Jan. 30, 2018 By Christian Murray
The Dept. of Health has targeted yet another Astoria restaurant, this time temporarily closing a popular Greek restaurant on Ditmars Boulevard.
MP Taverna Astoria, which opened at 31-29 Ditmars Blvd. in 2013, was closed Tuesday, Jan. 23. The closing came in the same week that it temporarily shut down Papa Johns on 30th Avenue.
A spokeswoman for the department said MP Taverna was closed after an inspector found several violations.
“Critical public health hazards that could not be addressed at the time of the inspection, including a mice infestation, flying insects in the food preparation area, and food held at the wrong temperature, among others,” a Health Dept. spokeswoman said.
The restaurant is owned by celebrity chef Michael Psilakis, a Greek restaurateur best known for his appearances on cooking TV shows like “Iron Chef America” and “Ultimate Recipe Showdown.”
MP Taverna has yet to reopen.
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11 Comments
Mice gotta eat too. These mice just have better taste than others.
A couple of years ago I went to this restaurant and ended up with the worst food poisoning!!! Had the grilled octopus and branzino. To this day I cannot eat these two foods. Stay clear of this place!!!
This has no negative reflection to Psilakis being the owner of mp taverna and a celebrity chef but to the management he chooses to represent his name and title. Restaurants do not reach that level unless staff wont work together by respecting and cleaning there premises.
Their*
As of today, they are back open and the windows have been finally cleaned!! I guess being a celebrity chef has some perks with the city.
Most health food inspectors don’t know how to cook themselves and most don’t have any type of education especially when it comes to the food industry. Most of these people don’t even know how to boil water to make pasta and most of them were probably picked on in high school so they have to seek vengeance in other ways. But saying that obviously with mice ingestion in this case rightfully closing the doors until rectified.
Stop stereotyping city health inspection workers. Health inspectors are not there to taste the food or offer advice on what to put on the menu! They are there to protect the public, inspect the premises and make sure they are not putting the consumer or their workers at risk. All restaurants are being monitored by the same guidelines. Unfortunately, when a place is doing well sometimes managers and bosses begin to lack and disregard safety. Violation closings puts them back in check.
Right but they don’t need to know how to cook. They need to know how to safely inspect dirty restaurants.
You would think that for the amount they charge for a meal and as many customers they have they would abide by Food safety laws and such or at least think about the people they are serving. This is not some old fast food chain..shame on them!
I believe the cafe called The Corner Spot (which also serves food) on 23 Ave/Steinway was also shut down by the Health Dept. That place is also run by Greeks lol. Some of my friends are grossed out that they have eaten at those places recently.
Now, we have gone too far! lol