Inside Edition's Rat Patrol Hits The Big Apple.

INSIDE EDITIONs Rat Patrol took to the streets of Manhattan between 1:00 AM and 4:00 AM peering their cameras and flashlights into the windows of a wide variety of eateries from fast food places to fine dining establishments.

Summer is breeding season for rats, so it wasn't surprising to find rats all over the place in Manhattan. What was shocking was where the rodents were found - dining after-hours inside some of New York City's most popular restaurants.

On any given night you'll see celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Heidi Klum dining at Da Silvano, one of the trendiest restaurants in Manhattan. But when the "A-list" customers go home, INSIDE EDITION found other guests who don't have a reservation.

On three different visits, rats were seen feasting on scraps left all over the dirty kitchen floor and climbing into crates holding glasses.

Bruce Colvin, an expert on rats and a world-renowned ecologist, said after the restaurant closes for the night, it's time for the second course - "to feed the rats."

Ed Hayes, a lawyer for Da Silvano, said because of INSIDE EDITION's findings, the owner is throwing out every bit of food in the restaurant and blamed any rodents on nearby construction and recent renovations.

"When you have this kind of construction, you have a lot more rodents then you did, so we're basically going to take the place apart and make sure that we don't have any problems," Hayes told INSIDE EDITION.

Not too far away from Da Silvano is the Blue Water Grill - a pricey seafood restaurant in Manhattan's bustling Union Square. It's ranked by Zagat survey as one of the top ten most popular eateries in all of New York City.

Apparently the rats think so too. On the night INSIDE EDITION's Rat Patrol visited, two rats had the run of the place. Colvin says they are juvenile rats, an indication there may be a family of rats living inside.

When asked if he was aware of the restaurant's rodent problem, the manager declined to speak with INSIDE EDITION. But in a statement the restaurant said they have "never failed a Department of Health inspection." And "every measure necessary will be taken to address this random situation," which they say, "does not, in any way, suggest an infestation."

The Rat Patrol also discovered a rat performing some impressive acrobatics in the small dining room of the Hour Glass Tavern, a favorite spot for the theater crowd near Times Square.

The owner says the restaurant was actually closed for renovations during the time the rats were spotted, and they have a weekly exterminator.

In just a few nights, the Rat Patrol found rodents in 22 restaurants. Most surprising was finding them in one of the world's most famous steakhouses - the venerable, Peter Luger Steak House in Brooklyn.

The mouth-watering steak is immensely popular with New Yorkers, tourists and celebrities alike. As a plaque in the restaurant boasts, the best meal of Johnny Carson's entire life was prepared in Peter Luger's kitchen.

Which is exactly where INSIDE EDITION spotted the rats on two different nights.

Marilyn Spiera, one of the owner's of Peter Luger Steakhouse told INSIDE EDITION the kitchen was spotless and blamed the problem on extensive recent renovations.

When told that experts and health officials say if you can't keep rats out of your restaurant you shouldn't be open, Spiera said, "My opinion is we don't have rats in our restaurants as a rule. We have a huge cleaning crew, and we have professional exterminators and I believe we have it very much under control."

And according to Colvin, once the rats get into a building, and into a kitchen, it can be a lot of work. "There're solutions to problems with rats. No one should surrender, and too often that's what happens," he said.

In total, INSIDE EDITION witnessed rodents in more than 22 New York eateries including:

Abitinos Pizzeria,233 Bleecker Street (Corner of Carmine and Bleecker)

Da Silvano, 260 Sixth Avenue (Between Bleecker and Houston)

Yuen Yuen Restaurant, 61 Bayard Street

HSF, 46 Bowery Street (Between Bayard and Canal)

Pecan Fine Foods and & Coffee, 130 Franklin Street (Between Hudson and Varick)

Senor Swankys, 142 Bleecker Street (Between Laguardia & Thompson)

Hello Berlin, 626 Tenth Avenue. (Between 44th and 45th)

Hour Glass Tavern, 375 W. 46th Street (Between 9th and 10th)

Blue Water Grill, 31 Union Square West (At 16th)

Friend of a Farmer Country Caf, 77 Irving Place (Between 18th and 19th)

Pongal, 1154 First Avenue (Between 63rd and 64th)

Hawaii Sushi, 1477 Second Ave. (Between 76th and 77th)

Blue Ribbon, 97 Sullivan Street (Between Prince and Spring)

Ottomanellis, 395 Amsterdam (Near 79th)

McDonalds, 26 Bowery Street (Between Bayard and Pell)

Peter Luger Steak House, 178 Broadway (Brooklyn)

Vynl, 507 Columbus Avenue (Between 84th and 85th)

Abitino's owner admitted that they have had a problem with mice in the past but have since corrected it. "Everybody in New York has mice. It's impossible not too. But Abitino's takes pride in the cleanliness of all our pizzeria locations."

The owner of Yuen Yuen told INSIDE EDITION he has since caught the rat we saw and plugged up the hole from where it came.

At Pecan the owner said, "Do you think you can come up with a restaurant in Manhattan that doesn't have this problem?" The owner also tells INSIDE EDITION he will address the problem immediately and takes great pride in keeping his restaurant exceptionally clean.

At Senor Swanky's a manager tells INSIDE EDITION, "We have an exterminator that comes in every week. The week that you came [to our restaurant] our exterminator never showed up, so now we have a new exterminator and there shouldn't be rodents any more."

At Hello Berlin one of the owners tells INSIDE EDITION they have a regular extermination program they stand by.

The McDonald's franchise owner released a statement to INSIDE EDITION saying, "Restaurant cleanliness and sanitation are very important to me and my restaurant employees We have an outstanding sanitation record with the New York Health Department. The isolated incident has been resolved."

At Pongal the owner tells INSIDE EDITION he was not aware of a problem and they have a regular pest control program saying, "I've never seen a rodent."

At Blue Ribbon the manager tells INSIDE EDITION he was unaware of a problem and has an exterminator that comes regularly saying, "This is news to me."

At Ottomanelli's the owner tells INSIDE EDITION, "It's a big problem in the city. Sometimes we do see mouse droppings. We put glue traps down and regular traps. We try to control everything as best we can and we keep all of our locations exceptionally clean."