'House Of Dark Spirits' Williamsburg Bar Shuttered By Health Dept

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — A Bedford Avenue bar with an ominous name seems to have some equally sinister conditions inside. Kill Devil House of Dark Spirits was shut down by health inspectors this week who found rats, roaches and filth flies in the cocktail bar.

The bar, which opened last year at 292 Bedford Ave., was given almost three times the number of violation points that requires the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to shut the eatery down. Inspectors found 74 violation points when visiting the bar on Monday, records show. Any score above 28 requires they close the business.

The inspectors discovered that the rum-focused bar had live roaches, evidence of rats or live rats, and filth flies associated with sewage. The eatery also had contaminated food, cold food not kept at the right temperature, food surfaces that were not properly washed and plumbing problems, records show.

The space was also not vermin proof and did not have a sink, hand-dryer or soap in the food preparation area and bathroom.

This is the first inspection on record for Kill Devil House of Dark Spirits since it opened last summer, records show.

A Kill Devil manager told Patch that they are disputing many of the violations in Monday's inspection.

Many of the violations, including the roaches, flies and rats, are from a back patio and shared basement area that the bar shares with the rest of the building. The patio and basement are next to Kill Devil's space and sewage that overflows from the patio gets onto their side when it rains, bar manager Antonio Molinero said.

Building management has had exterminators come each month, but the problems have not resolved, he added.

"We noticed that the building management has been doing something about it but not enough," Molinero said. "The DOH is counting those areas as our as well, something that is a bit frustrating and unfair because we only share the area but is not our responsibility at all."

Molinero said they are fighting many of the food-related violations because the kitchen was not open on the day the inspector came by. The kitchen area is only opened Thursday through Saturday. They also claim that the cold food violation comes from the inspector leaving the door open when checking the walk-in fridge, which changes the temperatures inside.

The bar also plans to show pictures of a "back-flow prevention device" that the inspector didn't see because it was behind a coffee machine.

Kill Devil should be back up and running Thursday and Friday and will likely have another inspection in the next few days, Molinero said.

The boldly-named bar, found across the street from Fresh Kills Bar, is a reference to an old euphemism for rum, which the spot has more than 125 types of on the menu, Bedford and Bowery reported at the time. Kill Devil offers pricey specialty cocktails that owners told the outlet are meant to show that rum doesn't need to "be buried under layers of tropical flavors."

It also offers up a mixed menu of Latin American and American comfort food to go along with its $18 drinks.

The bar's devilish name can be found on everything from its ice chunks to garnishes. Bar owners did not immediately respond to a request for comment.