Two women say their friend’s birthday celebration at Ye’s Apothecary in New York City was ruined after the restaurant failed to disclose allergens in the dessert. The pair warns others with allergies to avoid the restaurant after their friends suffered from a severe allergic reaction.
In a video with over 1.4 million views, TikToker Mic (@marriedtoafrog) says two of their friends “legitimately almost died” after eating tang yuan, a dessert.
“We told [the staff] when we went to the restaurant that they have severe peanut allergies,” she says. “They assured us that none of the food we ordered had those allergens.”
She says that they ordered tang yuan for dessert, and the waitress never mentioned that there were nuts in the dish.
“Shortly after eating it, our friends, one of them had a severe allergic reaction immediately after. The other one had to literally go out and buy Benadryl,” she continues.
How did Ye’s Apothecary handle the allergic reactions?
One woman says that the waitress was unhelpful when they asked her to confirm whether the dessert contained peanuts, and pushed for her to pay the bill.
“After our friends came back and had their medication, they were still obviously feeling a lot of the effects from having nuts,” she says. “The waitress just kept telling us, ‘No, there’s no way that there’s nuts.'”
After asking to speak with the manager, she says that the manager didn’t come to speak to the table. She had to approach the manager herself.
“We really had to argue like, ‘No, can you go back and ask the chef what is in this?'” she recounts.
The manager eventually agrees to speak with the chef and comes back 20 minutes later. She says the manager confirms that the chef decided to switch the recipe to include nuts, but didn’t inform any of the staff members.
He offers the table 15% off of the bill to try to make up for the allergic reactions.
“At this point, that didn’t even cover the tip,” the other woman says. Eventually, the manager agrees to comp the entire bill.
“We’re not trying to get allergic reaction to comp the bill. We’d rather pay a $1000 bill than have our friend suffer and almost die because of an allergic reaction,” she says. “Don’t go to this restaurant if you have allergies.”
The caption reads, “They caused two of my friends to have a severe allergic reaction and refused to be accountable for it. Seriously, we just want to warn others who may have severe allergies!! Luckily, both our friends carry their EpiPens and are recovering.”
How did viewers react to the TikTok?
In the comments, viewers say the way Ye’s Apothecary handled the guests’ allergies was unacceptable.
“You should never pay the bill when gross negligence happens. You informed the waitress & she, the chef & restaurant should take that extremely seriously,” one writes.
“Them trying to rush you out and continue to argue about the dessert containing nuts is crazy, the most likely knew they messed up and wanted you out tbh,” another says.
“It’s literally such a ticking time bomb like SO many ppl have peanut allergies. they need to get their act together,” a third notes.
In an Instagram post addressing the incident, Ye’s Apothecary says they “severely reprimanded” the staff involved and “re-coached” workers on allergy protocols. The restaurant also claims that their staff received “death threats” and were “physically assaulted” after the TikTok went viral.
“We deeply care about the safety of our guests and our team in equal measure. We remain committed to learning from this, correcting our mistakes, and doing better for both our guests and our staff,” the statement reads.
@marriedtoafrog DO NOT GO TO YE’S APOTHECARY IN NYC!!! they caused two of my friends to have a severe allergic reaction and refused to be accountable for it. seriously we just want to warn others who may have severe allergies!! luckily both our friends carry their epipens and are recovering :) #nyc #allergies #restaurant #fyp ♬ original sound – mic
The Mary Sue reached out to Ye’s Apothecary via email and to Mic via TikTok direct message.
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