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15-Month-Old Given Margarita Instead Of Apple Juice At Applebee’s
Do you taste test your child's drink when eating out?
A Detroit toddler is recovering from drinking a margarita instead of apple juice at Applebee’s restaurant on Friday.
Fifteen-month-old Dominic Dill-Reese was served a drink as part of the kids meal that his mother ordered. Dominic’s mom, Taylor Dill-Reese says her son started acting strangely after drinking what she thought was apple juice. So, she tasted it and discovered the cup contained an alcoholic margarita mix.
The NY Daily News reports that the mother informed the manager who offered little help:
“The manager came up to me and he smelled it and he was like, ‘I am so sorry ma’am, I just don’t know what to do,’” said Dill-Reese.
The family called the police and the toddler started acting funny. They rushed him to the hospital where it was discovered that Dominic’s blood alcohol content registered at .10, which is over the legal limit for an adult driver.
“Nobody at the table ordered alcoholic drinks,” said Dill-Reese. “So, he definitely shouldn’t have received one.”
While Dominic is OK now, doctors say he still needs to be carefully watched. They also add that if Dominic drank the whole cup, he could have likely died.
This mix-up seems almost too unreal to be true. The alcohol was put into a sippy cup so the person that poured it had to have known that it was for a child. Perhaps the restaurant was busy and they grabbed the wrong bottle. Mistakes do happen but this mistake could have been deadly. Can you imagine if your baby became drunk as a result of an error? I have never taste tested my toddler’s drinks at restaurants because I never really felt the need to do so.
Thankfully in this case, quick thinking on the mom’s part prevented a life-threatening situation.
Applebee’s issued a statement concerning the incident:
“Obviously any situation like this is unacceptable and we take it very seriously. We are working with local authorities and conduction our own investigation, so we can assess exactly what happened.”
Do you ever taste test your child’s drink when eating out? Has your child ever been mistakenly served an alcoholic beverage?
UPDATE 4/12/11: Applebee’s has instituted serving changes due to this error.
Image: Stockxchng
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15 month given margarita at applebees - HippyMom - An Evolution of Female Community Parenting Board commented on Apr 11 11 at 8:43 am[...] month old given margarita instead of apple juice @Applebees 15-Month-Old Given Margarita Instead Of Apple Juice At Applebee's | Strollerderby "A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it." Reply With [...]
15 month old given margarita instead of apple juice @Applebees commented on Apr 13 11 at 8:17 amTJDestry commented on Apr 11 11 at 7:32 am“he could have likely died.”
Which? “Could have” or “likely”? You sort of definitely need to choose.
Katy E commented on Apr 11 11 at 8:22 amI read this shocking story on another website. Apparently, what had happened was someone behind the bar poured leftover margarita mix in a container labeled “apple juice”(a horrible lapse in judgement that makes every nurse, pharmacist and other hospital employees cringe… Not labeling/relabeling is a huge no-no!) The server grabbed the mislabeled bottle and poured it into the sippy. It’s a terrible mistake but Applebees needs to make it right and ensure that this NEVER happens again. I believe I’ll be taste/sniff testing my son’s sippy when we go out to eat from now on.
Sarah commented on Apr 11 11 at 9:25 amThings like this have happened before in past years. When we eat at places that serve alcohol and the child’s cup is not see through, we taste their drink.
Diera commented on Apr 11 11 at 10:18 amI know someone personally who did this to their own child. Another family member had used an orange juice container to make screwdrivers, and she gave her son ‘juice’ from that container. Luckily the taste apparently was unpleasant to her toddler so he only drank a swallow or two.
bob commented on Apr 11 11 at 11:07 am“it was discovered that Dominic’s blood alcohol content registered at .10, which is over the legal limit for an adult driver.”
I’m left hanging. What’s the limit for children drivers?
GP commented on Apr 11 11 at 11:15 amjust one more reason not to eat at Applebee’s?
Melei commented on Apr 11 11 at 11:34 amI read the same article years ago. A horrible mistake but it can happen at home too. One night we had friends over out on the deck the adults were drinking lemonade and vodka and the kids were playing in the pool my daughter jumped out ran over and said I’m thirsty and grabed my cup and took a couple big gulps before I could stop her. I was dumb and we had the same looking cup. I now have diffrent color cups for kids and adults. One of the scary things the taste did no affect her.
Sandy commented on Apr 11 11 at 11:45 amWhen I was a kid my parents brought us to a local chain restaurant. I ordered a soda, they ordered mixed drinks, and my 15 year old sister ordered an ice tea. Sure enough they gave my sister a long island. My parents didn’t make much of a fuss but the manager sure looked mad.
abrooks commented on Apr 12 11 at 11:42 amHi all, just wanted to weigh in here as I work with Applebee’s corporate. We’re reading all of your comments and want to assure you that we are taking measures to give our guests a safer and more enjoyable dining experience, starting with changes to the way we serve beverages. We’re truly sorry for the worry this has caused the child’s parents and all of you. Our official statement with more details can be found here: http://bit.ly/hqVtye.
mike mcneese commented on Apr 13 11 at 11:43 amI think there is more to this. It just does not ring true. could this be another case of someone trying to set a restaurant for a nice law suit.
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