Cafe owner 'horrified' by rat discovery

The Green Eggs Cafe location at 13th and Locust Streets is closed for what the restaurant says are steps to fix a break in its sewage main.

Twitter and the blogosphere are rife with photos and a video clip - shot through the window last night - of rats gamboling atop pizza boxes in Green Eggs' dining room. (Said rats were described as "large" - as if their size mattered.)

Green Eggs co-owner Steve Slaughter told NBC10 that the pipe ruptured after closing time and that a regular customer had forwarded to him photos of the rats in the dining room. He said he was "horrified."

"It's definitely a horrible situation and we're working to resolve it," Slaughter said. "We actually had a major defect with our building. For the safety of our employees and our customers, we're staying closed until this can be fixed and everything can be disinfected."

Green Eggs' most recent health inspection - conducted shortly after its opening in July 2012 - contained only minor infractions.

Anyone wondering why pizza boxes were left out in a restaurant that doesn't serve pizza? PhillyDailyNews.com quoted Slaughter as saying that they were left behind by staff members, who would face repercussions. "We pride ourselves on our cleanliness and the quality of our product," he told the Daily News. "We're just looking to do the right thing at this point. We were the ones who decided to close the doors."