Toronto Public Health closed Cora Pizza on Monday, Dec. 21, 2009, due to a rat infestation. The location is a popular Annex and U of T student eatery. (QMI/Greg Henkenhaf)

Rat traps might be on the Christmas list of one Annex restaurant.

Dead rats found in the kitchen area recently has put Cora Pizza on Toronto Public Health's naughty restaurant list and kept it from serving up slices since Monday.

The popular eatery at 656A Spadina Ave. was expected to be inspected again today after a rat infestation shuttered it immediately and prompted cleanup orders.

An inspector responding to a complaint on Monday found rat droppings and observed "more than one" dead rat at the back of the kitchen, Jim Chan, food safety manager for public health, said yesterday.

Cora Pizza has been on public health's DineSafe naughty list before -- receiving two conditional passes, in March and in June. Both conditional passes noted the operator had failed to provide adequate pest control but re-inspections a few days later gave it a pass on both occasions.

"This time the sanitation seems to have deteriorated," Chan said. "They also have a rat infestation."

According to the DineSafe website, public health served Cora Pizza with three summons for failing to protect food from contamination, inadequate pest control and failure to prevent a rodent infestation.

Another inspection yesterday found only 50% of the cleanup had been done. The restaurant was still waiting for licensed pest control, he said.

A man who answered the phone at the restaurant last night said he wasn't the owner but said the rats were found in the garage, not inside.

During Monday's inspection, rodent droppings and other evidence was visible that indicated there was an active infestation, Chan said.

"It's the owner's responsibility to maintain. If there is a hole in the wall, it's always the owner's responsibility to fix it," he said. "I've been telling operators they should be doing regular health inspections."

So far in 2009, 41 restaurants have been closed by public health for violations and 463 charges have been laid.

Over the past three years, Chan said compliance by eateries has been around 92%. Back in 2001, it was at a stomach-churning 78%.

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