12-year-old served alcohol at Outback Steakhouse in Livonia
LIVONIA, Mich. (FOX 2 ) - When a 12-year-old went to Outback Steakhouse with his grandmother, the last thing he expected was to be served an alcoholic beverage.
The family goes to the same Outback Steakhouse in Livonia a couple of times a month. The pre-teen, Mekyle Cureton, said he always gets the virgin strawberry daiquiri, but the one he got this time was definitely not a mocktail.
"It didn't taste like how when I had it the other times," Cureton said. "It didn't taste normal."
The taste that was unfamiliar to the 12-year-old was rum. A few big gulps in, he started to get a funny feeling, he said.
"My head started hurting when I was leaving and my heart started beating as I was drinking it," Cureton added.
His grandma, Yolanda Collins also took a sip to see.
"We don't drink, so we couldn't tell whether there was alcohol in it or not," Collins said. "After that, he started letting us know that his heart was kind of racing."
They flagged down the server, who then relayed their concern to the bartender. The bartender confirmed that they had made a big mistake – they added alcohol to the slushy drink, Collins said.
"It was supposed to be a virgin daiquiri, but it says a daiquiri," she added, with the receipt in hand.
The restaurant did not make the customers pay for the meal and apologized. However, the booze was hitting the sixth grader, so they took him to the hospital right away.
"Diagnosis was accidental exposure to alcohol and accidental ingestion," Collins said. "I didn't want him to have to have an alcoholic experience this way."
There wasn’t much that could be done. Cureton was given tylenol and advised to rest. He experienced first hangover the next day at just 12 years old.
An Outback Steakhouse spokesperson responded to FOX 2 regarding this incident.
"We take this situation very seriously and are thankful that the child involved was not seriously harmed. We have taken the appropriate disciplinary action, and all our bar and staff has been retrained to ensure this does not happen again," according to the restaurant.
"I just hope they don't make the mistake again," Collin said.