Free Republic

Workers at an Upper Manhattan Chipotle restaurant say they’ve been fighting a losing battle against hordes of hungry rats — and a management team that let the infestation get so bad that four staffers have been bitten by the massive rodents. The besieged fast-casual Mexican joint on Broadway near West 169th Street in Washington Heights closed to customers indefinitely late last month, but only after rats chewed through the wiring of a computer system that handled orders, two employees told The Post. In the meantime, those workers are still going into the store to clean, in an effort to keep...

In America, chain restaurants get a bad rap. We blame them for the spike in obesity and the death of the family dinner. We demonize them as “the core of what is wrong with our food system.” No wonder our bougie, West Coast friends shun Bloomin’ Onions and Big Macs in favor of meals from farm-to-table gastropubs and “undiscovered” ethnic food joints. And it’s not just them. Food — obscure, locally sourced, painstakingly chef-crafted — has become a defining obsession, a “measuring stick of cool,” as New York magazine put it. Today, a quarter of Americans eat organic products on...

Customers who want to pay with a $100 bill at a Rhode Island chain of restaurants will now have to fill out a form. WPRI reports that Gregg's locations will now require a name, phone number and driver's license number whenever someone pays with a $100 bill. Owner Bob Bacon says it's because they have received five fake $100s in the last three months. He tells the station the policy is not about getting restitution if they receive a fake bill. He says it's about creating a paper trail so they can track down whoever is making the fake bills.

<p>NEW YORK — Want a class-action lawsuit with that burger?</p> <p>A New York City lawyer has filed suit against the four big fast-food corporations, saying their fatty foods are responsible for his client’s obesity and related health problems.</p> <p>Samuel Hirsch filed his lawsuit Wednesday at a New York state court in the Bronx, alleging that McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and KFC Corporation are irresponsible and deceptive in the posting of their nutritional information, that they need to offer healthier options on their menus, and that they create a de facto addiction in their consumers, particularly the poor and children.</p>