Video: Rat Rodeo in Vinny Vincenz Pizza Truck

It's been a while since we've had any quality rat rodeo video, so get some popcorn (or not) and enjoy this footage of big fat rats feasting in a Vinny Vincenz Pizza Truck parked in Chelsea. It's actually kind of cute how pumped these rats are about being alone in the truck, and, to be fair, it is pretty good pizza... which we will never eat again.

WNBC obtained the cell phone footage, which definitely belongs in the rat rodeo hall of fame alongside the infamous Taco Bell-KFC rat stampede of 2007. This Vinny Vincenz truck (there are four) stays parked on 27th street between 10th and 11th Avenues, which WNBC notes is right in front of the Pink Elephant, "which just last week hosted celebrity couple Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon!" Carey could not be reached for comment, but the reporter did talk to passers-by like one "Reggie," who opined, "He shouldn't be out here selling that. It's a dangerous part to the health of the people, out here selling rat pizza."

True, that. Owner Salvatore Olivella quickly motored to the news crew after they contacted him but did not seem up to the impossible task of damage control. He blamed the rat-infested neighborhood and an employee who forgot to throw away leftover pizza, but says insists Reggie shouldn't fear his pizza because "at 700 degrees you kill everything when it comes out you don't touch it anymore."

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By John Del Signore in Food on October 9, 2009 11:20 AM

Comments [rss]

JacqueMehoff

great those rats are having a pizza party

and who knows if they cleaned up afterwards.

how can they not prevent that during daylight hours?

they're hopping all over the prep areas.

McFister

It's not the truck that has the rats, it's the neighborhood.

whitecastlerock

Anyone who buys food off one of these trucks or carts is begging for intestinal distress. Why would any self-respecting individual buy pizza sold out of a souped up Con Ed truck? Disgusting

PTG in nyc

rats gross me out but it's pretty obvious that whether or not Salvatore washes his hands is a way more important factor in determining whether or not his pizza is sanitary. No rat pizza please though, that would be messed up

JenChungsBaby

Those are clearly CGI rats. The vendor wars have gone high tech!

seven

MT, you're an idiotic, naive hypochondriac. With a food cart, especially the non-truck ones you see EVERYTHING, if a vendor is unhygienic, it's right there in front of you.

Restaurant kitchens are like black boxes. You have no clue what's going on there. You really think you're getting more hygienic food there? As someone who's worked both in vending and in restaurant kitchens, you're being very very naive to think that your $50 lunch from some fancy restaurant is somehow cleaner than a $6 chicken and rice from a cart.

Mr. Shankly

Hmmmm. The capers on this slice sure are tasty.

NannyState

No wonder the anchovies are off-menu.

MT

I know they are a huge trend, but I would never eat off a food truck/cart. They are just too exposed to the street and too vulnerable to stuff like this. I don't care how clean they say they are.