A Chili’s Grill & Bar in North Carolina is back in business after three customers and two workers suffered chemical burns on their mouths from sipping margaritas mistakenly made with a cleaning chemical last week.
The eatery in Forest City was shut down on Thursday after the customers, who had ordered the drinks shortly after the restaurant opened for lunch, “immediately experienced discomfort and chemical burns in and around their mouths,” the Foothills Health District said in a statement.
“Two restaurant employees subsequently tasted the substance and reported similar symptoms,” the FHD statement.
It was reopened the next day after local health inspectors discovered that a worker “preparing the bar for lunch service discovered the unlabeled container and, believing its contents to be sugar, used the chemical to prepare the margarita station.”
Chili’s, according to its menu, offers several margaritas that are make with a “citrus-sugar rimmer” in addition to the traditional salt.
FHD spokesperson Megan Rollins said in an email the investigation was closed and no fines were issued. She said the injured parties received medical treatment, but had no information about their conditions.
A Chili’s spokesperson said in an email that this was an “incident isolated to a single restaurant in Forest City, North Carolina, that resulted in injuries to two of our guests and Team Members.”
“Our team took immediate action to support those affected and avoid further injuries,” the spokesperson said. “We have thoroughly investigated the circumstances and addressed the issues specific to this location.”
The spokesperson did not respond to a follow-up question from NBC News seeking an explanation for why their tally of injured customers was different from the one provided earlier by the FHD.
This Chili’s is located about 60 miles west of Charlotte, North Carolina.
On the morning of Oct. 26, according to the FHD statement, “a restaurant employee received a granulated degreasing chemical from a contracted worker who was power washing the exterior, and placed it into an unlabeled container.”
For reasons unclear, “the container was brought inside the restaurant and left in the bar area.”
Two days later, those chemicals were inadvertently added to margaritas.
