In a city that is home to more than 250 restaurants, Waltham offers diners plenty to please a variety of palates, including those with four legs, whiskers and skinny tails.
In an ongoing battle to keep customers in and mice out, restaurant owners and managers are on good terms with local pest control companies. Main and Moody streets are lined with decades-old buildings, many of which house several restaurants, providing mice with plenty of ways to get in and a full menu to choose from.
"The main thing that we found to do is to make sure everything is sealed," said Fernando Leon, owner of Solea Restaurant and Tapas Bar on Moody Street. Six years ago, "When we went through construction, we went through great lengths to make sure every nook and cranny (in the walls were) sealed," he said.
Using the exterior walls of his building as the first line of defense, Leon said he has kept the mice problems to a minimum, but many factors beyond his control affect where and when mice will appear.
"As soon as the first chill (in the weather) comes on we get the first field mice from outside," said Leon, "But we've usually been able to control it fairly quickly."
The most common way to keep rodents away is with routine and thorough cleanings, said Leon. Keeping food tightly sealed and off the floor is not only required by the Board of Health, but necessary for thwarting hungry rodents.
As for customers who might swear off dining out after learning that rodent problems affect almost every restaurant, "I think it's just a reality of the industry," said Leon. "You're dealing with foods and oils and all kinds of perishable products. Imagine your household kitchen times a thousand. We are in production 14 or 16 hours a day. When you have a facility that is producing something, in our case food, 16 hours a day, there's a lot of problems. It's just part of doing business."
Like Leon, general manager of The Elephant Walk Phillip Dixon said he understands the public's fear about rodent-infested kitchens.
"I don't think it is necessarily realistic," he said.
Dixon relies on a local company that scrutinizes every part of the restaurant monthly. "If they find anything they will report it to you and also eliminate any problems," said Dixon.
On a day-to-day basis, "we have the kitchen cleaned in the evening and morning so as not to expose us to any harm of having any infestations," said Dixon.
Sham Sahni, owner of New Mother India on Moody Street, swears by his latest, and last, pest control company, Eco Lab Pest Elimination. Since signing his current pest control contract, every crack and crevice has been sealed off, he said.
"What you need is guys putting on knee pads and getting down (to check the walls)," said Sahni. Although the pest control fees he pays now are higher than previous companies he has used, Sahni said, "You pay peanuts and you get monkeys."
Sahni learned the best way to get rid of mice is to never allow one to stay for long.
"People have to take a proactive stance on this," said Sahni. "This is a continuous problem. You skip one month (of pest control) and the sons of a bitches will be back here."
During routine inspections, the Board of Health checks that each restaurant has a contract with a pest control company, said inspector Michelle Feeley. All restaurants in the city are inspected every six months or when the department receives a complaint, she said.
Telltale signs of mice, which primarily include droppings, are looked for at every inspection, said Feeley. Given the nature and size of the problem, a follow-up inspection is likely conducted within a few weeks.
Because of their organized and thorough job with the inspections, Waltham's Board of Health, whose four inspectors cover all the city's restaurants, was one of only two communities that recently passed a state audit, said Feeley.
More than a year ago State Auditor Joe DeNucci's office spent several days combing through inspection files in the department, said Feeley, and determined the board conducted thorough and routine inspections that met state standards.
The intention of the audit was to provide the public with the assurance that municipal departments are performing their duties and are not frivolously spending taxpayers' dollars.
Very familiar with the kitchens and walk-in refrigerators of Waltham is Dan Fleischer, president of Pestex Inc., headquartered in Newtonville.
Fleischer and his employees will start by rodent-proofing a structure and repairing any holes in the exterior walls. If that fails, traps are set. If that doesn't stop the mice, rodenticides, or poison, is used, he said.
Diners should not judge a restaurant's pest problem by its cleanliness, or vice versa, said Fleischer.
Since a mouse only needs one-tenth of an ounce of food daily to survive, "No matter how clean a restaurant may be, they'll still get mice," he said. "In the cleanest of restaurants, (mice) could most certainly find a Cheerio-sized (piece) of food."
Asked if his line of work diminishes his appetite to dine out, Fleischer said, "No. I eat out frequently and often, especially at the restaurants I service."
Kerri Roche can be reached at kroche@cnc.com or 781-398-8009.
