It is amazing what one can find during a routine restaurant inspection from temperature abuse of food to pest control problems. Rarely, however, does the owner of a restaurant decide to shut down to correct any problems as in Smart Alec’s Intelligent Food restaurant.

The Daily Californian writes

 On Wednesday, several students noticed that Smart Alec’s Intelligent Food restaurant had closed its doors for a short period of time. The decision to temporarily shut down the restaurant was made by the owner Stephanie Dodson after a routine visit from a health inspector revealed a health violation.

The health inspector from the City of Berkeley’s Environmental Health Division was doing a routine check to make sure that the restaurant was in compliance with Berkeley health codes.

"Our inspector was in the field (Wednesday) and visited Smart Alec’s," said Manuel Ramirez, the manager of the Environmental Health Division. "He visited Smart Alec’s for three hours."

The inspector found evidence of rat droppings near the cash registers. All other areas of the restaurant were in compliance with the city’s health codes.

Dodson said as soon as the health inspector informed her of the issue, she decided to close Smart Alec’s for an hour and a half.

"There were some signs of some activity, and we noticed it immediately and addressed it immediately," Dodson said. "I made the judgement call that we needed to (shut down)."