Downtown Evanston restaurant Table to Stix Ramen is facing backlash after a video of a dispute between the owner and a patron on April 19 went viral on social media.
Since then, some community members have criticized how the situation was handled, alleging the incident was racially motivated.
The video, which has garnered over 1.2 million views on X, shows Table to Stix owner Kenny Chou following a patron after his meal. The patron, according to both the video and Chou, paid with a $20 bill for a meal that cost just under that amount without providing an additional tip. An argument ensued, escalating outside the restaurant.
The patron, who filmed the video, said, “What do you want? I paid for my food.” The owner responded with expletives and threatening language.
Another man who dined with the patron is also in the video, and an unrelated third person appeared in the middle of the dispute in the street, Chou said.
The patron declined to comment on the incident.
On Monday, the restaurant posted a since-deleted statement on Facebook addressing the incident, stating that the online discourse does not “consider the full context” of the interaction. The restaurant’s social media pages have since been removed.
Yelp has also disabled users’ ability to leave a review for the restaurant due to “increased public attention.”
Chou said his emotions got the best of him and that he apologizes to the patron, the patron’s family and the Evanston Black community. He added he wants to make amends with the affected patron and hopes that people can “forgive him” for what he did.
After seeing the video, fifth-year human development and social policy Ph.D. candidate Karla Thomas chalked messages outside the restaurant’s storefront Monday and Tuesday to let the community know about the incident.
As a mother of two Black children, Thomas said she views this incident as unacceptable and wants to see the restaurant “gone.”
“I just wanted to make sure that day that anybody who walked anywhere in the area could be informed that this was not a safe space for Black people,” Thomas said.
Lifelong resident and community organizer Darlene Cannon said she first heard about the incident Monday morning on WhereThePeopleMeetTV and in a Facebook group.
Cannon said she felt “unsafe” watching the video, especially as the mother of a Black child.
Cannon, along with a few others, organized a protest that will take place in front of Table to Stix on Saturday afternoon, opposing the city’s initial “silence” amid the uproar, which she called a “travesty.”
Meleika Gardner, a community activist and founder of WhereThePeopleMeet TV, said the protest outside the ramen restaurant is being held in response to the “disturbing and racially charged incident” in a news release Friday.
“At this point, even though (Table to Stix) apologized, it’s a little too late because the harm was done,” Cannon said. “The harm was done when that manager, owner, whoever it was, walked out of that store and chased the man down the street.”
4 Suns Fresh Juice owner and resident Gabi Walker-Aguilar was also vocal about the incident on Facebook.
As a former waitress, Walker-Aguilar said she is familiar with tipping culture but acknowledged that not everyone can afford to tip.
A now-deleted response to a Google review from the official Table to Stix account said that although tipping is not mandatory, workers may rely on tips to supplement their income, a sentiment Chou also expressed to The Daily.
“The worst part about it is that owner thought he was speaking on behalf of his employees and their right to receive a tip, where now he is the reason they may lose any income because now business is going to come to a screeching halt,” Walker-Aguilarshe said.
Table to Stix has since stopped accepting orders by phone because of the amount of “harassment” and fake orders they have received, according to Chou. Ald. Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th) has been in contact with Chou and offered his assistance, Nieuwsma told The Daily.
“I’m proud that Evanston is coming together to say, ‘No, not here, not acceptable,’” Walker-Aguilar said. “We will not spend our dollars on you if you think you have the right to treat people that way.”
Email: [email protected]
X: @shreyasrin
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