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| South Carolina family was denied food service at Wild Wings Cafe. |
In North Charleston, South Carolina, a Black family who wanted to eat at an establishment in the area was denied service after a customer complained. They claimed that the family waited hours before they were told that they weren't getting served.
One of the family members took to the social network and the situation blew up and the restaurant is getting some negative press coverage.
Michael Brown and 24 of his family members go to the Wild Wing Cafe. They were celebrating a family member leaving for better opportunities. This experience wasn't memorable to say at least.
The family waited for two hours for a table only to be told by a manager that there was “a situation.”
Apparently a White customer felt that the family was "threatening" and they didn't want them at the establishment.
“She said there’s a situation where one of our customers feels threatened by your party, so she asked us not to seat you in our section, which totally alarmed all of us because we’re sitting there peaceably for two hours,” Brown told to WNEW Channel 5.
A member of the party began to film the discussion between Brown and the restaurant manager with a camera phone.
“I asked her I want to be clear with you,” Brown recounted. “I said so you’re telling me I have to leave. She said I have a right to deny you service. I said so you’re asking me to leave because you’re upset because he was recording you, after we've waited for two hours, and after you've already pretty much discriminated on us, and she answered yes.”
So Michael Brown decides to make it clear that he's not satisfied with the service. He takes his concerns to Facebook.
I will never go to Wild wings cafe in N. Chs again! We (Party of 25 family and friends) waited 2hrs, patiently and were refused service because another customer (White) felt threatened by us. This type of racial discrimination is unacceptable and we have to put a STOP TO IT. The manager looked me dead in the face and said she was refusing us service because she had a right to and simply she felt like it. DO NOT SUPPORT THIS ESTABLISHMENT… PLEASE SHARE THIS POST… We need your help.
Wild Wing Cafe is a restaurant chain in the south and southeastern United States with over 30 locations in seven U.S. states. It is headquartered in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, a suburb of Charleston. One of their higher ups got the word and responded to the controversy.
“We got alerted through social media, so we always encourage our customers to respond to us or to comment on our social media pages,” Debra Stokes, chief marketing officer for Wild Wing Cafe, told Channel 5.
“We had a conversation,” says Stokes. “It was a really good conversation. He and many of his family and friends were there about a month ago, and they are regular customers of ours. So, they were having a going away party, and they just didn't receive the experience that they have come to know and love.”
“We had a conversation,” said the restaurant’s chief marketing officer. “It was a really good conversation. He and many of his family and friends were there about a month ago, and they are regular customers of ours. So, they were having a going away party, and they just didn’t receive the experience that they have come to know and love.”
Brown was offered a free meal, which he was not satisfied with. “We weren’t there for a free meal,” he said.
"We were there as patrons of their restaurant!", he added. "Do they think that just giving [free food] makes the situation any better?"
Okay, so what do you think about this controversy?
WNEM TV 5