When city health inspectors walked into Dough Doughnuts on Vanderbilt Avenue earlier this month, they found something no donut shop wants on its record: evidence of mice in the establishment's food and non-food areas. That alone would have been bad enough — but the March 14 inspection by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene also turned up food flagged as adulterated or cross-contaminated, pesticide apparently handled by an unlicensed individual, and harborage conditions suggesting the rodent situation didn't exactly develop overnight. All told, the Prospect Heights shop racked up a score that would put it squarely in C-grade range — though that letter won't be made official until the city conducts a follow-up re-inspection in the coming months.
What Inspectors Found
The March inspection turned up eight separate violations at the 646 Vanderbilt Avenue shop, and they paint a troubling picture. According to the NYC Health Department's inspection database, inspectors found evidence of mice or live mice in the establishment's food and non-food areas — one of the most serious possible findings. Alongside the rodent evidence, inspectors cited raw or prepared food as adulterated, contaminated, or cross-contaminated in violation of the shop's HACCP food safety plan.
The violations didn't stop there. Inspectors also found that the establishment was not free of harborage conditions conducive to rodents, insects, or other pests — a companion violation to the rodent evidence that suggests the underlying conditions inviting infestation had not been addressed. Pesticide was also flagged as being improperly used or stored, or used by an unlicensed individual, with an unprotected, unlocked bait station cited. Non-food contact surfaces or equipment were found to be unacceptable or not kept clean. Rounding out the list: food supplies and equipment not protected from potential contamination, single-service articles not protected or reused, and — notably — the absence of a Food Protection Certificate held by a manager or supervisor on the food operations floor.
Under NYC's letter-grade system, any score of 28 or more points results in a C grade. At 64 points, Dough's latest inspection score is more than double that threshold. Restaurants earning scores in the C range are subject to re-inspection within a shorter cycle — typically 90 to 150 days — and can face closure orders if a public health hazard cannot be immediately corrected, as reported by M&M Pest Control.
A Sharp Reversal From a Clean Record
What makes this inspection especially jarring is how clean Dough's recent history had been. The shop received zero violations on three consecutive inspections — October 2024, April 2025, and September 2025 — per city records. A minor 3-point violation in October 2024 related to non-food contact surfaces was the only blemish across that entire stretch. Before that, a 12-point inspection in May 2023 flagged pesticide storage issues and a food contact surface sanitation problem, but still fell within passing range. The leap from a clean bill of health in September 2025 to 64 points just six months later is a significant red flag for a business that had appeared to be running a tight ship.
About Dough Doughnuts
Dough has a complicated but storied history in Brooklyn. The brand was co-founded in 2010 in Bed-Stuy by chef Fany Gerson and business partner Steve Klein, quickly earning cult status for its brioche-based donuts with bold, inventive glazes — hibiscus, dulce de leche, passion fruit. As Sideways NYC noted, the shop even ran a wholesale overnight operation supplying nearby coffee shops and supermarkets. The brand earned a spot on Food & Wine's "America's Best Doughnuts" list.
In early 2020, Gerson parted ways with her co-founders and went on to open Fan-Fan Doughnuts in the original Bed-Stuy location. The Vanderbilt Avenue shop — which occupies the former Joyce Bakeshop space — opened in 2021 as Dough's return to Brooklyn, now under Klein's stewardship, as Brooklyn Paper reported at the time. The Prospect Heights community welcomed it warmly: "It's really been amazing, the community has received us so well," marketing director John Sanchez told the paper.
The Bigger Picture: Rodents and Restaurants in NYC
Rodent-related violations are among the most damaging a New York City restaurant can receive, both reputationally and operationally. According to Positive Pest Management, rodent infractions are classified as "critical" violations, and restaurants are typically required to correct them within 24 to 48 hours of discovery. The presence of both active rodent evidence and harborage conditions — two separate line items in Dough's inspection — suggests a layered problem, not a one-off encounter.
Brooklyn, in particular, has faced persistently elevated rodent activity in recent years. Research compiled by Baruch College's Department of Business found that certain Brooklyn areas showed elevated monthly rodent incidents consistently from 2020 through 2025, noting that factors like urban density and ongoing construction continue to drive the problem. Meanwhile, USX Pest Control flagged that warming winters — New York State has warmed by roughly 3°F per decade for over five decades — are changing rodent behavior and expanding the windows of peak activity, making 2026 a particularly challenging year for commercial food operators.
The combination of unlicensed pesticide use and an unlocked bait station noted in Dough's inspection also raises compliance concerns beyond the rodent question itself. New York State regulations require that all commercial pest control be performed by licensed professionals, and improper pesticide handling can carry its own set of fines and follow-up obligations, according to Victory Pest Solutions.
What Comes Next
With a 64-point score on the books, Dough Doughnuts can expect an unannounced follow-up inspection in the coming months. If the reinspection also scores above 28 points, the shop will be required to display a C-grade card — a visible, public signal that can have a meaningful impact on foot traffic in a neighborhood where artisan food businesses compete fiercely for loyal customers. The DOHMH can also order immediate closure if a public health hazard is found that cannot be corrected on the spot.
Dough had not responded publicly to the inspection results as of publication. The shop's full inspection history is publicly available through the NYC Health Department's ABCEats portal.
