Zaxby’s found itself in a little trouble after a customer posted a video of her fried chicken. The pieces looked less like chicken and more like a piece of paper that had somehow been seasoned and tossed into the fryer. Posting the clip on TikTok, the woman said the restaurant had “some explaining to do.”

The video was shared by TikTok aggregator @dudeitwentviral, but further digging revealed it was originally posted by an account under the username @jenaimeints. In the clip, she picks apart what initially looks like chicken skin. But once the camera focuses on it, it does appear to be exactly what she claimed: a piece of paper coated in seasoning and fried.

As you would expect, the comments quickly turned into a debate. Some users said that’s simply the risk you take when eating fast food, while others turned the incident into comedy. One user joked, “first the chicken is paper, the next day you wake up to find your phone is paper. has it always been paper. you look around to see everything is paper.”

People wanted answers

Another user wrote, “do yall not ever just think ‘Man, these are tired teens working to make minimum wage. They made a mistake.’ instead of ‘THEY ARE NOT GONNA LIKE ME!'” Meanwhile, someone claiming to work at Zaxby’s offered a possible explanation, writing, “I work at Zaxbys. Those are the bags that someone dropped in the fryer that hold the pickles and cheese bites.”

Since being posted, the video has amassed 3.8 million views, so plenty of people wanted to know what actually happened.

Fortunately, the customer eventually posted a follow-up. She said the restaurant contacted her, explaining that the viral video was hurting business. To make things right, they offered her an apology, a refund and promised to “take care of her for a while” — though she admitted she wasn’t entirely sure what that meant. 

She accepted the offer. According to her, Zaxby’s refunded her order, replaced the meal and later provided additional compensation. She also claimed she had approached the restaurant before posting anything online but felt her concerns were brushed aside. It was only after the video went viral, she said, that the company reached out.

Some commenters were surprised she even gave the restaurant another chance. One wrote, “A replacement meal and a refund?! What if you actually ate that? They gotta do better than that.” Another shared, “My dads zaxbys salad had a MASSIVE dead bug mixed in it, we were eating in the restaurant, & when I called the manager over he said oh, that’s it?”

People might not be so patient next time

It’s far from the first time a restaurant has gone viral over a food mishap. But when the product is something customers are expected to eat, even a single mistake can quickly become a much bigger issue. At the very least, the company appears to have made things right with the customer. Hopefully, it also took steps to ensure something similar doesn’t happen again.

Because judging by the comments, people may not be so patient the next time around. 

We Got This Covered is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy