Famous Restaurant Reopens in NYC After Being Closed by Health Department

After being closed down by the New York City Health Department, Serendipity 3 has now been allowed to reopen. The famous restaurant on East 60th Street known for Forbidden Broadway Sundaes and Frrrozen Hot Chocolate had been closed since Mid-November because of mice and rodent problems, which many found ironic - since this restaurant is also known for having a $25,000 Frrrozen Haute Chocolate dessert.

The temporary shutdown in November happened after the New York City Health Department says Serendipity 3 failed two inspections in a row. In a written statement, the health department said its inspector found a live mouse, mouse droppings "in multiple areas of the restaurant, fruit flies, house flies, and more than 100 live cockroaches."

You can see a copy of that November 14^th inspection here. The restaurant got 33 violation points on that one, which followed an inspection in October. In that one, Serendipity 3 scored 41 violation points.

At that time, the Health Department website said an inspector found roaches as well as "evidence of mice or live mice present in facility's food and/or non-food areas." In both inspections, the department statement says its workers found stagnant water and conditions "conducive to pest infestation."

For the NYC Health Department, points are bad. A zero would be a perfect score, and there are many restaurants that score zeros. The health department says the average number for restaurants in NYC is 14.

Following the two bad inspections, Serendipity 3 had to close to fix the violations and get a "reopening re-inspection" from the health department. It took a while, but the restaurant is now open again. A statement from the Health Department says that on Monday, December 3^rd, "The Department of Health conducted its second reopening inspection at Serendipity 3. Serendipity passed and was able to re-open."

The restaurant isn't totally off the hook, yet. The health department plans to inspect Serendipity 3 again, within the next 30 days.