“Black folk ain’t stepping foot in Texas Roadhouse again”: Baker Jocelyn Delk Adams slams restaurant amid black customers food spitting controversy

Baker, TV host, food blogger, and author Jocelyn Delk Adams is calling out Texas Roadhouse employees for allegedly discussing spitting in Black customers’ food. Adams, who goes by @grandbabycakes on Threads, wrote five hours ago:

“Black folk ain’t stepping foot in Texas Roadhouse again.”

According to unverified social media rumors, there is an alleged private Facebook group comprising over 400,000 members, where the restaurant employees allegedly discuss mistreating Black customers and spitting in their food. X user @yannaarose_ first made his claim, while naming both Texas Roadhouse and Logan’s Roadhouse.

Jocelyn Delk Adams’ post was a response to this ongoing allegation. In fact, it has sparked widespread outrage with calls for a boycott. However, Texas Roadhouse has released a statement:

“At Texas Roadhouse, we are committed to creating an environment where every guest is treated with respect and unreasonable hospitality. We do not tolerate discrimination, harassment, or mistreatment of any kind, and we expect our Roadies to treat every guest with dignity and care. Our commitment to the communities in which we serve remains unchanged: Provide Legendary Food, Legendary Service to every guest who walks through our doors.”

The establishment also mentioned that the viral claim is “completely unfounded” and that they take every “accusation” against their brand “seriously.” Texas Roadhouse representatives added that they are “investigating this alleged abhorrent behavior.”

Meanwhile, a woman named Nancy Smith also posted on the “White and Proud” Facebook page claiming she is part of the alleged group, where she and her fellow Texas Roadhouse “White” servers and cooks often touched and licked food ordered by Black customers.

“Think they are playing? They aren’t. Believe me, this has been going on since y’all started this nonsense about Karamello the Candy Bar Anthony crap… Enjoy y’all’s food,” Smith wrote.

Texas Roadhouse has previously faced controversy

In 2018, a 30-year-old woman named Sadie Durbin filed a lawsuit after suffering “extreme emotional distress” after an incident at a Texas Roadhouse joint in Louisville, Kentucky.

Durbin claimed she visited the restaurant in November with her husband and two children, where she began breastfeeding her seven-week-old daughter, Isla. However, the manager, David Mitchell, allegedly tried to cover her breasts with a napkin as she continued to feed her newborn. In the legal documents obtained by TODAY, Sadie recalled:

“I was nursing for maybe five minutes when I saw the manager coming around. He was walking towards me fast and shaking his head, and he had a napkin unrolled. He came up pretty close and he said, ‘Ma'am, we've been getting a lot of complaints and we're going to need you to cover up.’ I said I'm well within my rights to feed my baby.”

The mother of two was referring to the Kentucky law passed in 2006 that allows women to breastfeed in public without any interference.

Mitchell reportedly threw the napkin on her table and then “huffed off.” In the lawsuit, Sadie Durbin explained it was hard to cover up while breastfeeding, adding that her baby had undergone two tongue-tie surgeries and often struggled.

“I have to use a nipple shield that makes it so that she can latch on to my nipple. I have to hold the nipple shield, I have to support my breast, and I have to hold her head perfectly in order for her to nurse, so adding a cover to that is impossible. As soon as I cover her, she unlatches,” Sadie explained.

Amid the incident, she wrote a viral Facebook post which earned mixed reviews. Meanwhile, Texas Roadhouse apologized to her via email, which she thought was insufficient, considering the “mental pain and suffering” the incident caused her, pushing her to seek help from a therapist. Sadie Durbin was also seeking compensation to be determined by a jury. Her lawyer, Brenton Stanley, told TODAY back then:

“The reason we filed the lawsuit is because no mother should be made to feel ashamed, humiliated or embarrassed for simply breastfeeding her child. We're hoping that by filing this lawsuit other companies will kind of sit up and take notice and be more proactive in training their employees on a mother's right to breastfeed.”

Stanley continued:

“I think that this never should've happened. The law was enacted in 2006, and it's 2018, and their lack of response to what happened is why ultimately, I filed the lawsuit.”

At the time, the steakhouse chain issued a statement denying the characterization by Durbin. A spokesperson told TODAY:

“Unfortunately, Ms Durbin refused to return our multiple phone calls and e-mails after the event, choosing instead to file a lawsuit rather than work directly with us to address her concerns. This lawsuit only presents Ms Durbin’s version of the facts, and we disagree that this incident happened as she has described either in her lawsuit, Facebook, or in her various media interviews.”

The food joint claimed they welcome and support the “rights of nursing mothers” and looked forward to “presenting the facts of this case” in court.

Texas Roadhouse rep Travis Doster claimed that the manager, David Mitchell, had to be excused from work for three days with pay after he and his family reportedly received threats.

Meanwhile, a group of local mothers associated with La Leche League of Louisville, which advocates for breastfeeding rights, staged a “nurse-in” protest outside the outlet.

“It took 50 nursing moms to show up and demand an apology for them to issue any kind of apology about it,” Durbin claimed.

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She also mentioned receiving both solidarity and “a lot of hate” and “uneducated opinions” from other women for speaking up about her experience.

The joint’s managing partner, Jeff White, issued a personal apology via Facebook to Sadie Durbin and La Leche League of Louisville for educating them on the “struggles” faced by nursing moms and said they would use the incident to further empower their employees on the “rights” of breastfeeding mothers as part of their “commitment to providing a welcoming and family-friendly dining experience for everyone.”

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