A barbecue customer called 911 over their slow smoked pork being too pink and the cheese not being melted enough.
Debbie Holt, owner of Clyde Cooper’s Barbecue in North Carolina, was left stunned when a customer complained to her claiming her slow-cooked pork dish was undercooked.
She quickly explained to the diner the pork is meant to be slightly pink and is the sign of a perfect barbecue meal - as other customers tried to reassure her too.
The owner told WRAL : "When she said it to me I said, ‘Excuse me?’ “I kind of snickered a little bit and told her, ‘Honey, that’s when the barbecue is smoked. It turns pink.”
However, the customer was still unhappy: "She was insistent it wasn’t done,” Mrs Holt added.
The customer, according to the owners, was respectful and did not make a huge fuss in the restaurant as she left to go outside to make a phone call.
She dialled 911 from outside the restaurant and cops were asked to the attend the scene.
The owner said: "When the cop came in though, he had a cute little smile on his face and rolled his eyes, and just had his arms folded.
“I don’t even think he said much to me except, ‘I got you.’”
The diner, who is thought to be a 30-year-old from North Carolina, spoke to the News & Observer and claimed she was only reporting bad service.
She said: "Every barbecue I’ve had is all the way done, you don’t see pink at all. I asked if they could cook it some more, that I’m not eating any pink barbecue. They said it’s supposed to be pink, but I’ve never had it that way.”
The woman had asked for another dish or a refund but she claims the owner refused both options.
The customer said: “If you’re telling me you don’t do refunds or exchanges, there’s a problem. It was the issue, the way the situation was handled.
"You have to do either a refund or an exchange. If you’re not going to do either, that’s the issue. That’s the reason I called the cops.”
It was later revealed the customer was offered the chance to change her meal for a fried chicken option - when she went out of the restaurant and as the cops started to arrive.
The 30-year-old said she would have taken the swap and believes the entire episode could have been avoided.
She revealed: “If she had given me a chicken plate I would have gone about my business."
Later that day the unhappy customer allegedly left a one-star Google review alongside a picture of her barbecue meal with her mac and cheese.
The owner said she would be more than happy to educate the customer on southeastern-style barbecue, she confessed: “I’d be happy to.”
