CRANSTON – The Uncle Tony’s Pizza and Pasta location that was temporarily closed due to health violations has reportedly shuttered permanently.
WJAR-TV NBC 10 first reported Tuesday that the restaurant permanently closed less than two months after
the R.I. Department of Health found numerous health code violations with the Oaklawn Avenue location. A note on the restaurant’s Facebook page near where the restaurant’s business hours are states that the Uncle Tony’s Cranston location is “permanently closed.”
In the middle of December, RIDOH inspectors found within the Cranston location various rodents and insects, including live and dead cockroaches, and rodent droppings throughout the restaurant. Uncle Tony’s in separate Facebook posts at the time said the Cranston location was closed temporarily due to “unforeseen construction repairs,” but later reopened soon after “everything was inspected.”
RIDOH spokesperson Joseph Wendelken told PBN that a follow-up inspection by the department on Dec. 29 found the restaurant was still clean after the Dec. 15 inspection noted that all past violations had been corrected by Uncle Tony's.
It is unclear what led to Uncle Tony’s management to permanently close down the Oaklawn Avenue location. Uncle Tony’s officials did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment from Providence Business News.
Uncle Tony’s has two other locations in East Providence and Johnston.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.