Entitled customer reported restaurant for employing disabled chef. His wife's stinging reply shut them up
He suffers from spina bifida and relies on a wheelchair for daily mobility.
Author and restaurateur C.C. Warrens (@c.c._warrens) met with an unpleasant customer experience when a woman saw her disabled husband working the kitchen and left an explosive review. Warrens did not let it slide, and her response has won hearts online. Posting her first video on the issue on November 30, Warrens detailed what went down in the aftermath of the incident. The customer, who felt "disgusted" eating at a place where a disabled man "touched" her food, filed a complaint with the health department, hoping to penalize them.
C.C. Warrens' husband runs a pizza joint and is the chef of their restaurant. He suffers from spina bifida and relies on a wheelchair for daily mobility. A customer who had recently walked into their restaurant was "disgusted" by the fact that a disabled man was preparing the food, and immediately threw a tantrum over it. Reporting the restaurant to the health department, she also kept asking if her food was "touched" by the chef, fearing she might "get infected." The chef's wife quickly decided to respond to the baseless allegations, and her reply has since received massive applause online. Warrens shared that their restaurant has always received excellent ratings from the health department and questioned the customer's prejudice.
She added, "Honey, spina bifida is not contagious. You're perfectly safe. You're not going to contract it through food. But she said she was grossed out, couldn't finish her meal, and was going to report us to the health department, which she then proceeded to do." Emphasizing the prevalence of prejudice against the disabled community, Warrens called out the hurtful insults her husband had received throughout his life simply because he was in a wheelchair. "I just hope that people learn to be aware of it, learn to recognize it, and be the person who stands up and says, 'Hey, don't say that. Don't talk to people like that. Don't treat people like that.' Just take a stand, because it is happening and it is wrong."
In a follow-up video, Warrens shared that officials from the Health Department paid a visit following the complaint. However, they did not find anything wrong or "unhygienic" about the chef's cooking. Warrens said, "The official who paid a visit has seen my husband handle things in the kitchen well before. However, she needed to document it. As expected, everything was perfectly fine on the health department front." Warrens also revealed that after her video went viral, many online users asked her to share details of the customer, but she refused. "We do have her photo from the security cameras, but we're not going to share it." She went on to explain why, and it is a profound lesson in maintaining one's true character in the face of upheaval. "When the internet targets someone, it has a profound impact on their life. If my husband and I are going to have a profound impact on someone's life, we want it to be because we're building them up, not because we're tearing them down."
Warrens shared that her intention behind making the video was to spread awareness about prejudice against the disabled community and that she would continue to do so. A 2024 survey published in Behavioural Science, Social Inclusion and Equality found that among 2,000 adults, higher levels of ableism were directed toward people with mental health conditions, intellectual disabilities, and autism than toward those with physical or sensory disabilities. The study also revealed gender bias, with physically disabled women judged more harshly than men in similar situations. By displaying her prejudice against the disabled chef, the woman ultimately outed herself as an ableist person.
Soon after the video went viral, many users reacted to it. @marthaartyomenkohurley wrote, "I am so sorry. That is never ok. Are you able to not serve that person again there?" @vb.reiki commented, "People need to be reminded that many years ago, we had a U.S. President who used leg braces and then a wheelchair during his presidency." @jostaylorhorror wrote, "When I hear things like this, it makes me want to go to the business more. And as someone who loves pizza, I hope you two stay in business for a long time!"
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