Bradenton Restaurant Blasted For Referring To Customers By Race

BRADENTON, FL – The incident made the New Tampa resident so sick to her stomach she was nauseous the entire ride home from Bradenton. That sick feeling turned to anger later that day as Nicole Barker thought about the treatment she and her son received at Caddy’s At The Pointe restaurant, 801 Riverside Drive East, Bradenton, on Sunday, April 8.

She and her son journeyed from New Tampa to the restaurant as a treat but Barker said she was shocked when the waiter handed her the receipt for their meals.

It wasn't the price that stunned her. It was the words at the top of the receipt that the waiter tried to scratch out before delivering to her. She thought it was strange so she decided to take a look at a copy of the receipt the waiter gave her.

"I looked at the additional tickets and saw the waiter referred to us as ‘Lounge Black Family,'" said Barker.

Instead of designating the table by its number as is customary, the waiter matched the order to the diners by typing “LOUNGBLK FAM” on the order.

“I brought it to the manager’s attention,” Barker said. “She apologized and said she would address it because they refer to the customers by their table number. She left to ‘address’ it and a few minutes later the waiter came out laughing.”

Barker said it was obvious that the waiter thought the situation was funny. But she and her son weren’t laughing.

“I explained what had just occurred to a white customer and asked to see their ticket,” she said. “They were referred to by their table number.”

Barker said the waiter obviously knew it was wrong to refer to customers by race or he wouldn’t have tried to scratch out the notation on the receipt.

“I was nauseous the whole ride home at the thought of what he may have put in my food,” she said.

Barker photographed her receipt alongside the receipt of the white customer and posted the photo on her Facebook page.

Her post elicited an immediate response from the management of the restaurant, which posted its own Facebook message apologizing for what occurred and announcing the waiter involved had been fired.

"To All of Our Loyal Caddy's Customers,

We have need to address an regrettable event that happened in our store this evening. One of our staff members labeled a table by the color of their skin and not by the table or seat number which is Caddy's standard. We sincerely apologize to the family that was involved, this is absolutely unacceptable. We want to assure you that this has been immediately addressed with our staff and can assure you it will never happen again.

-Caddy's Management

UPDATE: We wanted to share with you all that the individual involved was terminated and no longer works for our company. Although we know this does not rectify what happened, we did want to share that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated in our establishment."

The restaurant also responded to other complaints about its service.

We have a new management staff in and they are working diligently at turning around this location. Please reach out to our General Manager Chris Sargen, chris.s@caddys.com, to discuss your experience further. Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback.

For the most part, the apology received positive comments from customers.

"First-class response to a classless act," John Wolf wrote.

"Thankfully, the restaurant stepped up and did the right thing ASAP. Hopefully the person that did that has learned a lesson and will grow up and start treating all people with respect," responded Sherrie Lynn Thomas.

"That is a tough situation," said John Palmano. "I am a restaurant owner here in Florida and employees these days are challenging. All you can do is ax it on the spot and set the example."

Barker, however, said she doesn't think firing the waiter went far enough.

"I appreciate the prompt response to the incident but do not feel the termination of just the waiter was enough," she said. "It was immediately brought to the attention of the manager and she said she would address it and left. She did not appear to be concerned at all. I feel they need to hire a more diverse staff and/or send everyone through diversity training."

Barker said she hasn't had a good night's sleep since her visit to the restaurant.

"I have not slept right since that night and have been nauseous wondering if the same employee may have placed something in our food, wondering why we were rushed and trying to explain to my son about racism," she said. "He was not raised to see people different and does not understand why racism still exists. It's sad that things like this still happen and that we have to explain it to our kids."

Moreover, she said the restaurant's offer to give her a free meal was insulting.

"Not everyone is out looking for a free meal," she said. "This was a disgusting act done by the restaurant employee and management and is unfortunately a direct reflection on the company as a whole. I can't speak for any of their other locations but this location should definitely not be serving anyone until a change is made."

Caddy's has four locations: Indian Shores, St. Petersburg, Treasure Island and Bradenton.

Image via Nicole Barker