By Samuel Castor
Chuck-A-Rama issued a public apology Thursday, April 29, to a couple with whom the store manager had a beef after they had eaten more than a normal share of meat at the restaurant chain''s Taylorsville location.
Isabelle Leota, 29, and her husband Sui Amaama, 26, said the restaurant manager refused to serve them any more roast beef after Amaama returned for his thirteenth slice.
The couple argued that the restaurant had no right to limit their portions because they had paid for the buffet that they understood to be all-you-can-eat. The couple took their beef with the chain to the media, which made headlines eventually even reaching Australian news.
'I feel badly for these poor people,' said Mike Johanson, chain president of Chuck-A-Rama. 'I think they didn''t realize what this would turn into when they reported this to the media.'
In a press release issued after the public apology, representatives of the restaurant explained that the couple was not asked to leave the restaurant for eating to much beef. Rather, the couple was told by the store manager, who was serving the beef, that 12 slices was beyond a customer''s limit.
'It takes from eight to ten hours a day for the beef to be prepared,' said David Allred, the press representative for Chuck-A-Rama. Allred explained that the manager generally assumes an 'average or normal serving' to be one to two slices per customer.
Chuck-A-Rama claimed after Leota and Amaama finished their meal, they returned to the cash register to demand a refund. After a five to ten minute discussion, Amaama was still not satisfied.
When the store manager told them they had received their fair amount for the $8.99 dinner, Amaana refused to leave. The manager then called the sheriff''s office.
The deputy arrived ten minutes later, listened to the problem, and sided with the restaurant. The family was then escorted from the area.
Overeating problems at Chuck-A-Rama rarely happen, Allred said. The last serving size lawsuit occurred in 1970.
Chuck-A-Rama management now hopes to 'educate customers on the difference between a buffet and an all-you-can-eat,' Allred said.
Chief executive Duane Moss told the Associated Press the company''s new policy to deal with similar problems in the future.
'We are in the process of defining a system by which we can communicate this difference to our customers so our buffet-style dining is better understood,' Moss said.
Although no corrective action was taken against the manager, Allred said one of Chuck-A-Rama''s new issues is how they might 'beef up the training of their managers to deal with situations just like this.'