'The city needs to help': Lafayette Coney Island responds after second closure due to rats

DETROIT (FOX 2) - After rats led to another closure at Detroit's Lafayette Coney Island, the downtown restaurant took to social media to address the issue - along with accusations made by a neighboring business owner.
On Monday, Lafayette posted a pest inspection report dated Jan. 22 that stated there was "no new activity to report." The Detroit health department said the Coney Island voluntarily shut down on Jan. 24 due to evidence of rats.
"There was an abundance of rat pellets," Denise Fair Razo, the Detroit Chief Public Health Officer, told FOX 2 last week. "It was way too many to be open."
What they're saying:
Lafayette's owners said the city needs to help businesses dealing with rats.
"Detroit does have a rat problem. The city needs to help the businesses that keep this beautiful city of ours running. I guarantee there are other places with an infestation," the business wrote on Facebook.
In addition to addressing rats in the city, Lafayette lobbed a response at Grace Keros, the owner of American Coney Island. While speaking to the media on Monday, Keros said her building is clean and rat-free. However, she said her neighbor, Lafayette, was dirty.
"I'm annoyed, I'm upset," Keros said. "What they do - we are not one and the same. Not in how we run the business, not in how we act, not in what we serve."
Keros said she needed to defend her business after some said her restaurant must be infested as well, since it shares a wall with Lafayette. At one point, she suggested that Lafayette did not own a broom or mop.
"In light of the soapbox statement someone made earlier, unlike her, we have never been and are not into bashing and putting down other businesses, we aren't that desperate," Lafayette wrote. "It's easy for American Coney Island to blame us. But who can really say the rats aren't coming from them to our side? We might need to find and interview one of the rats just to make sure. Oh, and yes, we have a broom and even a mop."
The backstory:
On Friday, a "closed" sign went up on Lafayette's door due to evidence of rats.
It is the second time in two years that the eatery has temporarily closed due to rodents. In 2022, Lafayette Coney Island was shut down following a failed health inspection.
Workers at Lafayette said the problem started with rats from a nearby garden and make their way into the building — and then through holes in the basement wall at Lafayette.
What's next:
Lafayette has been ordered to patch up the holes in the basement and come up with a plan of action to prevent future issues. City inspectors are expected to check in on the restaurant's progress early this week.
The Source: This story was written with information from a statement from Lafayette Coney Island and previous FOX 2 coverage.