ANTIOCH, Calif., June 15, 2007

2-Year-Old Served Margarita In Sippy Cup

Toddler Sick After Restaurant Mistakes Mixed Drink For Apple Juice

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(AP)  Kim Mayorga was confused when her 2-year-old started making funny faces and pushing away the apple juice he had ordered at Applebee's. The explanation came when she opened the lid of the sippy cup and was hit by the smell of tequila and Triple Sec.

The restaurant staff accidentally gave Julian Mayorga a margarita Monday. He grew drowsy and started vomiting a few hours later and was rushed to the hospital.

"I wasn't going to make a big deal about it," the mother told the Contra Costa Times on Thursday, "but then he got sick."

The apple juice and margarita mix were stored in identical plastic bottles, and the manager mistakenly grabbed the margarita container to pour the boy's drink, said Randy Tei, vice president for Apple Bay East Inc., which owns the franchise restaurant and nine other Applebee's in the San Francisco Bay area.

The Mayorgas will be reimbursed for their medical bills, and Tei said the franchise group's restaurants will no longer serve apple juice and margaritas in similar containers.

"We absolutely believe it was an honest mistake," Tei said.

The serving appeared to have been accidental, Antioch police Lt. Pat Welch said. Mayorga said her son is now doing fine.

She said the company has been very apologetic and offered free meals, but she added, "If they think I'm going back there, they're ridiculous."

© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Add a Comment See all 18 Comments
by randalds June 15, 2007 6:24 PM PDT
You mean you're not supposed to drink booze out a sippy cup? What will I use after the first 10 drinks or so when I'm smashed? A sippy cup is the only way to get the next dozen plus down without spilling them and wasting all of that perfectly good booze.
Reply to this comment
by mainemade June 15, 2007 6:30 PM PDT
The "manager" made this "mistake"! Where I come from that's grounds for termination. Ever heard of sharpie? They mark just about everything, I know they work on plastic.....
Reply to this comment
by xzavierbrown June 15, 2007 6:42 PM PDT
I can hear the Nifong's and the Cochran's buzzing thier wings around this onw..ready to suck the blood out of this one..

but accident or not, its wrong but $20 million dollar wrong..NO
Reply to this comment
by ecuadoriana June 15, 2007 6:56 PM PDT
Well, their first mistake was going to Applebees.

They should have stayed home, saved their money & cooked a healthy homemade meal where they'd have a stronger control over what was going into their food & drink.

The money they'd save could go towards the kid's future college fund, where he will surely be partying it up anyway!
Reply to this comment
by ecuadoriana June 15, 2007 7:00 PM PDT
It just occured to me- Isn't the liquor licensing board getting involved with this for Applebees serving a minor?
Reply to this comment
by bykergal June 15, 2007 7:05 PM PDT
It was a freaking ACCIDENT! Why would the licensing board get involved?

Who said anything about 20 million?

And I Applebee's does have fresh and healthy food - UNLIKE McDonalds!
Reply to this comment
by kansas1946 June 15, 2007 8:54 PM PDT
This reminds me of an incident that happended when my youngest daughter was about two. We were at a cook out and a lot of people were drinking beer out of cans. My daughter kept pestering everone for a beer, so someone got an empty can and filled it with water out of the hose and she was happy. Unfortunately, somewhere she switched cans with someone. I really don't know how much beer she got before we noticed, but no harm seemed to be done. She just slept for a couple of hours. I hope this incident doesn't get blown out of proportion. Accidents happen, and I am sure there was no harm done. Be a good story to tell his own kids.
Reply to this comment
by shanev137 June 15, 2007 9:03 PM PDT
I am -really- surprised there wasn't a cop waiting in the parking lot ready to give that kid a ticket for SWI....Strolling While Intoxicated.
Reply to this comment
by tc6501 June 15, 2007 10:12 PM PDT
That child could have died, that was pure negligence and the parents should sue the restaurant
Reply to this comment
by karen091866 June 15, 2007 10:26 PM PDT
This doesn't make sense--

The tequila should've been stored behind the bar, with the other liquors.

It just seems 'logical' that the only component of the margarita that may have been in the fridge would've been just the MIXER part--because it doesn't come already mixed together--they mix the drinks behind their bar.

Reply to this comment
by hmmagain June 15, 2007 10:27 PM PDT
' ... i was at a restaurant with my parents, and there was an intermittent but steady stream of kids coming out of the bar area ... my mom asked why ... i told her that bars are foremost for war heros, and kids die tens of thousands per day by hunger alone, and then there's wars on profanity and nudity and ignorance and laziness, and epic quests for olympic wheelchairs ... boot camp and war are nothing, surving beyond age five is relatively impossible ... '
Reply to this comment
by cdfoxtrot June 15, 2007 11:03 PM PDT
The kid was taken to the hospital and it's okay now. When the kid's grown up, it'll have a great story to tell at cocktail parties. No one died. No biggie. People make mistakes.
Reply to this comment
by pimpin111 June 16, 2007 3:27 AM PDT
Quote: That child could have died, that was pure negligence and the parents should sue the restaurant


IT WAS MIX. This is why America is becomming the dumbest country in the world is because idiots don't even read the whole story. IT WAS MARGARITA MIX. Anyone who's ever had a margarita knows that the mix is non-alcoholic and you can buy it at your local grocery store without an ID.

GOD SAVE AMERICA
Reply to this comment
by shammy0202 June 16, 2007 8:27 AM PDT
Well it may certainly have been mix BUT why does it state this in the article.....

The restaurant staff accidentally gave Julian Mayorga a margarita Monday. He grew drowsy and started vomiting a few hours later and was rushed to the hospital.

Did they add booze to it to make it an alcohol margarita instead of an NA margarita????

DO YOU READ????????
Reply to this comment
by shammy0202 June 16, 2007 8:33 AM PDT
pimpin111

In other words where does it state that it was a NA margarita? IT STATES THEY GAVE HIM A MARGARITA!
Reply to this comment
by whytgrlzrule June 16, 2007 5:24 PM PDT
Negligence, pure and simple. Doesn't matter if it was an "accident" of course it was, but it was a NEGLIGENT accident and could have killed that kid. SUE THE $H1T out of Applebees
Reply to this comment
by justfacts2 June 17, 2007 12:48 PM PDT
I don't think the parents should sue. However, I do believe the manager needs to lose his job and the Applebees restaurant in question should lose their liquor license for a year. Maybe that should help make them more careful the next time. What good is it going to do to sue them? Some of you people on here are too sue happy. Money doesn't solve anything except to jack up prices in restaurants while the people who win exorbitant, frivolous settlements go through it like a dose of salts and do not use the money for what it was intended.
Reply to this comment
by justfacts2 June 17, 2007 12:51 PM PDT
Oh pimpin11, there WAS tequila and triple sec in the mix. In the article, the mother took the lid off of the sippy cup and was blown over by the smell of the alcohol. Maybe you should have read the article more closely?
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