NYC Dept of Health
A restaurant that opened on the Upper West Side less than five months ago, selling itself on healthy, natural food, has been shut down by the city’s health department after an inspection turned up evidence of mice, flies, and food kept at unsafe temperatures.
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The restaurant is Carrot, the chain formerly known as Carrot Express, at 2169 Broadway between West 76th and 77th streets. Inspectors visited on Tuesday, November 10, and logged 51 violation points, according to the health department.The inspection turned up six violations, and four of them are flagged in red on the city’s record. Those four cover cold food held above the required temperature, evidence of mice in the restaurant’s food or non-food areas, filth flies or other nuisance pests, and food, supplies, or equipment that weren’t protected from possible contamination. Inspectors also cited the restaurant for conditions that could attract rodents and insects, and for single-use items like utensils or straws that weren’t provided or weren’t protected from contamination.
Carrot opened its doors on Tuesday, June 30. We wrote about it ahead of the opening, back when the company had just dropped “Express” from its name in a chain-wide rebrand. Founder Mario Laufer started the business in a Miami Beach gas station in 1993 and brought it to New York in 2022. The Broadway store followed locations in Flatiron, Bryant Park, Midtown, Brookfield Place, and Nolita.
The 1,377-square-foot space has room for 30 diners inside and 16 more outdoors, with a menu of salads, grain bowls, wraps, smoothies, cold-pressed juices, and all-day breakfast.
It’s not clear when Carrot will reopen. We called the restaurant but nobody answered.
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