Health Department Closes One Of Pittsburgh's Best Restaurants

PITTSBURGH, PA - The Allegheny County Health Department has ordered Nicky’s Thai Kitchen on the North Side closed after inspectors found a significant rodent infestation and numerous other health code violations.

According to the inspection report, a dead mouse was found inside of a cooking vessel, fresh and old mouse droppings were found on a pallet, in between boxes of food, on shelving, under a pallet, and along the walls and borders of the basement. A large number of flies also were found in the basement, which is used for food preparation.

Inspectors also found a bag of ground chicken stored directly on top of raw mussels, with visible chicken juice on the tray holding both items. The items had to be discarded.

Additionally, numerous food items were found to be at unsafely high temperatures. Inspectors also cited the restaurant for bare-hand contact with salad items from the prep unit and noted that hand washing did not occur at any time during the inspection.

Pittsburgh City Paper readers last year voted Nicky’s as the city’s best Thai restaurant in the Best of Pittsburgh competition. Pittsburgh Magazine named it one of the city’s best restaurants in 2012 and 2013.

Nicky’s has two other locations: Downtown on Penn Avenue and on Mt. Nebo Road in Ohio Township.

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