Las Vegas, NV (Downtown Summerlin)

Since 2020, my husband and I have enjoyed the food at True Food Kitchen (TFK) in Summerlin, NV having patronized the restaurant well over two dozen times. On March 15, 2022, we experienced a disturbing racist incident. My husband went to the TFK pick-up counter to get our dinner and was informed by TFK staff that it was not ready. After waiting for approximately 15-20 minutes, a waitress approached my husband to ask him what was ordered. My husband provided a screenshot of our DoorDash (DD) receipt. Upon checking with the kitchen, the waitress advised him that she did not see the order, but she would check with her manager. The TFK manager emerged and abruptly informed my husband “no such order exists". She rudely and dismissively stated (twice), “the food will be prepared only after you pay for it.” My husband contacted me on my mobile as he continued to insist to the TFK manager that the order had been properly placed and was already paid for. Upon hearing this contentious exchange and the manager’s abrasive comments, I jumped from our parked car with engine still running and sprinted to my husband’s side at the restaurant’s pick-up counter. I vehemently reiterated that the order had been properly placed and paid for. At this point, the waitress more closely reviews our DD screenshots and recognizes that our order has been sitting at the pick-up counter from the time my husband first arrived some 30 minutes earlier! TFK staff subsequently became annoyed that we would not accept food that had been sitting on the counter for over 30 minutes. We insisted that a fresh order be prepared. The waitress took the order that had been sitting on the counter and returned within 5 minutes supposedly with a fresh order. The TFK manager was offensive, disrespectful, and incompetent. She never offered the restaurant's apology for her insulting and escalatory intervention, inept operation or TFK’s flagrant mistake. We believe this was a blatantly racist encounter in which the TFK manager presumptively concluded that a black man must have been lying about having placed and paid for a DD order. “No such order exists." Oh really? Did the TFK manager even bother to consult the restaurant's digital interface with DD? “The food will be prepared only after you pay for it.” Oh really? Surely the TFK manager knows that ALL DD orders are paid for in advance of pick-up which is why customers are provided with a digital receipt. Why was the TFK manager so unable to extend the same common professional courtesy and respect to a black customer as that expected to be shown to any valued customer? Did she seriously believe that my husband fabricated screenshots of our DD receipt in attempt to get over with a turkey burger and quinoa bowl? We believe this incident illuminates the urgent need for corporate attention to critical employee training on racial discrimination, diversity, and customer care in addition to addressing apparent flaws in the restaurant’s pick-up service. Organizational culture and accountability start at the top. TFK's response speaks volumes. The appearance of apparent indifference and/or lack of timely and priority attention to a customer report of racial discrimination further reflects poorly on the TFK establishment. Sadly, the impact of this toxic racist experience has left a very bad taste for both me and my husband. Frankly, it eradicates well over two years of loyal patronage. We are reasonable people, and we understand mistakes happen. This incident NEVER should have happened. One of our heretofore favorite local restaurants will no longer receive our business and we cannot recommend TFK. We’ll take our business to restaurants that treat customers of color in the same way they respect all valued customers.