A Boston health inspector this week ordered the closing of Dumpling Cafe, 693 Washington St. for a variety of health-code violations, including storing cut-up produce in an old chicken box and a broken water heater, which meant the kitchen dishwasher couldn't properly sterilize dishes and workers had no hot water for washing their hands.
Also, the inspector found "unsanitary conditions in kitchen under cookline and basement around grease trap," which could attract vermin, such as a rat that died near the dishwasher. However, unlike the other issues, the dead rat by itself was not considered serious enough to warrant a shutdown.
The restaurant can re-open once it passes a re-inspection, which will have to include proof the water heater is actually working.
In the report, the inspector added advice on the produce issue:
Discontinue storing produce or any food in old chicken boxes. Discard chicken boxes when chicken is removed. Assume chicken boxes are contaminated with chicken blood.
Separately, two Los Amigos taco places, in Brighton and West Roxbury, remain shut, the first due to a salmonella outbreak linked to it, the second due to a variety of health-code issues found on an inspection.