File this one under Bad Tips: A woman says she, her husband, and their kid were all sharing the same chicken salad at a California Applebee’s when it came to their attention that the dish unfortunately contained a “small slice of a fingertip.” The woman, who’s also pregnant, tells the San Luis Obispo Tribune that the incident was “so gross,” but she’s more nervous about “what my family might have been exposed to.” They’ve demanded the body part’s owner undergo medical tests, which Applebee’s said it can’t technically require but which the cook has voluntarily agreed to anyway.
Franchise owner Alan Knapp notes that severed fingertips, in salads or otherwise, are “unacceptable” at his restaurant, and he’s promised extensive retraining (maybe with a knife-skills class?). The family, however, now seems to be gearing up for a lawsuit. The Tribune’s reporter asked the lawyer if it was possible this fingertip was planted by the family — give him points for asking the tough questions — but a restaurant manager and Knapp both confirm this is no hoax. Knapp also says his team is retraining the kitchen staff “to prevent anything like this from occurring again,” which seems like a policy that should be relatively simple to implement.
