Orcas Island Family: Applebee's Served Alcohol To Teen Daughter

An Orcas Island family is upset after an Applebee's restaurant in Burlington apparently didn't take them seriously enough when the couple's young daughter was allegedly mistakenly served alcohol, KIRO 7 Consumer Investigators have learned.

It’s happened at least twice in just the past few weeks: children as young as toddlers mistakenly given alcoholic beverages at two national eateries.

But only KIRO 7 has learned that at least one of those chains was apparently warned about liquor being served to children by an Orcas Island family, months ago.

Below: Apology Letter From Applebee's, Report From Doctor

The local incident allegedly happened last fall at the Applebee's in Burlington. The family claimed then-13-year-old Alenna Garcia had ordered an Oreo Cookie Shake for dessert. They said she was instead served a Mudslide, an adult beverage with Kahlua.

Alenna told KIRO 7 she drank the shake and even shared some of it with her then-4-year old brother.

"I started feeling dizzy a little bit, but mostly just shaky," Alenna said. "The only thing that was really going through my mind was, 'What’s going to happen? Am I going to go to the hospital?'"

Alenna felt sick to her stomach and was worried, but otherwise she was physically fine. Her parents, however, were disturbed. They said they immediately asked to speak with the restaurant's manager, who offered to comp the family's meal.

Alvin Garcia said the manager "then basically just asked us to leave quietly without interrupting anyone else’s meal or whatever. I just kind of felt like we were pushed out of the restaurant. 'Sorry about what happened, it was a mistake, please leave quietly (the manager told us)'."

Two days later, Alenna's mother said she called the restaurant again to ask what Applebee's was doing to make sure the incident didn't happen to anyone else's child.

"I said, 'Something needs to be done,'" Mary Garcia said.

She said that after again speaking with the Burlington restaurant's manager, someone from the company's corporate office called her.

"He sat on the phone with me; assured me things would change," she said.

Days later, a letter of apology dated November 17, 2010, and $150 worth of Applebee's gift certificates arrived at the family's Orcas Island home.

On Monday, Applebee's issued a statement saying that despite the letter the family received, the family's claims are not substantiated.

The Garcias told KIRO 7 they thought the issue was over after they received the letter and that Applebee's was making good on its promise. But then news broke of a 15-month old boy being served apple juice with tequila at a Michigan Applebee's earlier this month.

That was why the Garcias agreed to tell their story.

"Again, the corporate office assured me that this was going to be done; that there was not going to be any more mix-ups," Mary Garcia said.

Applebee's said that it is making changes because of the Michigan incident, which will be in place this week. The changes will include an emphasis that non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages will be stored in separate and identified containers, Applebee's said.

"We are changing the way we serve apple juice to our young guests," according to the statement from Applebee's. "We will switch to pouring apple juice only from single-serve containers served at the table. We have already started communicating this new policy within our system and it will be in-place this week. We will retrain all servers on our beverage pouring policy, emphasizing that non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages must be stored in completely separate and identified containers. This retraining will begin immediately."

Related:

4-year-old served alcohol at Chicago restaurant

Olive Garden chief apologizes to mom of toddler served sangria

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