Texas Roadhouse is addressing online assertions that employees are tampering with Black diners’ food, calling the allegations a hoax and saying it is hiring a third-party firm to investigate them.
In a now-deleted social media post, allegedly shared in a Facebook group called "White and proud," a user named Nancy Smith said they worked at an unidentified Texas Roadhouse location and was in a pact with other White servers at the restaurant.
While it's unclear whether the page that posted the message is a real or a parody account, the user said in the post that some servers at both Texas Roadhouse and Logan’s Roadhouse planned to lick their fingers and touch food before serving it to Black diners.
The user also purported in the post that this has
been going on for a while, or at least since the April 2025 killing of 17-year-old White teenager Austin Metcalf. Karmelo Anthony, a Black teenager, was charged with murder and sentenced to 35 years in prison for the fatal stabbing in a case that drew national attention.
Once social media users discovered the Facebook group and the post, some diners vowed not to return to the Louisville, Kentucky-based restaurant chain.
"To mess with someone's food is the highest level of disrespect," a TikTok user said while discussing the allegations in a video.
While another user said: "As a black woman who loves Texas Roadhouse, I will NEVER eat here again bc I cannot be sure that my food is being handled safely."
'We believe this is 100% a hoax'
Texas Roadhouse said in two TikTok posts Aug. 23 that the allegations were unfounded. The company also vowed to launch an investigation.
"(We) remain committed to treating every guest with respect, dignity, and the legendary service they deserve," the company wrote on TikTok.
Travis Doster, chief communications officer of Texas Roadhouse, told USA TODAY on Aug. 25 that there is "zero evidence" these assertions are true and that the Facebook user who made the viral post likely doesn’t exist.
"We believe this is 100% a hoax," he said. "We don’t know why somebody would do this or if it’s to drive down stock prices, but there is zero evidence."
The company also said in a statement that it has hired "a third-party firm to find more information about the source and motives around these unfounded allegations."
USA TODAY contacted Logan’s and its parent company SSCP Management on Aug. 25 for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
'This did not happen in any of our restaurants'
Doster said on Aug. 25 that some social media users have since retracted their statements about Texas Roadhouse workers being racist. He again stressed that there is no proof anyone tampered with Black customers’ food.
"There’s no video of any of our servers," he said. "There’s no video of anybody saying they have evidence. It’s very frustrating because it’s not true."
He also suggested the culprit behind the post could be bots, or automated programs that make posts mimicking human engagement online.
"There is zero credible evidence this is true,” he said. “This did not happen in any of our restaurants."
While speaking to USA TODAY on Aug. 25, Doster cautioned online users to be cautious of what they read and believe.
"Do research," he said.
Contributing: N'dea Yancey-Bragg & Amanda Lee Myers, USA TODAY/ Afton Pratt, Knoxville News Sentinel
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY’s trending team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas Roadhouse says racism, food-tampering allegations are '100% a hoax'
