photo courtesy of WXYZ Detroit
A Popeyes located in Detroit has reportedly been shut down last week after a Doordash driver exposed the restaurant for having a cockroach infestation. The unnamed driver was waiting to pick up orders when she noticed the bugs crawling over the counter, to-go orders, and utensils.
According to WXYZ Detroit, the Dasher immediately informed the workers to get them to leave, as she said in a viral video sent to the outlet. “I told the workers, they all back there, they all cleared out,” She said before turning the camera to the to-go bags sitting on the counter – which were also covered in bugs. “These are DoorDashes,” she clarified, “
It was just like all over the counter, all over the utensils and all over the bags and things like that.”The delivery driver said she had never seen anything like it, not even in her two years of delivery experience. “I was shocked. I was disgusted. I just couldn’t believe that they were even open and working in those conditions,” she said. She reported the restaurant to customer service higher-ups and also to her DoorDash customer who was waiting for their order. She told the outlet that she helped them to report the issue and get a refund.
“My goal is to satisfy the customer and notify them in any way if anything is wrong so I definitely felt like he needed to know that information. This is his lunch break. He’s looking forward to this moment. He’s probably been at work all day, and to be given some food that’s not right, it’s pretty bad.” The Dasher explained.
Although the DoorDash driver doesn’t regret reporting the establishment, she admitted that she did regret making the workers lose out on work so close to the holidays. “If it wasn’t for me, this business would still be open, they would still be running today,” She told the outlet. “I feel bad for the staff because it’s holiday time, and they probably need their income, but at the same time, I don’t want them working in those conditions because that’s awful.”
The Detroit Health Department sent an inspector on December 5 to examine the Popeyes in question and did indeed find evidence of an extensive infestation. They maintained that the location is regularly inspected every 6 months and that this is the first issue they’ve had. The Popeyes has since been closed following the inspection.
A spokesperson from the restaurant chain released a statement to social media condemning the conditions of the restaurant as an inaccurate representation of the standards the company maintains.