Another 8th Street SE Eatery Closes Due to Reported Vermin Infestation

(Updated at 1:25 p.m.) A pizza shop is the latest in a string of Barracks Row eateries to suspend operations this month due to a “heavy infestation of vermin,” the D.C. Department of Health announced last night.

Pizza Boli’s at 417 8th St. SE is closed “until further notice” for presenting “an imminent health hazard(s) to the public,” according to a DOH food establishment closure notice posted on the restaurant’s door yesterday.

A DOH inspector found a “gross insanitary occurrence or condition that may endanger public health including but not limited to heavy infestation of vermin,” according to the agency.

“We are continuing our own investigation into this isolated incident to determine the reason for DOH’s closure of the franchisee owned and operated Pizza Boli’s restaurant located at Capitol Hill,” Pizza Boli’s spokeswoman Maroula Giannaros said in an email. “As the franchisor, we take this matter with the utmost seriousness and will make sure that this Capitol Hill Pizza Boli’s restaurant does not reopen until it meets our corporate standards of quality and safety.”

Last week, citing major vermin infestations, DOH closed Banana Cafe at 500 8th St. SE and Capitol Hill Tandoor & Grill at 419 8th St. SE, which neighbors Pizza Boli’s. Banana Cafe and Capitol Hill Tandoor & Grill have since reopened after passing follow-up DOH inspections.

Capitol Hill Tandoor & Grill had live roaches and “fresh and old rat feces, gnaw marks on walls, [and] holes in walls and floor [and] wall junctures,” according to a DOH report. Banana Cafe had rodent droppings, a live roach and fruit flies, the agency said.

It’s unclear whether the reported vermin infestations are isolated incidents on Barracks Row.

A DOH spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.