Texas Taco Cabana is overrun with rats in viral TikTok

Disney has obviously warped our brains, though not in the way many are now infamously arguing about in all the ugly corners of Twitter. No, the media giant somehow convinced us that rodents doing menial tasks is adorable, first with mice crafting a dress for "Cinderella" while donning beanies and crop-tops in a very fashion-forward way, and more recently with Remy the rat hiding under a chef’s hat while becoming Paris’ best culinary prodigy in Pixar’s "Ratatouille."

This week, a viral TikTok of the kitchen at a San Antonio Taco Cabana location proved just how wrong we were, and how horrifying the reality of rats in a kitchen might be. In the video, which nearly 80,000 people have seen as of this writing, poster @ritalongg narrates her view through a window as one rat crawls out from under a set of stainless steel drawers. 

This would be nauseating enough, but the rat is quickly joined by many friends and/or family pouring out from under the shelves and popping up in other spots around the kitchen, even skittering around nibbling on food scraps spilled on the tile floor.

Taco Cabana confirmed "pest activity" with MySA.com, adding that “the location was immediately closed and a thorough inspection and extensive sanitation was completed. The health and safety of Taco Cabana's guests and team members, and the cleanliness and high-quality standards of all Taco Cabana restaurants, is, and remains to be, the utmost priority." The location reopened Wednesday. 

The company claimed it was an isolated incident and that the rats had migrated from an outside source over the holiday weekend. The most jarring responses to the video were the nonchalance many restaurant workers showed upon viewing it, including one user with the handle @justsaysenior who remarked: “Fun Fact: this is every restaurant in the city or heavy populated area no matter how clean it is.” Cool.