Magnolia Bakery is known for making some unique cupcake frosting flavors, but lately the chainlet's West Village mothership might have had a special surprise in the Snickerdoodle: officials say it was shut down by the Department of Health on Thursday after mouse feces were found.
The health department slapped the Bleecker Street bakery with five critical violations, including mouse holes, droppings, live rats and flies. They also found "contaminated food," and while they haven't supplied details on the exact source of the contamination, it's probably safe to assume there was a little extra, ah, fudge in the Devils Food cakes. As local Magnolia fan Leslie Horn told the Post, "Ugh, mouse droppings? There are a lot of sprinkles on those cupcakes.”
Location manager Bobbie Lloyd told reporters that the staff was hard at work getting the place mouse-and-rat free, and that they hoped they'd pass an inspection today. And as for the source of the mice, Magnolia's blaming it all on that pesky Hurricane Sandy. "Because of the flooding, a lot of mice have moved inward," a company spokeswoman said in a statement. "That was the issue that was found in the basement." Or maybe the rodents were just taking the Sex and the City tour. But hey, worse things have been known to crawl around kitchens.
Update: Aaaaaand they're back! Magnolia passed its inspection today and will open at 5:30 with a "limited menu." "We worked hard with and want to thank the New York City Department of Health to ensure that their high standard and ours were exceeded," Sara Gramling, a spokesperson for the company, told us in an email. "We will continue to work hard to maintain our A rating."
