may find offensive.
The Pembroke Pines News reached out to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation for comment but had not received a response as of Jan. 9. A manager at the Pines Dave’s Hot Chicken said all questions had to be referred to the franchise’s communications team and declined to comment.
Dave’s Hot Chicken corporate officials also did not respond to requests for comment.
Mendoza recorded the incident and posted the video to TikTok. As of Jan. 9, the video had garnered 34,500 likes and over 1,000 comments.
He said he tried to alert restaurant employees but felt his concerns were dismissed.
“They looked at me like I was going crazy,” Mendoza said. “And they were acting so nonchalant.”
His uncle, Gustavo A. Mendoza, who was visiting from Peru, was shouting “sandwiches de rata,” in Spanish, Mendoza said.
Gustavo told the Pembroke Pines News that he was vacationing with his family and is scheduled to return to Lima on Jan. 9 with a newfound appreciation for his home restaurants.
“In Peru, there are no rats in the restaurants,” he said.
Mendoza said neither he nor his son finished their meal.
“I got sick to my stomach,” he said.
He said he asked to speak with the restaurant’s general manager. Mendoza says the general manager told him the rat did not come from inside the restaurant and blamed neighboring businesses in the plaza.
“She told me they weren’t her rats,” Mendoza said. “She said the health inspector had been there earlier that day and that the rats came from outside.”
He received a refund but remains dissatisfied with the response, saying the chain contacted him but did not follow up.
“They just asked me for a picture of the receipt and they asked me what happened,” he said. “I told them, and they just said, ‘Oh, we’re gonna take this up with the higher ups.’ … I haven’t heard from them since.”
