Roach infestation temporarily closes a mainstay restaurant on Lawrence’s Mass. Street

Lawrence’s The Mad Greek temporarily shut down after a Dec. 9 health inspection.

The restaurant, at 907 Massachusetts St., had seven priority violations and closed for a day because it did not cease operations and notify the Kansas Department of Agriculture of the imminent health hazard of an active cockroach infestation.

The inspector found about 30 live roaches throughout the establishment, including in the kitchen breaker box, along the door frame in the front-of-the-house liquor closet, and inside of crevices of a half-wall within the kitchen expo line.

The person in charge provided a recent pest treatment invoice and said they were considering switching pest treatment companies. The restaurant also plans to temporarily shut down in early January for kitchen renovations.

A new pest control company arrived while the inspector was onsite and the parties worked out a treatment plan.

The restaurant had no priority violations during a follow-up inspection on Dec. 10 and reopened.

In a statement, Deb and Theo Tagtalianidis, owners of the Mad Greek, said: “Due to the location and the age of the restaurant we have recently experienced a pest problem. Our pest control company of four-a-half years was coming in at a high frequency to treat the problem resulting in little to no progress, we were taking action to replace them before the inspector came. We have terminated our contract with that company and switched to a company that takes care of most of Mass street. We have a weekly program in place with them to eradicate any issues moving forward.”

The family-owned and operated restaurant opened in 1988. The menu includes authentic Greek and Italian dishes.