A mouse is seen in the pastry trays of a Scarborough coffee shop. (Photo submitted by Borys Machinkowski)

An amateur photographer has captured an image of a rodent in a Toronto eatery, prompting a visit by city health inspectors.

Borys Machinkowski's photo shows a mouse popping out of a space between two trays of pastries sitting in the display case of Bakery On the Go at the Warden Toronto Transit Commission station.

The photograph was taken on Saturday night.

Machinkowski. a 20-year-old Centennial College student, said in a blog post that he noticed the rodent while he and some friends were sitting in the coffee shop waiting for another friend to arrive.

"Between our conversation in the coffee shop, I managed to spot a mouse chowing down on the mini-cheese rolls and pointed it out to my friends and the two other customers in there with us. I snapped a picture of the little offender without hesitation," he wrote.

Machinkowski said he pointed out the mouse to the employee working at the coffee shop, but the employee continued to sell food.

Machinkowski and his friends started telling customers about the mouse and showing them the photo they had taken.

"Being thoroughly disgusted, we decided to warn everyone who would listen that we just saw a mouse in plain sight and showed them the picture each time. They were grateful they hadn't eaten what they had bought yet."

Their warnings stopped after a man arrived, and he turned out to be the eatery's manager.

"Finally, another man came in and we continued our mission to warn people. We told him about the mouse and he said, 'Huh? This is subway station. You see mice sometime. So what?' in an irritated tone. Then we showed him the picture and his face froze. It turned out he was the manager and he promptly told us to get out, but we didn't until they turned off the lights and closed the store for fear they'd continue selling food to people."

Given conditional pass

During an inspection by Toronto Public Health on Aug. 27, the bakery was given a conditional pass. Inspectors cited it for failure to protect food from contamination and inadequate temperature controls.

Those infractions were corrected and the bakery was given a pass two days later.

Since Machinkowski's complaint, health inspectors have revisited the location and issued another conditional pass. Inspectors did not find evidence of infestation, but said they found droppings and that the eatery will be inspected again.

In October 2008, health inspectors closed down the Happy Seven restaurant on Spadina Avenue after rats were seen in its window.

About a year ago, a "heavy rodent infestation" closed down a Toronto Loblaws store after a mouse was spotted by a customer.

Toronto Public Health said it made the decision at the time even though the grocery store had "an excellent record of food safety and the last 10 inspections have been in compliance."