A Texas Whataburger was closed and sanitized over the weekend after a rodent was caught on camera scurrying across store counters before falling into a food fryer.
Footage of the fast-moving rodent, which appeared to be a mouse, was posted to Facebook by user Brushawn Lewis early Sunday and has since gone viral, KVUE reported. The clip has attracted millions of views and been shared about 60,000 times on the social network.
"This s*** is crazy," Lewis noted under the two-and-a-half minute video. "I'm at Whataburger in Bastrop, TX. It's a damn rat just out in the open! But it did get deep fried!"
In the clip, the rodent can be seen scurrying around food containers on the main counter, in full view of customers. A member of staff can also be heard offering refunds to anyone who has a receipt. A woman, who does not appear to be employed there, is seen attempting to trap the animal. Seconds later, a clatter appears to startle the rodent and it leaps into the fryer.
"It went in the grease," a man can be heard saying as customers scream and shout. "Deep fried rat!" another person proclaims. A woman is heard saying: "Are you charging us for fried rat?"
As the commotion grows, an employee of the store is heard saying she doesn't know how to turn off the machine. "I need my money," Lewis says in the video, grabbing his own receipt.
Please note the video of the incident below contains explicit language
In response to the viral phone recording spread quickly on Sunday, Whataburger released a statement confirming the store was temporarily shut so it could be cleansed.
The San Antonio-based company said: "At Whataburger, cleanliness and food safety are top priorities for us. In this instance, we closed the restaurant out of an abundance of caution and notified pest control. The entire restaurant has since been cleaned and sanitized.
"We addressed this situation as quickly as possible, reinforcing procedures with our Family Members. While we'll continue to be very diligent, it's important to know there was no history of this type incident at this unit and there is no ongoing issue."
According to the San Antonio Express-News, the firm has more than 800 locations, with more than 670 being in Texas. Stores are also found in Oklahoma, Arizona, Florida and Georgia. In June, the newspaper reported that a Chicago-based company called BDT Capital Partners had recently acquired a majority stake in the decades-old burger business and would now be focusing on further expansion.
The Bastrop Whataburger is open between 6 a.m. and 2 a.m. on Saturday and 6 a.m. and 12 a.m. on Sunday, its website says. The store has a drive-thru that is open 24-hours a day.
