More Restaurant Closures? Rats.

Pat's EatingLA has the scoop on last month's restaurant closures -- and it wasn't pretty.

As she found here, an unusually large number of well-known eateries were hit with vermin infestation issues in August. Maybe the rats were looking for a little air conditioning?

Closed restaurants included Zankou on Sunset; Daikokuya in Little Tokyo; Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles on Pico; and Fred 62 in Los Feliz.

Pat also notes that "posh places did not go unscathed: Both the Bel Air Hotel and the Beverly Hilton had infestations, as well as the governator's own Schatzi on Main in Santa Monica. The inspectors must have been working overtime in the city by the bay: They also shut down the Buffalo Club and the Main St. Coffee and Tea Leaf."

Still, she says she'll continue to eat at the joints, and maintains a healthy attitude toward the clamp downs:

I guess there's a few ways to look at these closures:

-One theory says that every restaurant has a certain amount of exposure to dirt, vermin, etc., but that the ones that got busted will now be even cleaner than the ones that didn't.

-Another theory says, the better the food, the lower the rating. This could well be true, since at the moment Ruen Pair and New Concept are both sporting C's.