Owner of Blufin sushi restaurant responds to accusations of racial discrimination

It's a story that has attracted quite a bit of attention on social media. The restaurant shut down its Facebook page and the negative comments on Yelp are piling up.

Three African-American women say they were asked by the general manager to move from their table to another table to make room for other customers Saturday night at Blufin Sushi on Mack in Grosse Pointe Farms.

“Were we just targeted? There are other people at the bar. Why did you reach out to us?” asked Adrienne Savage.

“Right. There were other people at the bar, and she only approached our group,” said Tanisha Prater.

“It saddens me to hear any guest has had a bad experience here,” said Joel Radu, Owner of Blufin Sushi.

Joel Radu opened Blufin Sushi seven years ago.

“Is that really what happened here? We really don't know. It’s under investigation," he said. "This was a young woman, was her approach wrong? I don't know all the details, but it is under investigation. We will do everything we can to make sure that this doesn't happen again.”

Things escalated when one of the women took to Facebook Live and the manager called the police.

On the video part of the alleged confrontation can be seen and heard: “You're a racist, you asked us to get out of the bar. You chose the only black people – I’m not going anywhere.”

Radu points out that the menu states the restaurant's policy. Guests can stay an hour and 45 minutes and then have to relinquish their table if other guests are waiting.

He admits he doesn’t know the specifics of what happened on Saturday night.

“I wasn't here that night. Staff is always a challenge to make sure that they say and do the right things. I don’t know how this situation was handled. That’s part of the investigation.”

There are lots of reviews on Yelp since the original story aired Sunday night on Fox 2 News:

“Racist! It's 2017, you should be ashamed of your business practices."

Another one says quote "Shame on you, shame on all of you. I would give a zero star rating is that were possible. Is this 2017 or 1967?”

“I apologize that anyone would have that experience here," Radu said. "And that’s not something I ever want to see happen again.”