Story on Health Code Closure of Lasorda Cafe Brings Threat of Lawsuit

The offerings at Tommy Lasorda’s South Pasadena restaurant include several family recipes as well as five kinds of linguine, the Dodger manager’s culinary sine qua non . At one marathon sitting , he is rumored to have eaten six helpings of linguine with clams.

A rat isn’t listed.

A customer reported one of Mickey Mouse’s more nefarious cousins scurrying past the big-screen TV on Oct. 14, the eve of the Dodgers’ come-from-behind triumph in the World Series.

The vermin sighting prompted an inspection by the county Health Department, which found 43 Health Code violations, including, the inspector said, rat urine on plates.

Days after the Dodgers celebrated their victory against the Oakland Athletics at a roaring bash, Tommy Lasorda’s Ribs and Pasta on Fair Oaks Avenue was ordered closed for five days. A health official called it “one of the worst rat infestations I’ve ever seen.”

But a co-owner and employees say they have never seen any rats or had any complaints, and charge that the health inspector is out to get them. The co-owner threatened to sue the county Health Department over the closure.

The restaurant was closed from Oct. 26 to 31, when the department deemed the violations corrected. In January, the restaurant had 30 violations of sanitation and food storage but was not closed.

Co-owner Oscar B. Grubert said he would have sued the county over the closure at the time but he didn’t want adverse publicity. That changed Saturday when a newspaper disclosed the violations.

The Herald Examiner quoted health inspector Abilio Lopez as saying that out of respect for the Dodgers he sat on the complaint from an unnamed person while the final game of the World Series was played. Lopez was out of town and could not be reached for comment.

Grubert said no one did the restaurant any favors.

“The health inspector walked in and he was determined to close the restaurant,” he said “There’s someone out to get us, there’s no doubt.”

“It could be a Tommy problem,” theorized general manager Jackie Picola. “Someone who loves the Oakland A’s.”

She said she finds the whole rat story incredible. No customer has ever complained to the restaurant about seeing rats, she said. What’s more, Picola said, in 16 years in the business she has never heard of a restaurant being closed down without being given the chance to immediately correct the violations.

Picola said that business has not fallen off and was even expected to be better than usual Saturday night. Customers are rallying to Lasorda’s defense, she added.

A short drive from Dodger Stadium, the restaurant was a business adjunct to Lasorda’s legendary appetite when he opened it a couple of years ago. He has another restaurant in Marina del Rey. He has boasted of eating 500 oysters in three days, and 62 pieces of raw tuna (with rice) in one night.

Lasorda was en route to Atlanta from the Dominican Republic, where he was scouting players. But his wife, Jo Lasorda, said she told her husband about the story over the phone; she would not disclose his reaction.

Her own reaction was disbelief. “I can’t believe it,” she said, adding that the couple eats there “quite a bit during the season.”