Restaurant Controversies That Shook Us To The Core

One of the biggest restaurant-related tragedies of the '90s centered around the fast food chain Jack in the Box. 

The investigation started after the Washington Department of Health started seeing an influx of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in Seattle children. The scope of the investigation widened quickly as the team realized the sickness was being caused by E. coli from Jack in the Box burgers. 

Eventually, 73 different Jack in the Box locations were connected to the outbreak, stretching across four states. In total, 700 people became ill from the improperly cooked meat, with 171 being hospitalized and four ultimately dying. 

In 2016, Minnesota had a local chain of restaurants called El Parian. But they fell into major disrepute after an investigation was opened into its founder, Aldo Escoto. Escoto, it seems, followed a character arc eerily similar to Gustavo Fring, the proprietor (and secret drug kingpin) of the fictional Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant in Breaking Bad. 

Escoto, along with two accomplices, was charged with transporting and distributing methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana. With additional charges of money laundering and unlawfully employing undocumented immigrants, the men faced 46 counts in total.

Allegedly, Escoto used his restaurants as a front for drug trafficking for six years. According to the indictment, 

Escoto used the restaurants to conceal his drug proceeds and hide his drug trafficking activities by creating the appearance that he was a legitimate business owner and to promote and further drug distribution by serving as locations for the storage and distribution of illegal drugs and drug proceeds, as well as meeting sites to further controlled substance distribution operations.

The most recent update on this case notes that Escoto was still being sought by the police. As of this writing, his whereabouts are unknown.

Remember a few years ago when it seemed like Chipotle was in the news every other month? Well, that year was likely 2015, when the burrito-focused restaurant chain had five major outbreaks linked to them in five months.

July: five people got sick from E. coli in Seattle.

August: 234 people fell ill from norovirus in Simi Valley, CA. 

September: 64 people were infected with salmonella across America. 

October: 52 people fell sick from E. coli nationally.

December: 136 people caught norovirus in Boston. 

After these outbreaks, Chipotle's stock shot down, the CEO was forced out, and the restaurant chain had to pay $25 million in federal fines. 

If you're making a trip to Ikea, there's a good chance you're going to be there for a few hours. And if you get hungry in that time period, you can head over to the restaurant conveniently located right in the store. 

Known for traditional Swedish food like meatballs and dill-spiced salmon, the restaurant itself will draw some customers to Ikea for a sit-down meal. 

This then made it all the worse when the restaurant's signature dish, Swedish meatballs, was found to have traces of horse meat in 2013. The batch of contaminated frozen meatballs, sent to Ikea stores throughout Europe, were all recalled. 

The Heart Attack Grill really leans into its name. Their waitresses are dressed like nurses, customers don hospital gowns before eating, and anyone who weighs over 350 pounds eats free (after they prove their weight by getting on a scale). 

The very premise of the restaurant, with 8,000 calorie burgers, draws ire from health-minded folks, as does a tagline from a video on their website: “Fighting Anorexia Since 2005.”

However, arguably the most questionable trait of the restaurant is the fact that it markets the fact that heart attacks have happened in connection to its food. In 2013, a regular customer died from a heart attack after eating at the restaurant. This was after two people had heart attacks (but survived) after eating at the restaurant the year before. 

However, ten years later, the restaurant's marketing has changed very little. In fact, founder Jon Basso continues to warn (or challenge) customers, “Don’t come to my restaurant, it’s bad for you and will kill you.”

Many of us remember Papa John from the pizza chain's commercials in the 2000s and 2010s. This was no actor but the restaurant's founder, John Schnatter. Once at the height of popularity, Schnatter's downfall was fairly swift.

Schnatter started presenting erratic behavior back in 2012, when he said their pizza prices would increase if Obamacare wasn't repealed. 

Then in 2015, Schnatter paid $12 million to disgruntled delivery drivers who said they weren't getting reimbursed for mileage.  

However, the final straw came in 2018, when Schnatter said in a meeting with a marketing firm:

Colonel Sanders called Blacks [n-words].

Schnatter later claimed he was coerced into making the statement, but his track record already spoke against him. Soon after he was forced out of the company.