A Madison Heights man ended up in urgent care after he nearly swallowed a mouthful of minestrone soup that contained the claws of a severed rat’s foot at an Olive Garden restaurant in Warren, according to a recently filed lawsuit — a claim the Italian-style casual dining chain denies.
Thomas Howie was having dinner with two of his friends at his favorite restaurant on March 11 and said he didn’t notice the fur-covered foot on his spoon until he felt something sharp cut the inside of his mouth.
After spitting out the soup onto a napkin, he saw what appeared to be a rat’s foot, complete with claws, and immediately vomited.
“It was so gross and disgusting I couldn’t control myself,” Howie said in a statement Monday. “My stomach just heaved; I threw up right in the restaurant. I was mortified.”
When Howie and his friends informed Olive Garden management of the vermin’s foot, he said they didn’t seem to take it seriously. One employee allegedly even joked, “That’s funny, we don’t put meat in minestrone,” according to the lawsuit filed in Macomb County Circuit Court on Friday.
Howie called Warren police, and they arrived shortly after. When he showed the officers the severed foot in his napkin, he said, “even the cops were gagging.” A police report indicated that the object resembled a rat’s foot “that appeared to be chewed.”
Since he cut his cheek, Howie received a tetanus shot and was prescribed a series of antibiotics. The physician who treated him said the object was a rat’s leg.
According to the lawsuit, Howie has had trouble sleeping, experienced nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. He has struggled with eating and has become increasingly depressed.
The experience was so traumatic that he still finds it difficult to eat meat and “has become paranoid about food served by others.”
He also had a stroke and needs ongoing medical attention.
Howie’s attorney, Daniel Gwinn, said Olive Garden downplayed the incident and brushed aside his client’s concerns.
“We tried to work this out and avoid litigation, but Olive Garden refuses to acknowledge the serious nature of the incident, the threat food contamination poses to public health, and the ongoing harm Mr. Howie is experiencing,” Gwinn said. “Just the thought of being served vermin like this is revolting.”
Metro Times reached out to Olive Garden for comment. “We have no reason to believe there is any validity to this claim,” an Olive Garden spokesperson said.
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