INDIANAPOLIS — The Jordan's Fish and Chicken restaurant located at 42nd Street and Post Road in Indianapolis has been temporarily closed, according to a sign posted on the storefront.
The restaurant was allegedly the topic of a viral video on social media platform TikTok over the weekend. The video appears to show mice wandering inside the main area of the restaurant and food being served from containers sitting on the floor of the restaurant.
According to the person who posted the video, it was the Jordan's restaurant that is now closed by the Marion County Public Health Department.
The man exposing the conditions wants to remain anonymous.
He says he was ordering a pan of chicken for his family on New Year's Eve and was disgusted by what he saw.
"Boy y'all serving people this food, ya'll crazy," he said.
Community leaders and residents say what happened here is a disgrace to the far east side.
"This stuff was inhumane, what we seen on that video was unethical. There was no integrity; no morals," said Antonio Patton. " I had mothers calling me crying because they feed their children this 4-5x a week."
"Since the video, people have been sick. No one knew the level of horrible conditions that we are being served," said Councilor Keith Graves.
"Enough is enough. We are exhausted of businesses really taking advantage of the poor, taking advantage of underserved communities," said Dee Ross.
The health department said it tried to perform an inspection Monday morning, but at the posted opening time the building was locked and no employees were there.
"While there, the inspector noticed a large amount of spilled grease in an area outside of the restaurant. Based on this violation and the nature of the initial complaint, the health department suspended the operating license for this location and a notice was placed on the front door," a health department spokesperson said in a statement. "An inspection and approval from MCPHD Food and Consumer Safety will be needed before the restaurant can legally reopen and resume serving the public. MCPHD will continue to monitor."
Many want the restaurant to be closed for good.
"We want it completely shut down. We want it out of our community because that violation [and] coming up to code will never change your morals that we seen in that video," said Patton.
According to the Secretary of State's website, the establishment is registered as SDN Market Inc. Signage and the restaurant's voicemail say Jordan's Fish and Chicken.
Christina Hodgeson, a spokesperson for Jordan's, said the restaurant located at 42nd and Post is not an official Jordan's restaurant.
"These other popups that keep coming up and calling themselves Jordan's are a knock off," Hodgeson said. "They are using our name, they are using our logos. If they aren't using our name, they are using the fish symbols. We can't do anything about it yet, (because) we aren't a corporation yet."
Hodgeson claims the only actual Jordan's locations are on Crawfordsville Road in Speedway and on Emerson Avenue in Beech Grove.
"I do not think anything we saw in that video is a reflection of what any restaurant should have happening," Hodgeson said. "It was appalling. It was disgusting. I was floored."
The restaurant sits in Indianapolis City-County Councilor La Keisha Jackson's district. She was vocal on social media over the weekend after the video went viral.
On Monday, she met with WRTV at the restaurant and had a message for the restaurants owners and other owners in the city.
"Please be on notice," Jackson said. "We will not have it and it's not acceptable. Our people deserve better. Our residents deserve better. They are the ones that are keeping their door open. You will treat them with respect, integrity and decency.
Jackson is fed up with people taking advantage of the far east side.
"It's pretty much popular because they also take EBT and it's one of the few restaurants in the area. It's a food desert," said Jackson. "It's one of the few in the area so whether they are forced to or by popular demand, it's where people like chicken and fish and it's where they go to."
She calls on the health department and city to hold business owners accountable.
"We will no longer be the side.. we need to be inclusive, we are part of the City of Indianapolis — period," said Jackson.
If you have concerns about a restaurant or business, you can reach out to the Marion County Public Health Department by calling 317-221-2000 or emailing HealthDept@MarionHealth.org
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