Dinners Gone Wrong

Clumsy Waiter Causes Steakhouse Nightmare by Accidentally Stabbing Customer

Usually, this is as close as the knife gets.
Usually, this is as close as the knife gets. Photo: Bernd Euler/the food passionates/Corbis

As far as restaurant mishaps go, a tipped-over wineglass or errant projectile roll is generally as bad as it gets. So imagine being the woman who walked away with this souvenir from a recent visit to a Dallas-area Texas de Brazil steakhouse:

Whitley was sitting at the table talking with a friend while her server cut a piece of meat for another man at the table.

“I felt a searing pain, obviously something had happened to my arm,” said Whitley.

Whitley looked down and saw that the carving knife used by the waiter had sliced into her arm.

“There’s this cut as soon as I look, I see it fill with blood,” said Whitley.

Whitley still doesn’t know how the waiter lost control of the knife.

She says she left with a two-inch gash in her arm.

Churrasco-style service at restaurants like Texas de Brazil involves cutting giant skewers of meat at the table using a sort of comically large knife, and Whitley’s server appears to have had an off-day coordination-wise. A manager quickly apologized, and even gave her the insurance information so the chain could pay her medical bill. But Texas de Brazil’s handling of that is actually what has her most upset:

She said the back-and-forth with the insurance company has gone nowhere.

“I’m left pushing everything along, demanding and nothing happens unless I make yet another call,” said Whitley.

She was accidentally stabbed December 9, 2015 and is upset there is still no resolution by March of 2016.

“They haven’t stepped up to say, ‘gee, get to the doctor, let us know how much it will cost,’” said Whitley.

She tells CBS 11 that so far she’s out about $5,000 for plastic surgery and $6,700 in lost wages. She’s also asked the insurance company to pay $12,000 for pain and suffering. A Texas de Brazil rep says they’re “actively working” to resolve the situation in a way that Whitley is “comfortable with,” and customer safety is “always paramount.” Either way, looks like the chain will have to scrap those plans to pair the meat-cutting with a capoeira weapon dance.

[CBS 11]

Steakhouse Server Accidentally Stabs Customer