One of the most Instagrammed sushi restaurants in Rome closed: mice, bad food and workers piled up in a room

He seemed to have come out of a Japanese fairy tale: between lanterns, bridges and boats full of delights, the good sushi had become one of the most instagramable restaurants in Rome, above all because it allowed to eat “all you can eat” on the water. But behind the Zen atmosphere he hid more.

A police blitz made the castle of cards collapse. What did the authorities find? Mice ran between the tables, foods in a state of decomposition and workers forced to sleep on mattresses thrown on the ground. The restaurant, of course, was immediately closed and seized.

But on the Instagram page of the Good Sushi the communication to customers (whose comments were blocked) reports different reasons to justify the closure.

From Reel to kidnapping

Until a few days ago it was one of the reference points of the Capitoline Foodie Foodie, but it was enough to look at a moment “behind the scenes” to find that the place hid a series of serious irregularities. The agents of the State Police, together with the staff of the ASL Roma 2, broke into the “Good Sushi” restaurant at number 1019 in via Prenestina, discovering a reality very different from that immortalized on social media.

The most emblematic image is that of a mouse that runs undisturbed among the chairs piled up in the restaurant. But the invasion of rodents was only the tip of the iceberg. Inside, numerous irregularities were found: used fire extinguishers as a stop and with maintenance expired for years, obstructed safety exits, high state electrical system and, above all, foods preserved in disastrous hygienic conditions. Some foods were already in a state of decomposition.

The situation worsened further during the inspection of the internal premises: in one of the rooms, hidden from the view of customers, a real improvised dormitory was discovered. Mattresses, blankets and mats were piled up on the ground to host dozens of workers. According to what emerged, there were 45 employees employed in the restaurant, many of which were crammed in narrow spaces without the most basic conditions of safety and dignity. Among the identified workers, two were without documents valid for the stay in Italy.

The investigations, coordinated by the Rome prosecutor’s office, are now trying to shed light on the responsibilities of the company that managed the venue, whose representatives are of Chinese nationality.

The good sushi story is yet another demonstration of how, sometimes, what appears perfect on Instagram can hide much more. A mix of exploitation, hygienic violations and contempt for the rules has transformed a trendy room into a judicial chronicle. The seizure was validated by the judge and compromised food products were destroyed on the provision of the ASL.

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