There’s still time to nominate local icons for Best of D.C.
Ordered Closed: March 7
History: The city closed Mt. Pleasant Deli on Dec. 26, 2000, for having plumbing fixtures in poor repair and basic inadequate sanitation.
Health Department Says: no hot water; no certified food manager on duty; evidence of rodents; unclean nonfood- and food-contact surfaces; garbage disposal in disrepair
Business Says: No need to close down. Owner Miceal Tedros didn’t shutter his place in response to the health department. The crux of the health-department problem was that Tedros, the deli’s certified food manager, was absent when the inspectors came, he says. Tedros claims he has two weeks to clean before his deli is in danger of being closed by the city. Besides, most of his business comes from the sale of prepackaged snacks and beer, not deli sandwiches, he says. “I’m not busy with the food,” he says. “We know the rule [that unclean stores are closed], but mine is not in that condition.”
—Rachel Beckman