Curtis Mays didn’t know what had happened to his burger until he was already done eating. A clue in the form of a note on his receipt immediately alerted him that something bad had happened.
As WABC News reports, Mays was being treated to a Father’s Day dinner at the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden in Astoria, Queens when there was an issue with their order. Mays, who was at the restaurant with his daughter and granddaughter, had finished the meal and asked the waitress for a receipt.
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The receipt with the note instructing staff to spit on his burger:
But instead of clearing up the mix-up over their order, the special instructions on the receipt revealed a more serious problem. Along with the notes to the chef to toast the bun on May’s burger, add cheddar, and cook it well done was a disgusting addition:
Please spit in it too!
Mays told WABC that until that moment, the meal had been pleasant and the waitress attentive: “She was very nice. She comes up to the table. ‘Hi, how are you doing?'”
The tweet reads:
“On a scorching hot summer night, what’s better than a cold brew? Pair it with a juicy burger. Cheddar cheese, well done, toast bread, please spit in it too! Don’t forget the mayo! Wait… spit?! At 11pm we’ll tell you which beer garden and what the manager told us.“
Now, confronted with the possibility that the chef had spit in his burger, he was understandably angry and nauseated:
“I ate my burger already. I felt like I was gonna throw up.”
He immediately confronted the waitress, who tried to deny responsibility for the instruction and then fled. He told WABC:
“I asked her, ‘Why would you do this?’ and she couldn’t explain it. She said she didn’t do it. So I was like, ‘Who prints out the receipt?’ So she said, ‘I take it up there and print it myself.’ ‘So you did it? Why are you lying about it?’ She just walked off.”
A manager refunded Mays’ meal, but there wasn’t much he could do to make amends. As May pointed out, once the manager asked how they could compensate the dad for his questionable burger, it was too late: “I was like, ‘How can you compensate somebody for spitting on your food? I ate this already.'”
The manager said he thinks it doubtful that a cook actually spit in Mays’ burger. He added that they had never had an issue with the waitress before this incident.
Though Mays was under the impression that the manager had fired the waitress on the spot, the restaurant’s Facebook page suggests that isn’t the case. In a post, the restaurant stressed its 100-year-history and commitment to good service:
“Upon learning of the incident, we immediately started investigating the situation. The employee involved in the incident was suspended pending the outcome.”
The restaurant added: “We are committed to taking all appropriate steps to help ensure the well-being of all our patrons.”