Vancouver eatery to close after viral video of rat in soup

VANCOUVER The Vancouver restaurant that lost most of its business after a rat was reportedly found in a bowl of soup is closing.

In a Facebook post, Crab Park Chowdery says it will close this weekend.

“It’s with heavy hearts that we regretfully inform all of our guests, friends and family members that this Sunday, January 20th will be our last day in business,” the post says.

“Life is a funny journey, it has all sorts of ups and downs. We know that with our heads held high and a can-do attitude the next chapter will be an even better one.”

Last month, two young women claimed to have found a rat in a bowl of clam chowder. They filmed it and posted it to Instagram. The video went viral, causing the restaurant to lose most of its business. The restaurant has maintained it would be impossible for the animal to get into the food undetected by staff.

One of the women who claims to have found the rat, Contessa Choe, has dismissed all suggestions they staged the video. She said it was a “ridiculous” idea that she would ever bring a cooked rat to a restaurant.

The establishment’s owner, Ashton Phillips, has maintained they have very strict food-safety measures and said on several different occasions that he doesn’t understand how it got in the soup.

After the video, Vancouver Coastal Health investigated and found evidence of rodents at the commissary kitchen in the basement of Mamie Taylor’s restaurant, where Crab Park Chowdery ’s soup is cooked. Mamie Taylor’s and the commissary kitchen were closed. Mamie Taylor’s was allowed to reopen the following day, but the commissary kitchen remained closed.

Mamie Taylor’s issued a statement saying it would no longer be leasing the commissary kitchen to other restaurants and had severed all business ties with Crab Park Chowdery.