Women find cockroach in their pizza at Amsterdam restaurant
Two Amsterdam women found a cockroach in their pizza at a restaurant in De Pijp on Monday evening. The restaurant involved, L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, apologized and covered their bill, Parool reports.
The two women were craving pizza on Monday evening when they walked past L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele on Eerste van der Helstraat. “The pizzeria looked great, and so did the pizza,” said Luna. “But when I went for my last bite, I saw a strange-looking piece of salami. It had legs sticking out, and it looked like a cockroach was inside it.”
She showed her friend, Lili, who also thought something was off. “There were mushrooms and vegetables on the pizza, so for a moment it looked like it belonged there. But then I took another look and thought: oh my god, that’s a cockroach.”
The two called the waitstaff, who took the plate to the kitchen. A few minutes later, the chef came out to apologize. “We got everything on the house and didn’t have to pay,” Luna told the newspaper. “We briefly considered whether we should tell the other guests. In the end, we didn’t. We left as quickly as possible.”
The restaurant confirmed the incident to Parool by email. “We immediately discussed the situation with them and apologized. They didn’t have to pay the bill.” The restaurant operates "according to strict hygiene and food safety protocols,” L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele said. “Following this incident, we immediately reviewed our procedures, and no problems were identified. Nevertheless, we have tightened our internal controls to further minimize the risk.”
According to Parool, L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele received a warning from the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) last year when inspectors found mouse droppings in the warehouse where the restaurant prepares its pizza dough. The Labor Inspectorate also imposed three fines totalling nearly €25,000 for violations of the Working Hours Act, the Foreign Nationals Employment Act, and the Minimum Wage and Minimum Holiday Allowance Act. The pizzeria has appealed against these fines.
