Macy's food court infested - SHUT DOWN | City finds 200 fruit flies, food on walls

Macy's food court infested - SHUT DOWN | City finds 200 fruit flies, food on walls
BY PATRICK REHKAMP Staff Reporter prehkamp@suntimes.com
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times
July 24, 2007


Macy's lower-level food court in the Loop was shut down after the Chicago Department of Public Health found "critical" violations at the MarketPlace restaurant, 111 N. State. Inspectors shut down the restaurant about 1:30 p.m. Monday after conducting a follow-up to an inspection about a week ago.

Last week a customer called the City's 311 Center to complain of becoming ill from a prepackaged salad. The Health Department reported finding a fruit fly infestation, water backing up from a clogged drain, a leaking sink, and grease and food debris on the walls and floor around the inside trash can.

"We went out there last week and found violations similar to what we found today," said Tim Hadac of the Department of Health. "The inspector told me he stopped counting fruit flies when he hit 200. It was slightly worse."

Macy's hopes to reopen MarketPlace as early as today. The company must meet with the Department of Health and sign an affidavit stating city codes have been met. The Department of Health then does another investigation and if codes are met, the restaurant could reopen immediately.

Aside from MarketPlace, an adjoining Starbucks will be closed. All other restaurants in the building were unaffected. No previous violations have been reported, according to the Department of Public Health.