Lady Gaga Restaurant Fined After Health Inspectors Find Cockroaches

By Myles Collier, Christian Post Contributor Friday, August 09, 2013

Joe Germanotta, the father of Lady Gaga, took to Twitter on Thursday night after a New York City health department report cited dead cockroaches in his upscale New York restaurant several days after patrons reported rodents in the eatery as well.

The restaurant, Joanne Trattoria, has been dogged with hygiene problems since it opened early last year. Pictures surfaced this week of rodents in the restaurant while diners ate.

The restaurant was slapped with a hygiene report from the New York Department of Health who fined the eatery $324 after finding dead cockroaches in the diner.

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Germanotta took to Twitter soon after the report was issued in order to deflect from the negative publicity.

"As always, 2 days after the DOH inspection, we received a letter from NYC with a settlent offer to reduce the financial penalties $324," Joe said a message posted to his Twitter account.

"Re-read the report today. The INSPECTOR States 'I observed 3 Dead American Cockroaches'. How did he know? They were dead and not talking."

The restaurant, which is adjacent to Central Park, was the site of quite a scene after patrons began taking pictures of the intrusive rodents while they were still trying to finish their meals.

Several reports indicated that diners witnessed the rodents coming into the restaurant through a hole in the wall next to the patio and were eating bread crumbs that had fallen onto the floor while some were seen crawling on a few tables, according to reports from Radar Online.

Lady Gaga's family opened the restaurant in February of 2012 but was quickly met with scathing reviews that criticized the restaurants food as well as décor and ambiance.

One food critic accused the Italian restaurant of serving "calamari like leather" and it was like eating "airplane food."

Just recently in June the restaurant received another bit of negative press after the restaurant was downgraded to a "B" grade by the New York health department.