A dispute at a barbecue restaurant caused a beef that resulted in a customer calling 911 over "pink meat."
The restaurant owner responded by telling her that the meat turns pink when it's smoked, so that's exactly what it should look like.
The barbecue brouhaha occurred at Clyde Cooper's Barbeque in Raleigh, North Carolina, last week, when a customer named Annie Cooke became upset that the meat in her barbecue order was pink.
Clyde Cooper's owner Debbie Holt told TODAY Food that Cooke returned about 10 minutes after picking up her order and said it wasn't done.
"I said, 'Oh honey, that is the pink from the smoke," Holt explained. "I said, 'Honey, it is done,' and she couldn't comprehend it."
Holt said even other nearby customers tried to explain to Cooke that it's supposed to look pink, and even if it were cooked more, it would still be pink.
"It's ridiculous, especially because we're an old, established institution in Raleigh, so you know we know what we're doing, and then you're telling me it's not done," said Holt, who has been the owner for about 15 years at a restaurant that was established in 1938. "I haven’t encountered anyone that thick-headed in a long time."
Holt said she then offered Cooke a piece of chicken instead and said Cooke came and got it.
Cooke told local news station WRAL that she was not served anything else or given a refund, which Holt disputed, saying she has Cooke on camera taking the chicken.
Following the clash over the pink meat, Cooke then called 911 after leaving the restaurant because she believed Holt was being dismissive of her concerns.
“That’s just the way I felt — that’s the reason I called the cops, because I couldn’t get my money back or I couldn’t get a different plate," Cooke told WRAL.
A transcript of the call was obtained by WRAL.
“I had ordered some food from there and the barbecue is pink,” a woman can be heard telling 911. “I asked for either for them to cook it some more or exchange my order. They are saying that the meat is supposed to be pink. I asked for them to change my order and they said they are not giving me my money back or they are not going to trade out the food.”
The police arrived but soon left without any issues, according to Holt.
"I saw out of the corner of my eye and thought, 'Lord have mercy, is she calling the police on us?'" Holt said. "When the police officer arrived, he kind of had a little smirk and rolled his eyes a little. I said that food is done, and he said, 'I got you,' and turned around and left."
Cooke followed by giving the restaurant a (now-deleted) one-star review on Google, also writing that the cheese in the mac and cheese was not melted. Clyde Cooper's then responded in a Facebook post on Nov. 4 about the incident.
"The Mac and cheese, she also complained about in her review, has a smoked cheddar mixed in that will not melt," the establishment wrote. "It just adds flavor. There are other cheeses in the roux we make for the base of the Mac and cheese that does melt, and then we add in the smoked cheddar.
"We did not offer her another plate because 1) her argument was invalid — the meat was in fact “done,” and 2) she did not mention anything wrong with the sides when we was at the restaurant complaint of 'not done' bbq, so we gave her her original plate back and never touched it... just gave her chicken as well."
Cooke told WRAL she is considering filing a civil lawsuit.
In the days since the dispute went public, Holt said people have been sending her all types of pink items, from baskets to stuffed bears.
"And then I was in the voting line today, and before you knew it, everyone in the area was talking about the pink barbecue," Holt said. "It's been fun."