Time out at Applebee's after accidental kiddie cocktail

By Reuters Staff

2 Min Read

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The company that owns the Applebee’s restaurant chain said on Monday it was immediately retraining its workers nationwide after a server at a suburban Detroit location accidentally served alcohol to a toddler.

The company, California-based DineEquity Inc, said it would also change the way it serves juice to youngsters to eliminate the chance of any mixups that could result in any more tipsy toddlers.

On Friday, Taylor Dill-Reese went to an Applebee’s in Madison Heights, Michigan, where -- among other things -- she ordered her 15-month-old son Dominick an apple juice.

What the little boy apparently got instead was a margarita. His mom told WDIV-TV that she only realized something was wrong when Dominick “kind of laid his head on the table and dozed off a little bit and woke up and got real happy.”

The little boy reportedly began hailing strangers, too.

Applebee’s released a statement on Monday saying it was relieved that Dominick was “not seriously injured as a result of accidentally receiving the wrong beverage” and apologizing to his family “for the stress and worry this caused them.”

It said it would begin to serve apple juice to children only from single-serve containers at the table and would “retrain all severs on our beverage pouring policy, emphasizing that non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages must be stored in completely separate and identified containers.”

Reporting by James B. Kelleher

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